Philippines opened a quota of 50,000 MT of rice for Pakistan, which is likely to earn a foreign exchange of some $19 million by exporting this quantity, REAP said. Previously, Pakistan exported rice to Philippines in 2010, however for the first time Pakistan will directly export rice to Philippines and this opportunity may open new avenues for Pakistani rice exports.
According to Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP), Philippines' authorised state body, The National Food Authority (NFA) has invited the Philippines private sector to participate in the importation of an aggregate volume of 805,200 tons of rice under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) for this year. The total importation volume comprises 755,200 tons of country-specific quota (CSQ) and 50,000 MT of omnibus origin volume. Under the Country Specific Quota (CSQ) China has been allocated 50,000 MT, India 50,000 MT, Pakistan 50,000 MT, Australia 15,000 MT, El Salvador 4,000 MT, Thailand 293,100 MT and Vietnam 293,100 MT.
All rice imported under the 2015 MAV rice importation program shall be levied with a tariff of 35 percent to be paid in advance to the Land Bank of the Philippines, with the Bureau of Customs making the final assessment and valuation. Philippines has allowed importers to import well-milled rice with quality not lower than 25 percent broken or other special rice varieties.
The NFA shall accept applications for importation under the 2015 MAV 15 days from publication of the notice. Interested parties have been asked to submit pertinent documents to the Grains Marketing Operations Department at the NFA central office and pay a non-refundable processing fee of peso 50,000.
All Philippines corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorship, farmers' co-operatives and joint ventures can apply under the program. However, importers should be able to deliver the imported rice on or before November 30, 2015. Rafique Suleman, Chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) appreciated the efforts of Safdar Hayat, Ambassador of Pakistan in Philippine and his team for their continuous efforts. He said that a high profile REAP trade delegation visited Philippine in April 2015 and with the support of ambassador of Pakistan, had meetings with officials of various government department. This has resulted in now a quota of 50,000 tons of rice for Pakistan, he added.