NFA implements rice exchange program

The National Food Authority (NFA) is implementing a scheme to ensure steady supply of rice during the lean season in the third quarter.

NFA Administrator Gregorio Tan Jr. said the agency’s Rice Exchange Program for the Private Sector (REPPS) is aimed at making use of locally available well-milled rice stocks for rice distribution and help the private sector in marketing their stocks.

The program involves an exchange scheme where the private sector, including NFA-licensed grains businessmen, may deposit their well-milled rice and withdraw the same in any NFA-designated withdrawal area or warehouse.

Tan said the identification of depository warehouses will be based on the availability of storage space in rice-producing areas while considering the agency’s rice requirements for the given period.

"The program will eliminate the cost of transporting rice stocks from the source to consumption area and from the disport to the different distribution areas," said Tan.

He said both the NFA and the private sector will save on transportation costs since rice stocks will be brought directly to distribution areas.

"The program will have tremendous benefits. Spillage of rice stocks will be minimized during transport which will mean savings on the part of the food agency. Also, our post-harvest facilities will be maximized in the process as we assist grains businessmen in the expansion of their business," Tan said.

The program’s scheme will include auctioning off to participants NFA well-milled rice (WMR) with a minimum bid of 50.5 kilograms for every 50 kilograms. The half kilogram difference will cover the handling cost to be incurred by the NFA in the withdrawal area.

NFA’s handling cost at the point of deposit will be offset by the cost to be incurred by the supplier. Only NFA personnel are allowed inside the warehouse or deposit and withdrawal area. The WMR stocks will be bagged into NFA sacks at no cost to the buyer.

The auction will be held simultaneously in areas to be identified by The committee on rice buyer’s forum (CRBF) linked through the local area network (LAN) and the wide area network (WAN).

The auction will be conducted simultaneously in Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City and at the Central Office in Quezon City. To qualify in the bidding, participants should submit to the NFA a letter of intent indicating the offered ratio of rice exchange, total volume of stocks needed, area where the stocks will be deposited, schedule of withdrawal and the preferred area for withdrawal.