NFA readies new enticements for rice farmers, awaits DOF go ahead on subsidy

New incentives for rice farmers to sell their produce to the National Food Authority (NFA) are in the works even as the agency assured rice importers that the 500,000-metric ton import plan it had approved for this year will get bid out this month.   NFA legal counsel Gilbert Lauengco said simpler procedures and some monetary incentives are being studied.   He also said the NFA is just waiting for the Department of Finance (DOF) to give the go-signal to draw the government’s subsidy of the imports from the tax expenditure fund.   Lauengco added that the bid notice for the importation will be published immediately after their agency gets the Fiscal Incentives Review Board clearance from the DOF.   The NFA had expected to get the green light last week, but the clearance is apparently delayed.   While importers will bring in the rice shipments, the NFA will take on a clearinghouse role in the importation process, Lauengco explained.   He also clarified that the bid guidelines to be followed are almost the same as what was followed during the 2011 rice tender, “to make impress upon the public that everything is above board and that we are prepared to immediately conduct a tender should the tax subsidy be approved at once.”   A service fee of P2 per kilogram of rice will be collected from importers for the clearinghouse function the NFA chose to take on.   Lauengco said the P17 per kilo NFA support price will be maintained. The agency has a P0.70 incentiv broken down as follows: P0.20 for the Cooperative Development Incentive Fee; P0.20 delivery fee; and P0.20 as drying fee.   The support price for unmilled rice has been at P17 since 2008. — ELR, GMA News