The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in Region V has cleared the National Food Authority’s (NFA) imported rice in Port of Tabaco in Albay free from weevil infestation.
In a statement on Friday, Sept. 7, the clearing of BPI’s Plant Quarantine Service would mean the resumption of rice distribution in the region.
After 177,000 of the 200,000 bags allocated for the Bicol region were found infested with weevils, the shipment was fumigated for 12 days.
The shipment, which came from Thailand, arrived in the Philippines last Aug. 17. It was only unloaded on Saturday, Sept. 1.
As of Wednesday, only 59,308 bags of rice were delivered to NFA’s warehouses due to the inclement weather.
NFA also reported that another 132,400 bags of rice from Thailand docked at Subic Bay Freeport were also being fumigated.
“The infested stocks are expected to be cleared and declared as ‘fit for human consumption’ by BPI after its treatment on September 10,” NFA said.
NFA Administrator Jason Laureano Y. Aquino in the same statement said that they are “working double time to fast track the unloading and delivery of rice to ensure the continuous and uninterrupted supply of the low-priced NFA rice in the market.”
“We are also putting up more outlets nationwide and implementing several rice distribution strategies to make the P27.00 and P32.00 per kilogram NFA rice more accessible and available,” he added. — Anna Gabriel A. Mogato

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