Customs seeks lifting of TRO on seized rice

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has sought the lifting of an order enjoining the National Food Authority from holding rice shipments without the required import permits.

The Regional Trial Court of Lemery, Batangas issued last Nov.15 an order preventing the NFA from requiring entities bringing rice into the Philippines to  secure an import permit. 

The temporary restraining order (TRO), issued by Branch 5 presiding  Judge Eutiquio Quitain  is effective for a period of 20 days or until Dec. 5. 

The TRO was in response to the petition filed by Bold Bidder Marketing and General Merchandise of a certain Ivy Souza, who claimed that NFA had no basis for requiring import permits since the quantitative restrictions on rice importation under the World Trade Organization-General Agreement (WTO-GATT) expired in June last year.

The BOC, however, argued that Judge Quitain should not have issued the TRO without first conducting a summary hearing where all the parties, including the government, should have been heard.

Aside from this, the BOC claimed that Souza failed to clearly establish her right under current laws.

The BOC likewise cited Republic Act No. 8178 or the Agricultural Tarrification Act and Presidential Decree No. 4 or the National Grains Authority Act which impose restrictions on rice importation and require the procurement of an import permit as a pre-condition for rice importation.

Souza was also found to have failed to file income tax returns in the past years except for 2012, according to records from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Among the other rice importers questioning NFA’s move to seize rice shipments not covered by import permits is Starcraft International Trading Corporation, which lodged its complaint at the Manila Regional  Trial Court.
The Manila RTC, however, junked Starcraft’s application for a TRO.

The Vietnam Food Association, the official regulatory body of Vietnam’s rice exporters, earlier asked the government to come out  with its policy on rice importation from countries whose quantative restrictions had expired.