MANILA – The unloading of National Food Authority-imported rice has resumed in the Port of Tabaco in Albay after the Plant Quarantine Service of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in Region 5 declared the shipment free of weevil infestation.
Plant Quarantine Service regional manager Danilo Doblon ordered to resume the discharging of the rice shipment after the BPI issued a clearance.
The BPI conducted a thorough inspection, examination and sensory evaluation of the rice samples taken from the three holds of cargo ship M/V Emperor I.
The rice shipment was subjected to a 12-day fumigation process after NFA Quality Assurance Officers discovered that 177,000 bags of the 200,000 bags allocated for the Bicol region were infested with weevils.
The imported rice from Thailand arrived in the Port of Tabaco on Aug. 17. The unloading of the 177,000 bags rice commenced on Sept. 1.
As of Sept. 5, a total of 59,308 bags were already delivered in the agency’s warehouses in Bicol. But due to inclement weather in the province, discharging of the rice shipment was slowed down.
NFA administrator Jason Aquino said the agency did not spend a single centavo in the treatment of the infested stocks because they are not yet NFA-owned.
The supplier shouldered the cost of fumigation. As stipulated in the contract, the rice stocks are only considered government owned once they are delivered in the NFA warehouses and there is final acceptance based on quality specifications.
Meanwhile, the 132,400 bags of rice from Thailand aboard MV Gazi docked in Subic Bay Freeport found to be infested also with weevils are still undergoing treatment.
The infested stocks are expected to be cleared and declared as “fit for human consumption” by BPI after its treatment on Sept. 10. (With PNA/PN)
