CEBU, Philippines — Cebu is getting a total of 25,000 metric tons of rice from the 500,000 MT the National Food Authority is planning to import by December and January next year.
The NFA said a total of 12 rice suppliers from Asian countries attended a pre-bidding conference last Nov. 7 for the importation of 500,000 metric tons of 25 percent broken, long grain white rice, as additional government buffer stocks.
The NFA conducted the pre-bidding conference to allow prospective bidders to clarify provisions of the Terms of Reference (TOR) covering the importation.
Opening of bids is set for Nov. 20.
Of the 500,000 MT, Cebu’s allocation is 25,000 MT or a total of 500,000 bags of rice.
The first half or 250,000 MT should be delivered not later than December 31, while the remaining 250,000 MT should arrive in the country not later than January 31, 2019.
The NFA Council has approved the importation of an additional 500,000 MT on top of the previous two batches of 250,000 MT rice imports delivered between June and October, and the 250,000 MT offered for bids last September 18, where only three suppliers won the award for 47,000 MT.
Another bidding for the remaining 203,000 MT will be scheduled as the second bidding conducted last Nov. 6 under a government to government scheme, failed to attract offers from the governments of Vietnam and Thailand, the only countries with a memorandum of agreement for rice trade with the Philippines.
The series of rice importations by the NFA is intended to continuously replenish the agency’s buffer stocks as President Duterte orders the sufficient food security stocks at all times. (FREEMAN)