NFA allots P12.2 billion for rice imports

MANILA, Philippines — State-run National Food Authority (NFA) is allocating P12.2 billion for the procurement of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of rice as part  of its strategy to flood the market with rice imports to bring the prices down.

Based on the latest terms of reference released by the NFA, the grain agency is now inviting bidders for the supply contract of 500,000 MT at 25 percent brokens well-milled long grains white rice via the government-to-private (G2P) mode or open tender.

NFA is set to hold a pre-bid conference on Nov. 7 at the National Meat Inspection Service which will be open to prospective bidders. Bids must be submitted before 10 a.m of Nov. 20.

The 500,000 MT volume will be divided into nine lots with 14 discharge ports. Subic is set to get the bulk or about 118,000 MT followed by Manila with 75,000 MT.

Another 55,000 MT will be discharged in La Union, 40,000 MT in Batangas, 32,500 MT in General Santos City, 30,000 MT in Tabaco, and 26,700 MT in Cagayan de Oro.

Cebu will also get 25,000 MT, Iloilo and Tacloban will get 20,000 MT each, Zamboanga 17,300 MT, Davao 12,500 MT, Surigao 10,000 MT and Bacolod 8,000 MT.

The first 250,000 MT should be delivered not later than Dec. 31, while the remaining 250,000 MT should arrive not later than Jan. 31, 2019.

According to NFA, bidders should have completed, within five years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations  of the Government Procurement Reform Act.

A complete set of bidding documents may be acquired until Nov. 19 at the NFA Office for P75,000.

If a bidder chooses to bid for any of the lots, the bid must be the total quantity allocated per lot.

The opening of the bids and awarding of the contract to the bidder with the lowest calculated responsive bid shall be on a per lot basis.

NFA said rice must be shipped in break bulk where packing shall be in 50 kilograms net each in woven polypropylene bags suitable for rice export with NFA markings, designs and specifications.

Winning bidders shall deliver the goods free of obligations and expenses to NFA’s designated warehouses, which are within the 30-kilometer radius from the intended port of discharge.

The added importation for the last quarter of the year will bring total imports to 1.6 million MT for 2018.

Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry is set to begin the importation of the additional 350,000 MT of rice to be sold exclusively to various supermarkets.

Private traders can source the rice imports from any country with the maximum quantity to be allocated per importer set at 20,000 MT.

All rice to be imported will be levied with a 35 percent tariff for ASEAN source country and 50 percent for non-ASEAN origin.

All interested NFA-licensed importers may start application for importation in the next two weeks.

Rice import allocation of qualified importers must be shipped in not later than 90 days after the issuance of the certificate of eligibility to import rice.

The interagency NFA Council earlier approved the proposal of the DTI to partner with private traders for rice distribution in supermarkets.

All imported rice will be sold in supermarkets at P38 per kilogram.

The DTI clarified that the issue on the licensing fee for supermarkets had already been addressed.

NFA earlier maintained that it only charges a minimum of P165 to P11,000, depending on the capitalization for a rice retailer’s license, and not P115,000 as claimed by the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association.

The agency is empowered by law to collect fees from grains businessmen for different lines of business like retailing, wholesaling, milling, warehousing, among others.