The Philippines, the world's largest importer of rice, will review its rice import protocols amid allegations the nation may have excessively imported the grain in recent years, the National Food Authority said Tuesday.

The audit follows President Benigno Aquino's revelation during his state-of-the-nation address Monday that rice imports in recent years were much more than what the country had actually needed.

In 2007, for instance, the actual shortfall in supply was only 589,000 metric tons. However, imports burgeoned to as much as 1.83 million tons, Aquino said.

This year, rice imports ballooned to a record 2.45 million tons following extensive weather-related damage to the country's rice output last year and this year.

Following this year's record purchases, excessive inventories of rice in NFA warehouses have prompted the NFA to ask state-owned Vietnam Southern Food Corp., a major supplier of the country's rice import requirement, to defer delivery of some of its rice exports to the Philippines by up to five months, newly appointed NFA administrator Lito Banayo told reporters.

"This is proof that our warehouses are filled to the rafters," he said.

At the beginning of the month, the NFA's inventory was sufficient to cover 58 days of consumption, based on a daily requirement of 36,500 tons. The NFA is required only to have 30 days worth of inventory going into the lean production months from July to September.

According to Banayo, the audit will also look into the NFA's local purchases of paddy, intended to shore up domestic prices of the grain. The audit may be completed within 45 days, said Banayo, who declined to name prospective members of the team. (Dow Jones)