| James Kon |
RICE imports to Brunei Darussalam were consistent from 2013 to 2018, with the exception of 2017, during which there was a drop in imports due to a shortage in supply, according to statistics from the Treasury Department.
This has shown that it is a risk for Brunei Darussalam to subsist mainly on rice supplies from overseas.
The need to boost self-sufficiency for food security was raised yesterday at the Knowledge Convention 2018 by Haji Yusop bin Haji Mahmud, the Acting Accountant General at the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE), in his working paper, ‘Food Security and Consumer Safety Guarantee’.
“The Treasury Department plays a vital role in supporting the aspirations of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in assuring sufficient food security for the nation, especially with rice as our basic food,” he said.
He also revealed that the Treasury Department was given the mandate to import the country’s rice needs, with an import target of as much as 34,000 metric tonnes per year, from Thailand and Cambodia.
This amount includes an additional six months of safety stock, together with the country’s actual needs.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood under the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) has also come up with strategies to achieve self-sufficiency in stages, to address and reduce the reliance on rice imports.
Haji Yusop said, “To make sure that the imported rice is safe for consumption, all rice imports into the country must have a Phytosanitary Certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative in Bangkok. The certification is a mandatory requirement. Without it, the rice would not be transported to Brunei.
“In addition, a certificate of quality is also needed from the import country, to meet the quality standards. All the requirements are stipulated within the contract.
“To further ensure its quality and safeness for consumption, the department will send samples of the imported rice to the scientific lab services under the Ministry of Health for an analysis.”
Haji Yusop iterated that food security and consumer safety is the responsibility of all. “The development plans in the agriculture sector must be sustainable to ensure the survivability of the people and the nation,” he said.