Manila, April 9 - The Philippines has formally asked Thailand to increase the volume of rice imports it has committed to supply to Manila, National Food Authority administrator Jessup Navarro said Wednesday.
The NFA, a government-owned grains trading firm, is negotiating for a higher volume than the 15,000 metric tons Thailand has already committed under the East Asian Emergency Rice program, Navarro said.
The emergency rice program allows Asean member countries to withdraw rice reserves from a common pool during disasters or in other emergency situations.
"We're currently negotiating with Thailand, and our discussions include mode of transaction, shipment period and other details," Navarro said.
The NFA is in talks with officials from Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade, an agency under the commerce ministry, he said.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the country expects to secure a rice supply deal with Thailand within the month.
The Philippines, Asia's largest importer of rice, secured a commitment from Vietnam in March for the supply of up to 1.5 million tons of rice. It also has an existing loan commitment from the U.S. for the purchase of 100,000 tons of the grain.
So far this year, the Philippines has imported 1.1 million tons to fill a shortfall in local production during lean production months of July to September.