THE 4,760 metric tons of imported rice at Cebu International Port (CIP) will be released by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu which may reduce the increasing price in the market.
Of the total number of rice, Pilmico Food Inc. has 3,080 metric tons covered by four National Food Authority (NFA) import permits.
The other 1,680 metric tons of Farm Mechanism and Distribution Corp. was covered by three NFA import permits.
This week, BOC Port of Cebu District Collector Elvira Cruz has issued a Notice to File Import Entry against the two consignees, Pilmico and Farm Mechanism.
Under the Tariff and Customs Code, import consignees have 30 days to file import entry otherwise the shipments will be issued Warrant of Seizure and Detention (WSD).
Once a WSD is issued, the shipments will be put to seizure proceedings and will be sold through public auction if the consignees cannot come out with the legal documents.
The notices were issued because the rice shipments arrived in Cebu last March and the consignees failed to file import entry and import permit.
Pilmico submitted last week an owner’s copy of the import permit but not the original NFA import permit.
Yesterday, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) received an endorsement from the Office of the Customs Commissioner (Ocom) to release the rice to the consignees because the have import permits.