NFA-Bicol to unload 177K bags of rice
LEGAZPI CITY: After a week of fumigation, the National Food Authority (NFA) and Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in Bicol approved to unload 177,000 bags of NFA rice imported from Thailand that has been cleared of “bukbok” (weevil).
Henry Tristeza, regional director of NFA-Bicol, said that as soon as the weather improves, they are allowing the unloading from MV Blue Emperor 1 of the remaining 177,000 bags of weevil-infested NFA rice found insect-free after the BPI re- fumigated it.
Danilo Doblon, Plant Quarantine Service regional manager, attested to this in a letter to Tristeza and Alan Sabaybay, NFA provincial director in Albay.
The NFA officials and members of media conducted a palatability test by eating the cooked milled rice after the sensory evaluation and found the rice fit for human consumption after the 12- day re-fumigation.
The 177,000 bags of rice allocated to Bicol is part of the initial 250,000 metric tons of imported rice, equivalent to five million bags of NFA rice.
“Today is the last day after the quarantine period and the rice were supposed to be downloaded but due to weather condition the rice will remain in the MVBlueEmperor1 vessel. There are two vessels in Tabaco City International Seaport loaded with NFA rice from Thailand,” Tristeza said.
The rice arrived in the Manila seaport on June 3 but the allocation for Bicol arrived at Tabaco City International Seaport on August 17. The weevil was discovered on August 20 after NFA officials checked the rice shipment at the port.
Tristeza said this was the first time he encountered weevil infestation in imported rice in his 40 years of service at the NFA. He said this happens if rice is kept in storage for a long time and in hot and humid conditions.
The government, he added, did not lose a single centavo since, based on international protocol imported commodities, while in transit and in anchorage it is still owned by the supplier. He said the supplier from Thailand paid for the treatment of the rice shipment.
Once unloaded, the 177,000 bags of rice will be distributed in the provinces Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate.
Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Villar on Friday said the prices and supply of domestic rice would stabilize this September with the harvest of the first cropping season.
Speaking before participants of the 27th Visayas Area Business Conference and Expo here, Villar said this month would be the time to harvest local rice for the first cropping that “will stabilize the prices and supply.”
The senator, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture, also said the National Food Authority (NFA) “is mandated to buy rice from farmers at P17 and sell to consumers at P27 to P32 so that traders will not have complete control of the rice trading.”
Villar also reiterated her call to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry to put a price ceiling on rice to bring down the prices of the commercial staple.