Eight companies submitted documents to the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) yesterday, detailing their qualifications to bid for 15,000 tonnes of decade-old pledging scheme rice.
Wittayakorn Maneenet, spokesman for the Commerce Ministry, said that all eight potential bidders are rice exporters or other businesses from various provinces.
The old Hom Mali fragrant rice was leftover from the rice purchased by the government under the controversial rice-pledging scheme of the Yingluck administration.
The PWO will announce the names of the companies which pass the qualification screening this Thursday via the organisation’s website. Those bidders may then submit sealed bids for the rice on June 17, between 9am and noon. The bids will be opened in the afternoon. The bidding results will be announced on June 21st.
The highest bidder will have the right to sign a contract with the PWO within 15 days of the result of the bidding being officially announced and must make a cash down payment of 5% of their bid.
If the bidder does conclude the deal within the timeframe, the cash deposit will be forfeited. If the bidder abandons the contract, the PWO will award the contract to the second highest bidder. The first bidder will also have to pay to the PWO the difference between the two bids.
The bidder who signs the contract must pay for the full amount for the rice within 20 days of signing, otherwise the down payment will be forfeited. The bidder must also take delivery of the first lot of up to 10,000 tonnes of the rice within 20 days of the contract signing and of the remainder within 30 days.
Wittayakorn said the public should not be overly concerned about any potential health impacts from the old rice if it is sold domestically, adding that it must be tested and approved by the Medical Sciences Department and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board before it can be sold to consumers in Thailand.
If the rice is to be exported, a quality standard certificate from the Foreign Trade Department would be required.
