WB hails RTL gains

The World Bank considers liberalized rice trade as a boost to the Philippine agriculture sector, even as the Marcos Jr. administration is moving to reinstate the National Food Authority’s (NFA) old regulatory powers.

- By BEN ARNOLD DE VERA

“Strategic shifts are underway to reinvigorate transformation of the agriculture sector. Through the Rice Liberalization Act [under] Republic Act (RA) No. 11203, extended and amended in 2024, import quotas on rice were abolished, opening up the importation of rice for private traders,” noted the World Bank in a July 20 project information document (PID) for its forthcoming $14.5-million grant for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Technical Assistance for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in the Philippines (TASAT).

As Manila Bulletin reported early this month, the upcoming investment project financing (IPF) for the DA’s TASAT, scheduled for approval by the World Bank board on Sept. 24, is aimed at improving the efficiency of fertilizer subsidies, increasing crop diversification, as well as strengthening institutional delivery capacity in the Philippines.