Gov't awards import rights for over 255,000T rice

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) on Monday awarded import rights to 13 traders for an initial volume of 255,348 tons of rice, less than half of the amount approved for private sector purchases this year.

Gilbert Lauengco, special assistant to the NFA administrator, told reporters the rest of the bids submitted at an auction on March 23 were still being evaluated.

No details of the price or origin of the rice were released.

Private traders have been allocated 600,000 tons of imports this year, and bids for 693,748 tons were submitted last month.

"We're hoping to award more import rights within the week," NFA administrator Angelito Banayo told reporters.

Manila is looking to import 860,000 tons of rice this year, including 200,000 tons the state-run NFA has agreed to purchase from Vietnam in a government deal.

Another tender was held on Monday for rights to buy 60,000 tons of rice, the volume allocated for farmers' groups.

The Southeast Asian country, the world's biggest rice buyer before it decided to substantially cut imports this year, bought a record 2.45 million tons for 2010 needs.

(Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/04/04/11/govt-awards-import-rights-over-255000t-rice)