The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is set to auction over 4,600 Metric Tons of smuggled rice, the bulk of which were seized shipments of trading firms linked to David Tan. Two separate auctions were set at the Port of Cebu and the Manila International Container Port (MICP), with both expected to generate over P149-Million for the Bureau.
The Port of Cebu is slated to auction off 67,340 sacks of smuggled rice, equivalent to 3.367-million kilograms on December 29, 2014 (Monday). The shipments were imported by Starcraft International Trading and Silent Royalty Marketing and arrived in Cebu in October 2013. These were seized by the Bureau due to the failure of the importer to obtain the required import permits from the National Food Authority (NFA).
The sale is divided into 11 lots and consists of 83 container vans of white rice, 45 container vans of glutinous rice, and 2 container vans of what was classified as ‘poor quality’ rice from Vietnam. The white rice is priced at P25.87 per kilogram, while glutinous rice was pegged at P48.67 per kilo. It is expected to generate a minimum of P112.75-Million in revenues. The public auction through sealed bidding will be conducted at the Auction and Cargo Disposal Division (ACDD) at the Cebu Customshouse, Port of Cebu. The seized goods shall be available for viewing and pre-bid conference on Tuesday, December 23, 2014.
On the other hand, the BOC-Manila International Container Port is set to auction 1.3-million kilograms of white and glutinous rice on December 23, 2014 (Tuesday). Total minimum floor price is set at P36.88-Million, or P25.84 per kilo of white rice and P34.61 per kilo of glutinous rice. The auction is divided into ten lots—nine of which are seized rice shipments of Intercontinental Grains International Trading, consisting of 8,780 sacks of white rice and 6,240 sacks of glutinous rice. One lot, consisting of 11,441 bags of white rice, was seized from Evergreen Cereal.
The Bureau filed separate smuggling-related cases against Intercontinental Grains International Trading, Starcraft International Trading and Silent Royalty Marketing for the unlawful importation of over 65-Million kilograms of rice with an estimated market value of over P2.7-Billion.
Meanwhile, the BOC-Port of Manila raised P61.9-Million from its public auction of 47,840 sacks of smuggled rice seized from Bold Bidder Marketing and San Carlos Multi-Purpose Cooperative, marginally higher than the minimum floor price of P61.87-Million on Friday (December 19). A total of 12 bidders participated in the auction, with Sta. Rosa Farm Products Corp and Victor del Rosario placing the winning bids. There were no takers for two other lots, one consisting of 5,200 bags of glutinous rice and the other seven LCD television sets.
