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Agri chief warns importers face blacklisting for holding shipments in ports

Workers unload 420 thousand sacks of rice at the port of Manila in Tondo on Thursday. The rice shipment from Thailand is part of the contingency supply to augment the buffer stock as the dry spell continues to affect supply from rice-producing provinces. Photo: ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Agriculture Chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. warned importers of possible blacklisting in case they are deliberately holding rice inside the ports.This comes after reports that hundreds of containers of imported rice have been left languishing inside ports in Manila.&quot;Definitely kailangan may blacklist yung mga ganoon klaseng importers. But of course, we have to really go look at ano ba nangyari para makita talaga. Maybe may justified reason naman or whatever,&quot; said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.(We need to blacklist those kinds of importers but we have to look at what really happened. We have to see if they have justified reasons or something.)The Department of Agriculture said that like many imports, it would require a court order before abandoned shipments can be sold in Kadiwa stores.The Philippine Ports Authority said all unclaimed shipments will be turned over to the Bureau of Customs if they fail to claim it within the given deadline.According to PPA, 530 containers of rice remained inside the ports of Manila as of Wednesday morning.&quot;Titingnan po natin dahil hindi naman ang mga consignee ay mag-aabiso kung kelan nila kukunin. So sa ngayon po hangga’t hindi pa po nila napu-pullout yan ay hindi natin malalaman talaga ang tamang bilang kung ilan po ang na-pullout within today,&quot; said PPA General Manager Jay Santiago.(The consignees do not declare as to when they will claim the shipments. As long as they are not pulling it out, we cannot be certain how many containers will be pulled out today.)Tiu Laurel Jr. also allayed the fears of farmers that palay prices might drop with the big volume of imports coming into the country.&quot;Ang only reason na bababaan presyo natin sa ngayon ay dahil kulang talaga tayo sa post-harvest facilities. Kaya tag-ulan, basa ang palay. So, dyan nakakapag-take advantage yung mga trader na ibaba yung kanilang presyo,&quot; Tiu Laurel said.(The only reason palay prices will drop is our lack of post-harvest facilities. During this season, palay is wet so traders can take advantage in buying palay at lower prices.)&quot;Dahil sila lang ang makakapagpatuyo nito. Actually, yun ang main issue, hindi yung importation. Kasi yung importation na mamonitor natin is sapat lang sa kakulangan ng ating production. So, walang over eh,&quot; Tiu Laurel said.(Only traders can dry the palay. That&#x27;s the main issue, and not importation. We only import what we need. There is no excess.)<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2SQmoOntYKQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

This comes after reports that hundreds of containers of imported rice have been left languishing inside ports in Manila.

This comes after reports that hundreds of containers of imported rice have been left languishing inside ports in Manila.