The agriculture ministry has announced a set of measures to help stockpiled rice released by the government reach store shelves more quickly, including the creation of an auction quota for bidders ready to sell such rice to retailers sooner.

The preferential quota of 60,000 metric tons will be set aside for bidders who plan to sell stockpiled rice within one month of purchase to retailers.

Setting the quota is part of efforts to make stockpiled rice available at not only major supermarkets but also small retailers, agriculture minister Taku Eto told a news conference on Friday.

The ministry said that a fourth auction of stockpiled rice will be held over May 28 to 30. This will involve 100,000 tons of rice — 80,000 tons from the 2022 harvest and 10,000 tons each from the 2023 and 2024 harvests.

The government plans to release 100,000 tons of stockpiled rice every month between May and July. By April, some 310,000 tons of stockpiled rice had been released.

The amount of rice to be put up for the July auction will be determined based on the supply-demand situation.

On Thursday, the agriculture ministry announced that it would relax a rule for stockpiled rice sold through auctions by extending the buyback period to five years from one year currently.

It will pause its stockpiling of rice from this year's harvest to focus on improving supply.