Philippines allows 13 companies to import rice

The Philippines’ National Food Authority will allow 13 companies to import as much as 260,000 tonnes of rice, Gilberto Lauengco, spokesman of the state agency’s bidding committee, said in an interview in Manila today.

The state agency auctioned on March 23 so-called service charge which entitles private companies to buy as much as 600,000 tonnes of rice from overseas, bulk of the Southeast Asian nation’s import requirement for the year.