THE National Food Authority (NFA) said the planned rice importation approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will not adversely affect local farmers but instead help sustain the nation while facing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The rice importation shall be properly timed so that the stocks would arrive before the onset of the traditional lean months of July to September. This is to ensure that government will have continuous supply of the staple to respond to any need for emergency relief as the lean months are also normally beset with natural calamities needing government intervention,” said NFA administrator Judy Carol Dansal.
Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture said import sanitary permits have been issued for 1.8 million tons of rice, and shipments covered by supply contracts with Vietnam are still on track.
This volume is on top of the 300,000 metric tons of rice to be imported via a government-to-government deal.
Dansal said it takes at least two months for the imported rice to arrive in the country and that the NFA should be given enough lead time to preposition the stocks in deficit island provinces and calamity-vulnerable areas across the country prior to the lean season.
“We are currently serving heavy rice withdrawals by DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and local government units for distribution to communities, especially the marginalized sector, affected by the enhanced community quarantine to prevent further spread of COVID-19,” she said.
NFA is also actively procuring palay from 440 buying stations as farmers harvest their summer crop.
As of March 31, the food agency had procured d 2.3 million bags of palay as it targets to buy 15.4 million bags of palay for the entire year.
Dansal said NFA targets to buy a total of 4 million bags of palay during the summer harvest from April to May in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, as well as Western, Northern and Central Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the DA said it fully supports the joint statement issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization for governments to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the movement and trade of food, farm and fishery inputs and basic necessities by keeping the free flow of trade to avoid food shortage.
Dar said the Philippines has secured commitments from the government of Vietnam to deliver previously contracted rice imports, as well as from Thailand and Myanmar while India, Pakistan and China are ready to export rice to the Philippines.
Dar said the South Korean government has recently donated 950 metric tons (MT) of rice to the Philippines intended for Filipino families adversely affected by natural disasters and calamities last year.
