NFA welcomes probe on rice stocks' quality

THE NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA) on Thursday said it is open to any investigation that may be conducted in the wake of reports that its rice stocks issued to some legislators for relief distribution have foul odor.   

“We welcome any probe to be conducted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) or any government agency to check on the quality of rice stocks in our warehouses. We assure the public that the rice we distribute are fresh from the rice mills which we contracted to mill our palay stocks,” NFA Administrator Judy Carol L. Dansal said.

Dansal made this statement in reaction to a news report quoting Agriculture Secretary Willam Dar as saying that he will look into allegations that NFA rice issued to some legislators have foul odor.

NFA local officials who issued rice stocks to their respective local government units (LGUs), relief agencies and legislators also assured that all of their rice issuances to LGUs, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), legislators and other relief agencies are freshly milled and good quality local rice.

Even before the implementation of a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on March 16 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Dansal said she had ordered full blast milling of NFA palay stocks bought in 2019.

“Marami kaming nabiling palay last year from local farmers. Ito yung ginigiling natin sa ngayon at ipinagbibili para sa Covid-19 food distribution, kaya tinitiyak namin na ito ay bago at walang amoy (We purchased a lot of palay from local farmers last year. These were milled and we are now selling them for Covid-19 food distribution, so we assure that these are new stocks and have no foul smell)," she said.

NFA rice sales for relief distribution starting March 16 up to May 12 has reached 3.431 million bags. LGU withdrawals totaled 2.918 million bags or 85 percent, while the rest were released to the DSWD, legislators and other relief agencies.

Since the implementation of ECQ, NFA has limited its rice sales to LGUs and DSWD for their relief requirement.

"They prefer NFA rice because of its good quality, which is comparable to commercial rice in the market. Moreover, its price — at PHP1,250 per 50-kg bag — is way below the commercial price. Since the start of rice distribution for relief, we have not received a single report or complaint on the NFA rice quality," Dansal said.

The NFA implements good warehouse keeping practices and stringent stocks quality management, attuned to international standards on food safety, to protect and preserve the quality of the rice and palay stocks in its warehouses.

Since the enactment of RA 11203 or the Rice Tarrification Law in March 2019, NFA rice importation and regulatory functions had been repealed, limiting its mandate to buffer stocking for calamities or emergencies with stocks to be sourced solely from local farmers.