The government will import another 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to ensure stocks amid quarantine measures being enforced by the government to stem the Covid-19 outbreak, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said.
Nograles, spokesman of the Interagency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, told an online briefing that the volume would be on top of the 300,000 MT earlier recommended by the Department of Agriculture.
READ: Agriculture dep’t eyes extra 300,000 metric tons of rice imports
Importation will be done by the state-run Philippine International Trading Corp. “through government-to-government arrangements,” Nograles said.
Nograles also reiterated the IATF’s earlier directive to ensure unhampered movement of cargo and workers from permitted establishments such as agriculture and food manufacturing, as well as their suppliers. (PressONE.ph)
Source of preview image: Department of Agriculture Western Visayas