The Department of Agriculture (DA) is pushing to restore key regulatory powers to the National Food Authority (NFA), citing the agency’s limited role under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) as a constraint on efforts to stabilize the country’s rice supply and prices.

“We need to restore some of NFA’s powers to help it manage the country’s rice situation more effectively,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr., who also chairs the NFA Council, said on Thursday. 

“The House version of the revised RTL offered that chance — but unfortunately, the Senate Committee on Agriculture rejected it.”

The RTL, which took effect in 2019, stripped the NFA of its authority to import and directly sell rice to the public. It now functions mainly as a buffer-stocking agency, restricted to procuring palay from local farmers for emergency use.

NFA administrator Larry Lacson said the agency is only allowed to release rice stocks through auction if they are aging, typically two to three months after milling or during a declared food security emergency or calamity. 

He warned, however, that failed auctions could lead to spoilage.

In palay form, aging occurs in about six months and requires immediate milling. 

“Following the first in, first out system, it can theoretically take 9 months minimum from palay purchase before auction could happen,” Lacson said. 

“That means, inferior quality stocks and higher cost due to stock maintenance just to keep it from insect infestation. Allowing NFA to directly release stocks to the market ensures better quality rice at more affordable prices,” he added.

Tiu Laurel also noted that the NFA’s inability to sell directly to consumers has limited its capacity to optimize available funds that could otherwise be used to expand procurement and implement strategic market interventions benefiting both farmers and consumers.

Despite the constraints, the NFA, under DA supervision, has grown its buffer stock tenfold over the past year. It now holds more than 7.7 million 50-kilo bags, enough to cover 10 days of national consumption.

With warehouses nearing full capacity, the agency must soon offload existing stocks to accommodate newly purchased palay, which it buys at P18–P19 per kilo for fresh harvest and P23 to P24 for dry.