Customs asked to expedite release of rice imports to ease shortage

The National Food Authority (NFA) has advised the Bureau of Customs to speed up the release of incoming shipments of rice under the Farmers Organizations (FOs) import program to stave off an impending rice shortage and to stabilize the price of rice in the local market.

The NFA has requested the BOC to facilitate the release of incoming rice shipments from the United States, Thailand, Vietnam and China involving 180,000 metric tons of rice, which consists of 50 percent "moslo" and 25 percent "brokens," long grain white rice.

The rice shipments are scheduled to arrive at the country’s major ports on separate dates of the months of June and July. The rice is, part of the share of FO importers in the regional allocation divided equally among its members licensed by the food agency to import.

However, the NFA informed the BOC that the total maximum volume allowable per FO to import rice is 1,500 metric tons, and that those that have already availed of the maximum volume are no longer entitled to import for the current year.

The NFA also advised the Bureau of Customs to double check the import documents of the importing FOs against spurious import permits or papers that have already been used before in bringing in imported shipments or rice into the country.

The advisory was issued in the wake of reports that some groups of importers managed to cash in on the allocation of the FOs by using their quota to import rice.

At the same time, the NFA also advised the FOs to immediately open letters of credit or other financial instruments as soon as possible to avail of their quota, otherwise their allocation shall be forfeited and be given to others on a first-come-first served basis.