MANILA – Traders caught selling rice at prices higher than the government’s suggested retail price, or SRP, will be slapped with penalties, Department of Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol warned.
Rice SRP guidelines for Metro Manila and Greater Manila Area (Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite provinces) have been launched.
Unscrupulous traders may lose their license, face jail time and pay a fine of up to P1 million, said Piñol who led the launch on Saturday.
The guidelines will take effect 15 days after their publication in a newspaper of general circulation and upon registration with the University of the Philippines Law Center, stated National Food Authority Memorandum Circular AO-2018-10-002 dated Oct. 24.
A national broadsheet published the guidelines on Oct. 26.
Meanwhile, NFA Circular OCS-2018-J-01 classified rice as either regular-milled, well-milled, premium, or special.
“There will no longer be names like ‘angelica’ and ‘sinandomeng’ for rice sold to the public,” said Piñol, who signed both circulars as chairperson of the NFA Council.
The Agriculture department currently supervises the NFA.
Special rice varieties, such as those produced in the uplands, were excluded from the SRP coverage, said the secretary.
Per-kilo SRPs for local regular-milled, well-milled and premium rice are P39, P44 and P47, respectively, and for imported well-milled rice, P39, according to NFA Circular OCS-2018-J-01.
But “there’s no imported regular-milled rice,” NFA Quality Assurance Division assistant chief Mario Andrada said on the sidelines of the launch at the Commonwealth Market, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
Imported premium rice has either 2 percent broken grains (PG1) with an SRP of P43 or up to 5 percent broken grains (PG2) at P40, Andrada noted.
The government set the rice SRPs to protect consumers from profiteers, factoring in production and related costs and profit so that traders do not overcharge consumers, Piñol said.
To determine the selling price of rice, multiply the palay price by two, said the secretary. “That means if traders bought palay at P18 per kilogram, the selling price (of rice) must be P36 only.” (With PNA/PN)
