BOC delists 39 more rice importers

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has delisted 39 more rice importers in a bid to stamp out rice smuggling in the country.

In a statement, BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon said their Interim Customs Accreditation and Registration (ICARE) has removed 39 rice importers from their list of importers/companies, bringing the total number of delisted importers to 170.

Biazon said they are taking an aggressive stance against rice smugglers by strengthening its pre-emptive measures.

 â€œThe BOC has nothing to do with the issuance of rice importation quota allocations as this is the function of the National Food Authority (NFA). But on our end, as a pre-emptive measure to stop rice smuggling, we are purging our list of importers/companies that may have been accredited earlier by the BOC as a general merchandise importer upon compliance of minimum requirements, but were given large rice importation allocation quota by the NFA,” Biazon said.

ICARE head Rhea Gregorio recently explained that the absence of a coordinative or data sharing arrangement between the BOC and NFA is a pressing problem that must immediately be addressed.