NFA urged to publish rice import permits

MANILA, Philippines -  Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas urged the National Food Authority (NFA) yesterday to publish the complete details of every rice import permit issued to private traders and large end-users such as fastfood chains to ensure transparency.

“The NFA should post on its website the details of every new rice import license issued, to include the entity allowed to make the importation, the entity’s controlling owners, and the exact volume of the authorized shipment, among others. This will help discourage potential abuses,” he said.

Gullas made the appeal in the wake of a recent Malacañang revelation that a favored group of traders cornered and profited from the importation of up to 200,000 metric tons of rice during the Arroyo administration.

NFA administrator Angelito Banayo later revealed that at least 10 fictitious farmers’ cooperatives, backed by a lone financier, irregularly obtained rice import licenses in the past.

However, Banayo and the Department of Agriculture have not identified the groups and personalities involved, nor have they filed the appropriate charges.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala and the NFA chief have announced that the country would import 1.3 million metric tons of rice this year.

Last year, shortly after President Aquino appointed him to the NFA, Banayo told the public that “we are swimming in imported rice” due to over-importation by the Arroyo administration.

“Rice is an extremely sensitive commodity, both economically and politically. Government should be watchful in ensuring ample supply of the grain at fair and stable prices,” Gullas said.

He noted that since December, rice retail prices have already increased by around five percent, after the NFA raised its selling price from P25 to P27 per kilo.

“The wild card in our rice supply is harsh climate change. Brutal weather conditions, be it severe flooding or a prolonged dry spell, can easily set back domestic production,” he said.

The same conditions could also upset the output of the world’s three leading rice exporters — Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, he said.

“Extreme flooding in China, for instance, can easily tip the global balance of rice supply and demand, because China is a large importer of the grain,” he added.

The Philippines imported almost 2.5 million tons of rice in 2010. Banayo has claimed that the previous administration actually resorted to over-importation.