DA seeks NFA powers, not rice import authority

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is seeking amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to restore the National Food Authority’s (NFA) regulatory functions—excluding the power to import rice—in a bid to stabilize farmgate prices and improve rice buffer stock management.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. clarified during a recent Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing that while rice importation will remain with the private sector, these importers will now be made jointly responsible for maintaining the country’s buffer stock.

“They have to have skin in the game,” said Tiu Laurel. “If we aim to have a 20-day rice buffer stock, we’re thinking of a 50-50 split between the NFA and the private sector.”

The proposed model echoes the controlled importation system used by the Sugar Regulatory Administration, where vetted importers are given allocations and must procure local palay to contribute to government-held reserves.

“With the private sector partly doing the buffer stocking, sourcing from local rice farmers, it will also reduce the cost of buffer stocking for government,” he said.

Since the passage of the RTL in 2019, the NFA has lost its mandate to regulate rice trading and is now limited to acquiring about 5 percent of national palay output for calamity-related reserves due to limited infrastructure.

Tiu Laurel warned that unchecked private importation has contributed to oversupply, depressing domestic farmgate prices.

“We must regain control,” he emphasized in a separate House Agriculture Committee hearing. “Rice is a commodity imbued with too much public interest to leave entirely to the private sector.”

He also floated the possibility of using attached government corporations—Food Terminal, Inc. and Planters Products Inc.—to undertake imports if necessary, without reinstating the NFA’s authority to do so.

The DA’s proposal seeks to strike a policy balance between ensuring rice affordability for consumers and protecting the livelihoods of Filipino rice farmers.

The agency also launched a review of shifting consumer preferences, as more Filipinos turn to imported rice—particularly Vietnamese varieties—for their quality, aroma, and texture.

“This trend is worth watching. It may be telling us something important about what Filipino consumers are looking for,” Tiu Laurel said. “It may now be a question of quality over quantity, and that could require a shift in our agricultural policy.”

Undersecretary Christopher Morales, head of the Rice Industry Development Office (RIDO), noted ongoing research comparing local inbred rice to imported varieties.

“I think, in terms of quality, we have the varieties to compete with imported rice—if that is what the market requires,” Morales said.

A recent study by the Philippine Rice Research Institute’s Rice Chemistry and Food Science Division, led by Dr. Flordeliza Bordey, found that several local inbred varieties under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF)—including Rc 218, Rc 160, Rc 480, and Rc 512—show similarities to Vietnam’s ST25.

The ST25 variety, named the world’s best rice in 2019, is known for its long grains, pandan–jasmine aroma, short growing cycle, and resistance to salinity and disease.

Morales said that some National Seed Industry Council–approved hybrid varieties also compare favorably to ST25 and could be grown in areas suited to high-quality rice production.

The research is part of the DA’s Masagana Rice Industry Development Program and is being implemented through the OneRicePH Project, in partnership with the University of the Philippines Los Baños and the International Rice Research Institute.

Vietnam remains the Philippines’ largest rice supplier, accounting for 74 percent of imports last year, with varieties such as DT8 and OM5451 being most preferred by Filipino consumers, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Manila.

As Filipino consumers increasingly value grain texture, digestibility, and cooking quality, DA officials hope that aligning production with consumer expectations could help local farmers reclaim market share and unlock export opportunities.

Thirteen local rice varieties, including Rc 160, have been identified as promising candidates for breeding and scaling up, offering the potential for the Philippines to compete not only in domestic markets but also in international rice contests and trade. (Photo by Jay Morales via DA OSEC Comms)