The National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) is mulling to create a 10-day buffer stock of critical agricultural produce to safeguard consumers against run-away inflation.
During the NPCC meeting held Monday at the Board of Investments (BOI) building in Makati, City, Trade assistant secretary Amanda Nograles said the multi-sectoral group is woking on the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the proposed buffer stocking policy.
“The goal, in addition to creating a market-based mechanism to decrease the price by increasing the supply, is for the mechanism to act as deterrent to hoarders and to those who are engaged in illegal price manipulation,” she said.
“They will think that the government can intervene anytime,” she added.
This is the first time that the provision ok buffer stocking will be invoked under the Price Act of 1999.
While the government intends to shoulder the procurement cost, it wants to engage the private sector to help in the storage of the produce.
The NPCC is yet to identify warehouses and cold storage facilities which can be tapped as storage for the buffer stock which is different from the buffer stocking mandate of the National Food Authority (NFA).
The provision specifically involves the sale of agricultural and fisheries products.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), as an active member of the NPCC, identified the critical commodities as rice, corn, sugar, onion, pork and fertilizers.
The NPCC is yet to identify where to source the budget for proposed buffer stock or whether it will be forced to import some commodities that the Philippines is not sufficiently producing like corn and pork.