Secretary Perdue talks trade,
Farm Bill with USA Rice
Wednesday
“With
50 percent of our crop exported each year, and 20 percent of that going to
Mexico, we can’t overstate the importance of the North American Free Trade
Agreement,” USA Rice Chairman Brian King told the Secretary at the start of the
meeting.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny
Perdue met with a delegation from USA Rice today in a wide-ranging discussion
of industry priorities including trade, flooding in the mid-south, the upcoming
Farm Bill, labor shortages in California, food aid, and the importance of rice
research programs.“With 50 percent of our crop
exported each year, and 20 percent of that going to Mexico, we can’t overstate
the importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” USA Rice Chairman
Brian King told the Secretary at the start of the meeting.
Keith Glover, chairman of USA
Rice’s World Market Price Subcommittee, continued the trade theme, reminding
the secretary about the lack of progress on signing the U.S.-China
Phytosanitary Agreement for rice and the refusal of Iraq to purchase U.S. rice
for the last year, despite a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and
the government of Iraq.
“The message we gave the President
on NAFTA was clear, ’don’t go backwards,’” the secretary said. “On China, we
don’t have any disagreements on the phytosanitary deal, it’s just going to be a
question of putting our names on the dotted lines.”
The secretary told the group that
moving China forward on rice was definitely on his radar.
On the issue of Iraq, Perdue
offered that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, “with the full U.S. economy in his
portfolio, has sunk his teeth into agriculture because he understands how much
ag helps with our trade surplus.”Missouri rice farmer Paul T. Combs discussed
food aid saying, “USDA food aid programs are quite important to the rice
industry, and we believe food aid should be food, not cash, which can more
easily be corrupted.”
Curtis Berry, a Mississippi rice
farmer, stressed the importance of the rice industry’s partnership with the
Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) to promote U.S. rice around the world.
“Those promotion programs are very important
to the rice industry, and we match every dollar we receive from the government
with more than seven dollars from industry, so you can see we value the
programs and believe in them,” Berry said.
Sean Doherty, a California rice
farmer, shared his concerns about labor shortages in California as a result of
rhetoric coming out of the White House and also made the case for improved
access to the Japanese market for U.S. rice.
Also on the domestic front,
Arkansas rice farmer Dow Brantley thanked Secretary Perdue for his recent trip
to Arkansas to survey flood damage and reminded him about difficulties with the
“practical to replant” regulations and used it as an opportunity to share rice
priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill, including a safety net provision that
works for rice, as the current Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program does, and a
closer look at current policies that do not work, including the Actively
Engaged provision.
“Really important, I think, is to
give farmers an opportunity to adjust to any rule changes in the new Farm Bill,
we didn’t get that last time and it hurt a lot of people,” Brantley said.
Texas rice farmer L.G. Raun talked
about the exceptional conservation story the rice industry has to tell as the
providers of so much habitat. He praised the work of USDA’s Natural Resource
Conservation Service, stewards of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
of which the rice industry is a major beneficiary, and reminded the Secretary
of the unique relationship between USA Rice and Ducks Unlimited that works to
preserve habitat and improve water quality.
Louisiana rice farmer Jackie Loewer
also praised robust rice research programs that are helping the rice industry
remain competitive.
“All the issues you heard about
today are important, but we really have a three-legged stool of trade, safety
net programs, and research on which we sit,” said Loewer, who is also the
chairman of the Louisiana Rice Research Board.
“This could not have been a better
meeting,” USA Rice President and CEO Betsy Ward said. “It was apparent to all
of us that Secretary Perdue is going to be a strong advocate for all of
agriculture, but that he also understands the unique challenges confronting the
rice industry and he is going to work with us, both domestically and
internationally, to improve conditions for us.”
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/20170517/secretary-perdue-talks-trade-farm-bill-with-usa-rice
NFA ends rice import function
(The Philippine
Star) | Updated
May 18, 2017 - 12:00am
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco said the NFA Council has
decided to end NFA’s commercial functions and just focus on being a regulatory
agency. File
MANILA, Philippines - The
interagency National Food Authority Council said yesterday the latest rice
importation would be the last for the government, as it moves toward a more
private-led scheme to eradicate corruption in the state-run grains agency.
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco
said the NFA Council has decided to end NFA’s commercial functions and just
focus on being a regulatory agency.
He said the agency is
corruption-prone because of the conflict of interest for having both
proprietary and regulatory functions.
“We believe that we should let the
private sector do the importation of rice instead of NFA. They know the market
forces way better than NFA,” Evasco said.
“Under the law, the NFA is mandated
to ensure adequacy of supply and stability of commercial prices at levels
within the reach of low-income families. The NFA, therefore, is not required to
directly participate in the market,” he said.
The council is now urging Congress
to immediately amend the NFA charter to end its monopoly on rice importation
and eventually streamline its functions.
Ending government-led importation
is also the suggestion of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to President
Duterte.
“Importing rice bleeds government
of resources and deepens indebtedness. It will still be advantageous and
cheaper for the government to buy produce from farmers than for NFA to import
rice,” Piñol said.
Meanwhile, Evasco said there is no
rice shortage even if NFA’s current rice inventory can only last for eight days
compared to its mandated 15 day buffer stock.
“There is actually no shortage yet.
But the lean months is fast approaching hence we need to prepare. Importation
of rice is all about timing. Let us not speculate on having a shortage. An
alarmist stance will only trigger the world market price to spike up,” he said.
The NFA is mandated to maintain a
food security reserve good for at least 15 days at any given time.
By July 1, which marks the onset of
the lean season for rice, the NFA must have at least a 30-day buffer stock to
meet the requirements of victims of calamities and emergencies
http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/05/18/1700892/nfa-ends-rice-import-function
Delay in procurement deals a blow to paddy farmers
By R Arun Kumar | THE HANS INDIA | May 17,2017 , 11:50 PM
IST
Farmers spreading paddy for drying at paddy purchase centre in
Vempally
Mancherial: Paddy farmers
complained of inordinate delay in purchasing their paddy bags at paddy purchase
center in Vempally. The farmers along with their family members were drying
paddy in the market yard as the officials are refusing to purchase paddy citing
high moisture content.
Besides this, the hamalis were also demanding the farmers to give
them paddy bags in addition to their labour charges for loading bags into the
lorry. When asked, the officials at the market yard said that they were not
purchasing paddy due to lack of lorries while the farmers have been waiting for
the past 10 days for the officials to show mercy on them.
The unseasonal rains have added woes to the already suffering
farmers. They were angry at the officials of paddy purchase centers for not
lifting the paddy in time, which they had cultivated by taking lot of pains and
borrowing money from others. The farmers
warned that the government should take the responsibility if their produce gets
soaked in the rain
Price Of Rice,
Other Food Stuff Drops
By NaijaNews.com Reporter - May 17, 2017
Nigeria’s precious meal, rice, is becoming more affordable as the
price of the product dropped in April by an appreciable margin.The report on
prices of selected food released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in
May indicated that the price of rice dropped by 7.22 per cent in April.According
to the report published on its website, NBS said the price fell from N418.71 in
March to N250.30 in April per kilogramme indicating a 7.22 per cent reduction.
The Bureau also released the current prices of some other products
including eggs.It said that the average price of 1 dozen of medium size Agric
eggs decreased month-on-month by 1.71 per cent to N518.66 in April 2017 from
N527.69 in March 2017.The Bureau said that the average price of 1 kilogramme of
tomatoes increased by 6.36 per cent.It means that the price increased from
N268.64 in March to N285.72 in April.
An independent check shows that the price of 50 kilogramme bag of
imported rice dropped from N28,000 it sold in May last year to N15,500 at the
popular Garki Market in Abuja.The slight increase in the price of tomatoes has
been attributed to the season.
Malam Adamu Abubakar, a tomatoes dealer at the market, said that
rainy season was not good for cultivation of the northern brand.He explained
that only the Southern brand with heavy seeds can thrive, but not sufficient to
meet the demand.Price of onions has dropped with a small basket which sold for
between N800 and N900 in March selling for between N400 and N500 in May
https://www.naijanews.com/gist/10617-price-rice-food-stuff-drops.html
Evasco prevails, Aquino
blinks on rice import dispute
CABINET Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. has finally broken
his silence on the tussle over rice importation, but only after emerging
victorious in his well-publicized row with the administrator of the National
Food Authority (NFA), Jason Aquino.The conclusion of the rice dispute appears
to be a compromise – the government will pursue a G2P, or government-to-private
scheme in which private rice traders will be able to import grains through
foreign governments.
Evasco and the rest of the NFA
Council favored more private rice imports through the minimum access volume
(MAV) scheme, in which grains shipments came in at lower tariffs up to a
certain volume.Aquino wanted a government-to-government (G2G) deal, and even defied the NFA Council, the body authorized by law to determine policy on rice imports, which had ordered the MAV scheme extended beyond a February deadline.
Even as Aquino wanted to be strict on the MAV scheme, ostensibly to protect Filipino rice farmers from cheap imports, The Manila Times had found that for some favored importers, the rules could be bent. Last month’s sacking of a Malacañang undersecretary under Evasco over this suspicious pretext of protecting farmers is unfortunate.
There is no denying, however, that Evasco had his way and was able to put Aquino in his place as the implementer of the policy pronouncements of the NFA Council.
The wisdom of the NFA Council’s decision is clear. Which option does not expose the government to risk, is more transparent (therefore less prone to corruption), and will better address the needs of ordinary Filipino consumers, especially the poor?
With the private sector in the picture, the G2P scheme will be subject to the usual government procurement rules and thus involve competitive bidding.
G2G deals, including related contracts like shipping, are not covered by procurement rules and can be done through negotiated bids, which are opaque and prone to graft. These deals in effect mean throwing good money after bad, as the Philippine government contracts a loan from its foreign counterpart, which only adds to the country’s debt.
In addition to dropping G2G and adopting G2P, the NFA Council will now require private importers to allocate 25 to 30 percent of their import quotas to less costly varieties, which ordinary consumers should be able to afford.
Media reports of rising prices and low inventories at rice warehouses added pressure on the government to finally allow private traders to import more rice. The NFA, it should be noted, is required to maintain a rice buffer stock of 15 days at any given time and 30 days during lean months.
There are a few lessons here. First, government decision-making should be collegial, as shown by the actions of the NFA Council, which is composed, among others, of representatives from the Department of Finance, the central bank, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Economic and Development Authority. Surely, the preferences of one individual cannot override the wider perspective that informs the decisions of an inter-agency body.
Second, public interest should be upheld at all times, as the President himself has declared on many occasions. There was no rhyme or reason for the insistence on G2G imports, especially after Aquino sought to stop the MAV scheme in which importations came in at no cost to the taxpayer.
Third, government functionaries should not tinker with policy, especially on rice, where a misstep could lead to hungry stomachs
http://www.manilatimes.net/evasco-prevails-aquino-blinks-rice-import-dispute/327839/
Philippines approves private rice imports
The Philippines government is
allowing the National Food Authority (NFA) to import rice from the private
sector in order to boost its buffer stock for the lean months, according to
local newswires.
Published: 17 May 2017 11:39 AM
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who oversees the operations of
theNFA, said the NFA Council approved the importation of rice via government
toprivate scheme (G2P) in a meeting last Monday. He indicated that the
decisionrepresented a policy shift from
Philippines likely to import more
rice from VN
Update: May, 18/2017 - 15:00
|
The Philippines is likely to import an additional 250,000 tonnes
of rice from Việt Nam and Thailand. - VNA/VNS Photo
|
The National Food Authority had been seeking the council’s approval to import 250,000 tonnes under government-to-government schemes with Việt Nam and Thailand. The committee that decides on the quantity to be imported will meet on Thursday.The NFA also announced it would shift from government-to-government importation to government-to-private importation to make the bidding more competitive, transparent and less corrupt.
Rice inventory in the Philippines is running low, with government stockpiles shrinking to the least in more than three years in April, just enough to cover 10 days of the national requirement
A tale of two
rice importations
Rice
importation continues to be a prickly issue for the Philippine government given
its significance to its 100 million-plus population. Thus, it comes as a relief
that some major issues regarding procurement have been resolved recently. Since
the Marcos era, rice procurement has been monopolized by the National Food
Authority (NFA), largely through government-to-government (G2G) deals, as a
foil towards what was regarded then as the private sector’s abuse in rice and
grains importation, distribution and marketing.
Over the last four and a half
decades, Filipinos were able to enjoy a regime of controlled prices and
adequate supply availability, which was a great boon to relieving tensions of
succeeding administration’s governance latitude whether in the area of politics
or economics.
Rice, being the staple food of
majority of Filipinos, was indeed a commodity that wielded political and
economic power. Actually, it still is. Incidents of price fluctuations or
supply shortages is enough reason to incite the nation to topple or change its
leadership.
Different views
Under the Duterte administration,
some things had started to percolate with the NFA and the NFA Council, the former
headed by Jason Aquino as administrator and the latter by Leoncio Evasco as
chairman. A policy dispute over rice importation was shaping up.
The NFA administrator apparently was
against allowing the private sector to import rice using the minimum access
volume allowed for rice that is to be imported with a lower tariff by member
countries under the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of
the World Trade Organization.
The NFA Council, on the other hand,
wanted to allow private traders to use about 25 to 30 percent of the import
quota for 25 percent brokens rice so that cheaper rice would be made available
to Filipinos, especially those belonging to low-income families. And they had
sufficient reason to do so.
It seems that during the past
governments of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno S. Aquino, private traders
and farmer cooperatives were allowed limited importation of five to 15 percent
brokens rice to free the government from importing and financing commercial,
but more expensive varieties.
Marked differences in cost
In the process, a striking
revelation arose. Private sector-led importations, despite being of better
quality, were coming into the country at prices lower than the G2G contracts
entered into by the Philippine government and our neighboring rice producers
like Thailand and Vietnam.
First, the inflation rate used was
1.82 percent and not 1.28 percent, which was the headline inflation rate for
the Philippines during the same period.
NFA’s quotation for its reference
price of 25 percent brokens was $356.80 for a total of 250,000 metric tons,
which could be regarded as high considering that the private sector’s reference
price for five percent brokens was $360 for 3,000 to 6,000 metric tons.
Freight charges went as high as
$29.79 per metric ton, whereas the private sector was only paying $10 per
metric ton. A surveyor’s fee of $0.76 per metric tons was also added, while the
private sector would normally secure this for free.
The insurance premium for G2G
importation was $4.84 per metric ton, more than double the $2 per metric ton
paid by the private sector. The NFA reference price was also considered higher
than industry practice.
The integrated cargo handling for
NFA imported rice came up to $32.08 per metric tons, which is a far cry from
the $20 per metric ton that private importers paid. Again, the reference price
of NFA here is deemed higher than industry practice.
Lastly, G2G imports are slapped a
1.06 interest expense because it is procured on credit. Private importers do
not pay any interest because their imports are secured on cash basis.
All the above summed up boils down to a NFA
reference price for bidding at $425 per metric ton for 25 percent brokens rice,
which, during the most recent round, resulted in a winning bid of $424.85 per
metric ton. The private sector got their more superior quality five percent
brokens rice for less, at $392 per metric ton.
High priced rice for the less
privileged
Obviously, the NFA prices come out
much higher with all the added costs, which partly explains why NFA
importations, when sold in the market, are just slightly lower in retail prices
than commercially imported ones.
If there are any NFA rice that are
priced significantly lower, these are likely those that had been rescued from
bodegas that were exposed to the elements or had gone stale.
One reason for the abuse that we can
glean from the NFA system is the fact that the procurement law is not
applicable to the G2G importations, i.e., for integrated cargo handling and
private freight forwarders. This is further aggravated by the “services” of
private sector players in some components of the importation process, i.e., for
surveyors and insurance.
One other reason why G2G is higher
for the NFA is that the other country that is bidding acts as a consolidator,
which could account for the additional costs that a private importer
negotiating directly with private counterparts will normally not encounter.
Finally, as in the case of inflation
rates, the NFA seems to be padding its numbers in a carefree fashion since it
is not answerable to procurement audits.
Stronger procurement procedures
needed
As things turned out, NFA
administrator Aquino lost his case. The apparently more powerful NFA Council
(which includes representatives of the National Food Authority, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank of
the Philippines, the Department of Finance, the Department of Trade and
Industry, the National the Economic and Development Authority, and the farmer
sector) gained the upper hand.
With the overall lack of
transparency in the G2G agreements conducted by the NFA, there was bound to be
some abuse. And now was the time to put a stop to this.
On the other hand, while there are
stronger procurement procedures in place that can guard against abuse for
private sector importation as government relinquishes its dominance on rice
importation, care must be taken to ensure that a repeat of the chaos created by
price manipulation and supply hoarding prevalent in the late ’60s and early
’70s must not happen again.
We should expect to see cheaper rice
(25 percent brokens) in the coming months brought in by private importers that
should translate to cheaper rice in the market. And let’s hope it stays that
way.
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Rice imports - A laudable
initiative by the government
Importing sufficient rice from
abroad will relieve the masses who are bearing the brunt of this price hike.
But the government should also provide funding for agriculturists to do more
research on developing rice varieties resistant to blast, so that we are better
prepared for such disasters in the future.
Rupesh Chandra Das, University of Dhaka
.
Rice, corn
leaders stress importance of exports to agricultural sector
NATIONAL
GRAIN AND FEED ASSOCIATION leaders are asking the Surface Transportation Board
to continue requiring rail carriers to report weekly service metrics to avoid
more tie-ups in rail service Farm group l
eaders
meet with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on a wide range of issues.
U.S. farm groups are
continuing to meet with Trump administration officials to try to make sure they
understand the importance of trade to farmers and other segments of the U.S.
agricultural complex.
The latest involved USA Rice
Federation officials and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a wide-ranging
discussion of trade along with flooding in the Mid-South, the 2018 farm bill,
labor shortages in California, food aid and the importance of rice research
programs.
Perdue, who founded a company
that specializes in international trade after finishing his term as governor of
Georgia, understands what exports mean to U.S. producers, but you can’t always
be sure about other members of this administration who seem ready to sacrifice
agricultural to support manufacturing.
“With 50 percent of our crop
exported each year, and 20 percent of that going to Mexico, we can’t overstate
the importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” USA Rice Chairman
Brian King, a rice merchant from Marked Tree, Ark., told the secretary at the start of the meeting.
Keith Glover, chairman of USA
Rice’s World Market Price Subcommittee, reminded Secretary Perdue about the
lack of progress on signing the U.S.-China Phytosanitary Agreement for rice and
the refusal of Iraq to purchase U.S. rice for the last year, despite a
Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and the government of Iraq.
‘Don’t go backwards’
“The message we gave the
president on NAFTA was clear, ‘don't go backwards,’” said Perdue, in response
to King’s comments. “On China, we don't have any disagreements on the
phytosanitary deal, it's just going to be a question of putting our names on
the dotted lines.”
(Press reports indicate Perdue
sat down with the president and a map and explained to him where many of the
votes that ensured his election came from just before Trump was scheduled to
sign an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from NAFTA.)
On the issue of Iraq Perdue
offered that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, “with the full U.S. economy in his
portfolio, has sunk his teeth into agriculture because he understands how much
ag helps with our trade surplus.”
Paul T. Combs, a Missouri rice
farmer, discussed food aid, saying “USDA food aid programs are quite important
to the rice industry, and we believe food aid should be food, not cash, which
can more easily be corrupted.”
Curtis Berry, a Mississippi rice
farmer, stressed the importance of the rice industry's partnership with the
Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) to promote U.S. rice around the world.
Farmers more than match dollars
“Those promotion programs are
very important to the rice industry, and we match every dollar we receive from
the government with more than seven dollars from industry, so you can see we
value the programs and believe in them,” Berry said.
Sean Doherty, a California rice
farmer, shared his concerns about labor shortages in California as a result of
rhetoric coming out of the White House and also made the case for improved
access to the Japanese market for U.S. rice.
Also on the domestic front,
Arkansas rice farmer Dow Brantley thanked Secretary Perdue for his recent trip
to Arkansas to survey flood damage and reminded him about difficulties with the
“practical to replant” regulations.
Brantley also discussed rice
priorities for the upcoming 2018 farm bill, including a safety net provision
that works for rice, as the current Price Loss Coverage or PLC program does,
and a closer look at current policies that do not work, including the Actively
Engaged provision of USDA’s revised payment limit rules.
“Really important, I think, is to
give farmers an opportunity to adjust to any rule changes in the new farm
bill,” he said. “We didn't get that last time, and it hurt a lot of people.”
Rice and ducks
Texas rice farmer L.G. Raun
talked about the exceptional conservation story the rice industry has to tell
as the providers of so much habitat for waterfowl.
He praised the work of USDA’s
Natural Resource Conservation Service, stewards of the Regional Conservation
Partnership Program of which the rice industry is a major beneficiary, and
reminded the secretary of the unique relationship between USA Rice and Ducks
Unlimited that works to preserve habitat and improve water quality.
Louisiana rice farmer Jackie
Loewer also praised robust rice research programs that are helping the rice
industry remain competitive. The Trump administration has proposed a 21 percent
reduction in USDA’s 2018 budget, which would fall heavily on the department’s
research activities.
“All the issues you heard about
today are important, but we really have a three-legged stool of trade, safety
net programs, and research on which we sit," said Loewer, who is also the
chairman of the Louisiana Rice Research Board.
“This could not have been a
better meeting,” said USA Rice President & CEO Betsy Ward. “It was apparent
to all of us that Secretary Perdue is going to be a strong advocate for all of
agriculture, but that he also understands the unique challenges confronting the
rice industry and he is going to work with us, both domestically and
internationally, to improve conditions for us.”
No. 1 customer for Nebraska
In another trade front
development, the National Corn Growers Association hosted a meeting between
Nebraska Gov. Pete Rickets, national and state grain industry leaders and
Mexican officials to highlight the importance of Mexico to U.S. agriculture.
“Bilateral trade with Mexico has
helped grow agriculture in our state over the years,” said Governor Ricketts.
“Mexico is Nebraska's largest export market for corn, dairy, sugar, and
sweeteners, and second largest market for soybeans, wheat, sorghum and
distiller's grains. All of this combined accounts for thousands of Nebraska
jobs.
“I’m encouraged by local and
national discussions to expand trade, and am committed to helping grow our
trade relationship with Mexico so we can continue to grow Nebraska.”
The Nebraska Corn Board, the U.S.
Grains Council and the National Corn Growers Association are hosting a team of
Mexican grain and industry officials in Nebraska for a town hall and industry
meetings, ahead of the Trump Administration's plans to renegotiate NAFTA.
Following the meeting in
Nebraska, the Mexican delegation was scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C.,
where they joined U.S. corn farmers for meetings with Congressional leaders to
discuss the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship.
“Nebraska agriculture is at its
best when we all work together, which includes our trading partners,” said
Kelly Brunkhorst, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Mexico is
currently Nebraska's largest export market for corn, which provides $287
million in added value to our state's economy.”
About 20 percent of U.S. corn and
corn co-products are exported. Mexico is the largest market for U.S. corn. In
2016, U.S. corn exports to Mexico totaled 13.3 million metric tons (523.5
million bushels) of corn, valued at $2.5 billion. The U.S. also exported 1.9
million metric tons of distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a
byproduct of ethanol.
http://www.stuttgartdailyleader.com/news/20170517/secretary-perdue-talks-trade-farm-bill-with-usa-rice
Government approves G2P rice
imports
(The Philippine
Star) | Updated
May 17, 2017 - 12:00am
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco,
who oversees the operations of the NFA, said the NFA Council approved the
importation of rice via government to private scheme (G2P)in a meeting last Monday.
He said the decision represented a policy shift from government to government
(G2G) rice importation, which he described as “prone to corruption.” File
MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte has allowed the National Food Authority
(NFA) to import rice from the private sector to augment its buffer stock for
the lean months, an official said yesterday.
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco,
who oversees the operations of the NFA, said the NFA Council approved the
importation of rice via government to private scheme (G2P)in a meeting last
Monday. He said the decision represented a policy shift from government to
government (G2G) rice importation, which he described as “prone to corruption.”
“The NFA will also shift from
government-to-government importation to government to private importation
(G2P), a move that is more competitive, least corrupt and transparent,” Evasco
said in a press conference yesterday in Malacañang.
“Instead of limiting the bidders to
government counterparts, private suppliers from participating countries may now
be allowed to participate in the bidding, making the whole process covered by
the Government Procurement Reform Act unlike the current G2G scheme,” he
said.
Evasco said the NFA Council’s
decision to adopt the G2P scheme was unanimous. He said Duterte is supportive
of the move.
“The President, during the last
Cabinet meeting, has been given the opportunity to listen to the position of
the NFA Council, that there is a need for us to import. The President said this
time, the NFA would no longer have the monopoly of importing rice. We should
open the importation through the private sector,” he said.
NFA administrator Jason Aquino was
present during the council meeting and was supportive of the decision, Evasco
said. Aquino previously called for the importation of rice through the G2G
scheme.
The Legislative Executive
Development Advisory Council requires the NFA to maintain a rice buffer stock
good for 15 days at any given time and 30 days at the onset of the lean months
of July to September. The country’s daily consumption rate requirement is
32,720 metric tons or 654,000 bags.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol previously called for the importation of 250,000 metric tons of rice to
serve as the country’s buffer stock for the lean months through the G2G scheme.
Piñol said the importation should only be done for the lean months and that
buying rice from local farmers remains the priority.
Evasco said the NFA would have to
continue importing rice until the country becomes rice self-sufficient.
“You know, the Philippines has
never been self-sufficient in terms of rice. Since time immemorial, we have
been importing rice. There are two modes to import rice. One is
government-to-government. Unfortunately this G2G has been abused. This has been
used for corrupt practices because there is no bidding involved,” Evasco
said.
“We have to make a drastic decision
in order to ensure a corrupt-free and competitive bidding process at the NFA.
Hence, instead of doing a G2G, the council will push for G2P to increase
accountability and transparency,” he said.
Evasco instructed the NFA to ensure
that cartels would not manipulate rice prices.
“I’m calling on the NFA management
to really guard against the emergence of cartels. After all, it’s the NFA that
issues the certification of eligibility and import permits,” the cabinet
official said.
Private-led rice importation
approved Evasco said the NFA council has also approved the importation of
805,000 metric tons of Minimum Access Volume (MAV) of rice this year. MAV is
the volume of commodities allowed to be imported by a member country as ac
commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Aquino previously rejected the
extension of rice importation under the MAV scheme, which has been endorsed by
the NFA council.
Last month, Duterte fired Evasco’s
undersecretary Halmen Valdez, who reviewed the NFA’s decision to deny
the importation of rice. Duterte said he could not figure out why Valdez
was pushing for importation, which he said would compete with the farmers’
products. Evasco believes that the policy shift was an acknowledgement
that there is really a need for the Philippines to import rice.
Minister says
price of rice will drop in June
Ogbeh blamed the high cost of home-grown rice on the increase in
the price of diesel.
Published: , Refreshed:
The Federal Government has assured Nigerians of a decline
in the price of locally produced rice by next month.
Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture
disclosed this while speaking at the mid-term town hall meeting in Abuja on
Tuesday, May 16, 2017.Ogbeh blamed the high cost of home-grown rice on the
increase in the price of diesel.
The minister noted that the cost of
importing a bag of rice from Thailand, Vietnam or India stands at N13,000 per bag,
while locally produced rice cost N16,000 per bag.The minister also blamed the
high cost of rice on Nigeria’s interest rate. “Thailand subsidises the export of rice,” Ogbeh said.
“Our interest rates in this country is higher that the interest
rate in most parts of the world.
“Diesel went from N180 per litre to N300.“The federal government
was very concerned about the high cost of local rice and. I will be having a
meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun to discuss rice prices among other matters.
“In the next one month, you’ll have Nigerian rice in the shop at
the best price we’ve ever had,” the minister said.Billions have
been invested through the Anchor Borrowers Programme which aims at assisting mainly local
rice farmers in the country.
Extending The Range Of Diseases Covered By A Rice-Based Vaccine
The Range Of Diseases Covered By A Rice-Based Vaccine
Astellas and the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo are
expanding the range of diseases that can be covered by their rice-based oral
vaccine, MucoRice. Asian Scientist Newsroom | May 18, 2017 | Pharma
AsianScientist (May 18, 2017) - The Institute of Medical Science at the
University of Tokyo (IMSUT) and Astellas Pharma Inc. have signed an agreement
to expand the scope of collaborative research on a rice-based oral vaccine for
viral gastroenteritis diarrhea including norovirus infection. MucoRice is a
rice-based oral vaccine developed by Professor Hiroshi Kiyono, project
researcher Yoshikazu Yuki and their colleagues at International Research and
Development Center for Mucosal Vaccines in IMSU. Using rice that is genetically
engineered to express the antigen of interest and suppress endogenous rice
storage protein production, MucoRice activates the mucosal immune system in the
intestine and induces a protective immunity.
Since 2016, IMSUT and Astellas have been conducting
collaborative research on vaccines against cholera and enterotoxigenic
Escherichia coli using the MucoRice system. Under the agreement, the scope of
the collaborative research project will be expanded to conditions where unmet
medical needs remain, such as norovirus. Through this collaborative research
project, IMSUT and Astellas will promote research on vaccines against
infectious diseases and develop the new drug discovery technology platform for
other diseases Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at:
https://www.asianscientist.com/2017/05/pharma/rice-vaccine-cholera-diarrhea/
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Amlo
seizes B687m of rice tycoon's assets
- 18 May 2017 at 09:24
- NEWSPAPER
SECTION: NEWS
| WRITER: KING-OUA
LAOHONG
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has
seized another 687 million baht worth of assets from entities linked to rice
trading tycoon Apichart "Sia Piang" Chansakulporn, implicated in
alleged fake government-to-government rice deals.The agency earlier seized
assets worth 12.9 billion baht from Apichart, an executive of rice miller Siam
Indica Co, and other businessmen.
Amlo
secretary-general Chaiya Siriampanku said the latest seizure includes 16
million baht worth of two condominium rooms in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district
owned by Apichart's son, Sorawit.Thirty million baht in Mr Sorawit's bank accounts and mutual fund investments were also frozen, Mr Chaiya said.
Amlo also took aim at two companies linked to Apichart -- Kingdom Rice Silo Co and Merry Rice Land Co, he said.
More than 300 title deeds owned by the two firms in Ayutthaya's Bang Ban district and tambon Pa Kow, Bang Set and Rong Chang of Ang Thong's Pa Mok districts have been seized, Pol Gen Chaiya said, adding a land plot in Pa Mok district owned by Siam Indica Co was also frozen.
According to the Amlo chief, Merry Rice Land's business involves the shipment of rice and related products from rice millers. The company is situated in Pa Mok, the same district where Siam Indica is located.
Kingdom Rice Silo, meanwhile, has Mr Sorawit serving as an authorised executive.
Pol Gen Chaiya said those who have their assets frozen can lodge an appeal at Amlo to seek the revocation of the seizure order within 30 days. They should present evidence which can confirm that their frozen assets are not connected to alleged offences, he said.
Apichart is among 21 defendants accused of colluding to help two Chinese firms not authorised by the Chinese government undertake government-to-government deals with the Thai government to buy rice from stockpiles generated by the rice-pledging scheme under the government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
The two firms, Guangdong Stationery & Sporting Goods Import & Export Corp and Hainan Grain & Oil Industrial Trading Co, were given rights to buy pledged rice without competition from other bidders. They then sold the paddy, which they purchased at prices lower than what the Yingluck government bought it for, to Thailand's domestic rice traders and for Siam Indica to resell.
Other defendants in the case include former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, former deputy commerce minister Poom Sarapol, former secretary to the commerce minister Weerawuthi Wajanaphukka as well as three former high-ranking officials of the Commerce Ministry.
The criminal case is being tried by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Office.
Siam Indica has been the target of questions dating back to 2004 when Thaksin Shinawatra was in power. An affiliate of now-bankrupt President Agri, which was controlled by Apichart, Siam Indica in the past won bids that rival rice exporters claimed were not transparent.
Apichart was sentenced in 2014 to three years in jail after being found guilty of embezzling 20,000 tonnes of rice worth 200 million baht.
U.S. Rice Production Estimates Drastically Reduced
WASHINGTON, DC -- USA Rice's
World Market Price Subcommittee met here yesterday to review with U.S.
Department of Agriculture officials USDA's first projections of global rice
supply and demand statistics for 2017/2018, including world rice stocks, area and
production estimates for the United States, and to review developments in key
export markets. Severe flooding in the mid-south, in particular in
Arkansas, the top rice producing state in the country, have forced the industry
to drastically reduce estimates for the coming year.
In March, government figures estimated 2017 rice acreage in the six major rice producing states to be 2.6 million acres, down 17 percent from the previous year. Due to weather concerns including flooding in the mid-south, actual acreage could be significantly lower. In fact, the University of Arkansas Extension Service has estimated more than 181,000 acres of rice planted in that state lost due to the flooding. The next official estimate from USDA on rice area will be the Acreage Report to be released on June 30 by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Despite lowered domestic production estimates, global stocks are projected to increase slightly, largely on the back of Chinese rice production.
The U.S., that typically exports half the annual rice crop, is grappling with slow overall growth on exports. Reported export sales through early May of medium grain rough, brown, and milled rice, primarily grown in California, are up 26 percent. Long grain rough rice is up just seven percent, but long grain milled, including brown rice, which accounts for 25 percent of exports, is off as much as 13 percent.
"That 13 percent reduction in long grain milled exports is equal to a little more than 121,000 metric tons, which could easily be mitigated by just one rice sale to Iraq - something we used to do quite a bit of," said Keith Glover, chairman of the subcommittee who made the same point to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in another meeting yesterday.
Glover pointed out that despite a Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of the United States and Iraq to purchase U.S.-grown rice, no sales have been made in more than a year.
The industry continued to emphasize the importance of the monthly rough rice prices reporting by NASS, noting that success here is a combination of accurate reporting by the industry and comprehensive surveying by NASS of first handlers of dry rough rice.
"USDA's rough rice prices determine the level of PLC payments to our growers, so they have to be an accurate reflection of what's going on in the market. This will continue to be a focus with NASS at each of our meetings," Glover said.
The subcommittee also provided updates to USDA on USA Rice's activities in Mexico, Iraq, and Taiwan, and received reports on the administration's plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and prospects for U.S. milled rice access in China.
"Mexico is our number one market, and we were very clear that we want the administration to 'do no harm' in any NAFTA renegotiation," said Carl Brothers of Riceland Foods, a member of the subcommittee. "We also expressed our continued frustration with the failure to complete the opening of the China market to U.S. rice."
The next meeting of the subcommittee is slated for late October when harvest of this year's crop will be underway and possibly even completed in some parts of the country.
In March, government figures estimated 2017 rice acreage in the six major rice producing states to be 2.6 million acres, down 17 percent from the previous year. Due to weather concerns including flooding in the mid-south, actual acreage could be significantly lower. In fact, the University of Arkansas Extension Service has estimated more than 181,000 acres of rice planted in that state lost due to the flooding. The next official estimate from USDA on rice area will be the Acreage Report to be released on June 30 by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Despite lowered domestic production estimates, global stocks are projected to increase slightly, largely on the back of Chinese rice production.
The U.S., that typically exports half the annual rice crop, is grappling with slow overall growth on exports. Reported export sales through early May of medium grain rough, brown, and milled rice, primarily grown in California, are up 26 percent. Long grain rough rice is up just seven percent, but long grain milled, including brown rice, which accounts for 25 percent of exports, is off as much as 13 percent.
"That 13 percent reduction in long grain milled exports is equal to a little more than 121,000 metric tons, which could easily be mitigated by just one rice sale to Iraq - something we used to do quite a bit of," said Keith Glover, chairman of the subcommittee who made the same point to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in another meeting yesterday.
Glover pointed out that despite a Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of the United States and Iraq to purchase U.S.-grown rice, no sales have been made in more than a year.
The industry continued to emphasize the importance of the monthly rough rice prices reporting by NASS, noting that success here is a combination of accurate reporting by the industry and comprehensive surveying by NASS of first handlers of dry rough rice.
"USDA's rough rice prices determine the level of PLC payments to our growers, so they have to be an accurate reflection of what's going on in the market. This will continue to be a focus with NASS at each of our meetings," Glover said.
The subcommittee also provided updates to USDA on USA Rice's activities in Mexico, Iraq, and Taiwan, and received reports on the administration's plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and prospects for U.S. milled rice access in China.
"Mexico is our number one market, and we were very clear that we want the administration to 'do no harm' in any NAFTA renegotiation," said Carl Brothers of Riceland Foods, a member of the subcommittee. "We also expressed our continued frustration with the failure to complete the opening of the China market to U.S. rice."
The next meeting of the subcommittee is slated for late October when harvest of this year's crop will be underway and possibly even completed in some parts of the country.
NFA
ends rice import function
(The
Philippine Star) | Updated
May 18, 2017 - 12:00am
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco said
the NFA Council has decided to end NFA’s commercial functions and just focus on
being a regulatory agency. File
MANILA, Philippines - The
interagency National Food Authority Council said yesterday the latest rice
importation would be the last for the government, as it moves toward a more
private-led scheme to eradicate corruption in the state-run grains agency.
Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco said the NFA Council has decided to end NFA’s
commercial functions and just focus on being a regulatory agency.
He said the agency is corruption-prone
because of the conflict of interest for having both proprietary and regulatory
functions.
“We believe that we should let the private
sector do the importation of rice instead of NFA. They know the market forces
way better than NFA,” Evasco said.
“Under the law, the NFA is mandated to
ensure adequacy of supply and stability of commercial prices at levels within
the reach of low-income families. The NFA, therefore, is not required to
directly participate in the market,” he said.
The council is now urging Congress to
immediately amend the NFA charter to end its monopoly on rice importation and
eventually streamline its functions.
Ending government-led importation is also
the suggestion of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to President Duterte.
“Importing rice bleeds government of
resources and deepens indebtedness. It will still be advantageous and cheaper
for the government to buy produce from farmers than for NFA to import rice,”
Piñol said.
Meanwhile, Evasco said there is no rice
shortage even if NFA’s current rice inventory can only last for eight days
compared to its mandated 15 day buffer stock.
“There is actually no shortage yet. But
the lean months is fast approaching hence we need to prepare. Importation of
rice is all about timing. Let us not speculate on having a shortage. An
alarmist stance will only trigger the world market price to spike up,” he said.
The NFA is mandated to maintain a food
security reserve good for at least 15 days at any given time.
By July 1, which marks the onset of the
lean season for rice, the NFA must have at least a 30-day buffer stock to meet
the requirements of victims of calamities and emergencies.
·
