The National Food Authority said Friday it did not extend the February 28, 2017 deadline for rice imports covered by the minimum access volume scheme.
NFA made the clarification following reports that the deadline was extended to March 31 this year.
“There’s no need to extend the deadline because there were others, including farmer cooperatives, that participated in the MAV and have complied with the deadline,” NFA administrator Jason Laureano Aquino said.
“If these coops can do it, why can’t the others?” Aquino asked.
He said local farmers were currently harvesting their summer crop and the arrival of rice imports could dampen the price of their produce.
Two hundred eleven farmer cooperatives and private businessmen applied for the importation of 692,340 metric tons of rice under the MAV, a commitment under the provisions of the the World Trade Organization.