MANILA, Philippines—The National Food Authority (NFA) on Thursday alerted the Bureau of Customs anew to the possible arrival of 120,000 metric tons of rice from Vietnam, for which the agency had not issued import permits.
The NFA warned about the imminent arrival of the illegal rice shipments even as the agency pursued smuggling charges against five consignees of 243,000 bags of milled rice that arrived in Davao without NFA permits in July and September.
International media last month came out with reports about private importers in the Philippines having closed sales deals with exporters from Vietnam involving a total of 120,000 MT of rice.
NFA Administrator Orlan Calayag, however, said that no trader had applied with the NFA for the necessary import permit. This means that the shipments would be considered contraband if and when they land in the Philippines.
Calayag said in a statement that he had written a letter to Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon informing him of the situation.
He said that in the past, rice was smuggled into the country in container vans from Vietnam through various ports in Thailand, Singapore or Taiwan.
Based on the Philippines’ international trade commitments, the country may import a minimum of 350,000 MT yearly.
Of this volume, 187,000 MT may come from any country. According to the commitments that the Philippines has made to the World Trade Organization on country-specific quotas, the remaining 163,000 MT may come only from China, India, Australia or Thailand.