THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has come up with the suggested retail price (SRP) on rice for Metro Manila markets after industry stakeholders approved the price matrix set for implementation on October 23.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said starting in the last week of October rice sold in the retail market would be priced the lowest at P37 per kilogram and highest at P47 per kilogram.
Piñol said the following SRPs were agreed upon by rice industry stakeholders at their Thursday meeting: P37 per kilogram or lower for imported regular-milled rice (RMR) with 25 percent brokens; and P40 per kilogram or lower for imported rice with 5 percent brokens.
As for locally produced rice, they would have an SRP of P39 per kilogram or lower for RMR and P44 per kilogram or lower for WMR.
The SRP for premium rice will be set by the National Food Authority Council on Tuesday. However, the recommended price has been set at P47 per kilogram.
“Special Rice, which includes Cordillera Heirloom Rice, Dinorado, Malido, Hinumay, Milagrosa, Organic Brown, Red and Black Rice and Malagkit will be exempt from the SRP,” he said.
The NFA will also require rice retailers to properly label their rice sold in the market accordingly: imported or locally produced only, according to Piñol. Imported rice sold in the market must have a label showing its source country, he added.
The initial SRP on rice will only be implemented for Metro Manila, including nearby provinces of Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog.
“The agreed SRPs will be submitted to the NFA Council when it meets for the third time in less than a month since the NFA was transferred back to the DA,” he said.
“With the confirmation of the NFA Council, the NFA will prepare the guidelines to be distributed and circulated or published in the newspapers for general information. Posters and billboards will also be displayed in the rice-retailing areas of the public markets,” he added.
Piñol said a rice SRP matrix for Supermarkets nationwide, and dry markets in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Bicol, the Visayas and Mindanao will be discussed by the NFAC on Tuesday, as well.
Piñol said all the members of the rice industry stakeholders threw their support behind the proposed SRP scheme.
“Everybody understands that the stakeholders of the rice industry will have to unite in the face of [high prices]. The consumers are complaining in the market,” he said in an interview with reporters after the his meeting with rice stakeholders on Thursday.
“There is no order in the market. Everybody is selling fake Denorado. There is no uniformity in the market [in terms of prices]. We really have to rationalize the whole thing,” Piñol added.
Piñol said the SRP would be reviewed as needed depending on the prevailing market prices both globally and locally. Piñol added that an interagency body would be formed to conduct the periodical review of the SRP.
“Each sector will be represented in the monitoring of the prices in the world market for imported rice and local price for local rice,” he said.
“The SRP will be determined by the prevailing market prices. It is not a constant number,” he added.