Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said Tuesday the delay in the shipping and delivery of imported agricultural products was due to weather disturbances, including recent typhoons.

“The delay was caused by force majeure,” he said.

Last week, the agriculture chief urged the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to expedite the movement of nearly 1,000 container vans of imported rice, most of which have been sitting in Manila ports for months.

PPA general manager Jay Santiago said Monday in a Palace briefing that more than 888 shipping vans have been stationary in Manila ports, containing over 23 million kilograms, or 23,000 metric tons, of imported rice.

Of this, he said 300 containers were pulled out by their respective consignees last week, and he expects more to be removed before the end of the month.

Nonetheless, Department of Agriculture (DA) spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa, said the agency is still determining whether crimes were committed regarding the delayed release of grain imports.

According to Laurel, closer cooperation with the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the PPA will help the DA better time importation to enhance domestic food supply management and ensure food security.

“This would help improve our supply and price forecasting and avoid artificial shortages caused by product hoarding. Data we gather will also help us determine which importers to blacklist, if needed,” he said.

The DA is considering adding requirements to import permits issued by its agencies, particularly the Bureau of Plant Industry and Bureau of Animal Industry.

This is to ensure that imported agricultural food products are immediately delivered to warehouses and sold in the market, the agency said.

The PPA will send a report to the DA on the overstaying of imported agricultural food products and ask the BoC to declare these shipments abandoned for proper disposition, Santiago said.

PPA officials earlier suspected that consignees of container vans were deliberately holding up the release of rice imports to reduce warehousing costs or in anticipation of higher market prices.