DA cancels P700 million rice shipment from Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the Department of Agriculture  had ordered the cancellation of the import permit for a P700-million rice shipment from Vietnam, days before the vessel arrived in the Philippines.

In a statement yesterday, Tiu Laurel said the permit covering the rice cargo aboard MV Tay Son 2 was revoked before the vessel reached Philippine waters.

“It was the DA, through my office, that stopped the shipment by ordering the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) to cancel its sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance, even though the vessel was already on its way to the Philippines,” he said.

The import permit was canceled at the request of Planters Product Inc. (PPI), which had applied to import 25 percent broken rice but was later informed that the shipment contained five percent broken rice instead.

The PPI also notified the DA that the contract had already expired, as delivery was originally scheduled for July before the peak wet harvest season when supplies were tighter.

MV Tay Son 2 was carrying 12,480 metric tons of rice from Vietnam, equivalent to about one-third of the country’s daily rice requirement, based on the import application.

The vessel had arrived at the Port of Davao on Sept. 14. However, its captain refused to submit the ship for BPI inspection.

The MV Tay Son 2 left Davao on Sept. 17 as the Bureau of Customs (BOC) was still determining how to handle the cargo.

This prompted the DA to issue a hold order on the shipment and alert customs authorities against any attempt to unload the rice elsewhere in the country.

The Philippine Navy later intercepted the vessel off Sarangani and escorted it to the Port of General Santos City, where the captain again resisted efforts by the BPI to inspect the cargo.

The vessel was eventually directed to return to Davao.

The BPI had recommended returning the rice to Vietnam, Tiu Laurel said, adding that the BOC may also seize the shipment and impose penalties, based on its findings.