MANILA (Dow Jones)--The Philippine National Food Authority will hold a tender Sept. 19 to buy $20 million worth of rice from the United States for November delivery, a senior official at the agency said Tuesday.

The rice will have to go through a test that will keep out genetically modified strains, said the official.

The planned imports will be financed under Washington's Public Law 480 soft commodity loan program. The rice will help boost local stocks following a delay in the planting of the country's main crop.

A major buyer of rice in Asia, the Philippines has so far contracted to buy 1.64 million tons of rice this year, mostly from Vietnam. The NFA is also expected to buy at least 245,000 tons of rice based on offers made at a tender Sept. 7.