Importer denies smuggling Indian rice, disputes seizure of shipment

MANILA, Philippines - An importer of Indian rice yesterday denied allegations of smuggling, as its lawyer questioned the recent seizure of its 419,422 bags of rice by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Lawyer Demetrio Custodio Jr., legal counsel of Amira C Foods, said the BOC’s allegation that his client has been involved in illegal importation was “malicious” and the “height of imprudence” on the part of the agency.

“Being a supplier of the World Food Program under the auspices of the United Nations, our client has a reputation to uphold. It is a company duly established and existing for more than 50 years, with international presence as a seller of rice products in at least 40 countries,” he told reporters.

Custodio disputed the reported pronouncement of BOC that the entry last April 4 at the Subic port of Amira’s shipment was illegal.

“The rice arrived in the country legally aboard a vessel, the MV Vinalines Mighty, originally bound from India to Indonesia (and that) the rice was unloaded under the auspices of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and BOC personnel,” he said.

Custodio said Amira holds an e-way bill, which showed that the entry of their rice import was approved by BOC upon arrival at the port.

“Documents would show that the BOC boarded the vessel on the same day. Post inspection, BOC provided a general permit for MV Vinalines Mighty to discharge the imported cargo,” he said.

“More importantly, the commissioner himself personally visited Subic Freeport while the cargo was being unloaded. Neither the BOC nor the commissioner, therefore, could have been mistaken in the fact that the rice arrived in a vessel, and not in container vans,” he added, referring to Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon.

“The goods were, and continue to be, stored in two warehouses in the Subic Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), in full compliance with SBMA regulations. Our client has, and still continues to pay, all assessed costs for warehousing, fumigation, cargo upkeep, security and for retaining a globally recognized independent surveyor and inspection company for monitoring of the goods in the Subic SEZ warehouse,” he added.

Custodio alleged that the BOC railroaded the process for his client.

“Even assuming the applicability of the 30-day period to this case, our client was not given the 30-day period for filing the supposed entry. In fact, the BOC did not wait for the 30-day period to lapse before it instituted seizure and detention proceedings against our client. On May 15, 2012, less than the 30 days from the discharge of the goods on April 20, 2012, the BOC already issued a warrant of seizure and detention,” he said.

Custodio also clarified that the rice was not intended to be sold in the country.

While the goods are temporarily warehoused at the SSEZ, local importers claiming to have NFA import licenses have offered to purchase the rice. 

“While these documents have been furnished to BOC, our client did not pursue this avenue, as in fact, the Philippines was, and still is not, a target final destination for the goods,” he said.

Custodio said the rice importer was able to finalize negotiations with an international buyer in the United Arab Emirates last June.

“The full execution of this transaction, however, is being delayed by the actions of BOC, which has caused great financial and reputational damage to our client, an innocent party,” he added.