The task force, led by private-sector groups of the agriculture sector and the National Agricultural and Fishery Council (NAFC), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), scored the department last year for the snail-paced release of ACEF money which, since its creation in 1996, has accumulated P2.6 billion.
As of end January this year, the Bureau of Treasury has credited a total of P2.668 billion ACEF proceeds to Special Account 183. Of this amount however, only 40 percent or about P906.615 million has been released by the Department of Budget and Management.
The ACEF was created out of the tariff proceeds of the minimum access volume (MAV) importations and its aim was to provide funds to make local agricultural producers globally-competitive. MAV is the minimum volume of specific agricultural products committed by members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that are allowed entry in their respective countries.
The usage and management of the ACEF is being criticized because, aside from the laggard pace of the approval of proposed projects for funding, the release of ACEF loans is said to be largely decided by the strong lobbying of some sectors.
The sugar sector for one is one of the biggest beneficiaries of ACEF, acquiring a P213-million grant that was used to upgrade among others, three research and development centers of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
The list of projects requesting ACEF funding is long, but disbursement is slow.
Previously, the task force which last year, looked into the reported discrepancies in the books of accounts of the DA and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) concerning the ACEF, also recommended amendments to the implementation guidelines of the fund.
The task force said there are no clear and established guidelines on the ACEF disbursement, thus, there is a need to define the mechanisms and procedures to be able to effectively dispose of the fund.
Last year, a report by the ad hoc task force indicated irregularities in the total tariff collections whose proceeds should go into ACEF.