The government allowed foreign private suppliers to participate in rice bidding, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco said Tuesday.
Evasco said the National Food Authority Council approved the rice importation via government to private or G2P arrangement to augment the buffer stock for the lean months of July to September.
The council, however, is still waiting for the National Food Security Committee’s recommendation on how much rice imports should be allowed. Members of NFSC are set to meet on May 18.
Evasco said NFA was shifting from government-to government importation to government to-private importation”•a move seen more competitive, less corrupt and transparent.
He said instead of limiting the bidders to government counterparts, private suppliers from participating countries would now be allowed to participate in the auction, making the whole process covered by the Government Procurement Reform Act, unlike the current G2G scheme.
“We have to make drastic changes in order to ensure a corrupt free and competitive bidding process at the NFA. Hence instead of doing a G2G, the council will push for a G2P to increase accountability and transparency. While the G2G is exempt from the Government Procurement Reform Act, G2P is not,” said Evasco.
The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council requires NFA to maintain a rice buffer that is good to last for 15 days at any given time and for 30 days at the onset of the lean months. At present, the country’s daily consumption rate requirement is 32,720 metric tons or 654,600 bags.
NFA spokesperson Marietta Ablaza said the current NFA rice stocks would only last for eight days.
“It is good that the council approved the importation. The NFA is now drafting the terms of reference for the importation and that will be presented to the meeting on Thursday,” Ablaza said in a telephone interview.
The lean months is a period of low or zero harvest, thus buffer stock requirement is doubled to ensure that the government has enough to supply the needs of calamity victims anywhere across the country.
NFA rice stocks are prepositioned from surplus to deficit and calamity prone areas within two months prior on the onset of the lean months.
Meanwhile, the NFAC also approved the importation of 805,000 metric tons of rice under the minimum access volume scheme this year.
MAV refers to the volume of commodities that is allowed to be imported by a member country, as a commitment to the World Trade Organization.
The NFA Council also directed the NFA management to amend the MAV Guidelines to require participating traders to import 25-percent brokens rice from their 25-percent to 30-percent quota.
Evasco said this would ensure adequacy of supply and stability of consumer prices at levels within the reach of low-income families.
“We are looking at requiring the private sector to use 25 to 30 percent of their import quota to buy 25 percent brokens. This way, we are assured that cheap rice will be made available in the local market. This policy shift is more consistent with the president’s pro poor policy,” Evasco said.