The Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Customs thwarted anew the illegal importation agricultural products, an unfair trade practice that poses a threat to public health and domestic agriculture.
The BOC seized at the Manila International Container Port a shipment from Thailand of 3,200 cartons of fresh oranges worth PHP8.422 million that the DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry has flagged for lacking sanitary and phytosanitary import permits to ensure they are safe to consume and aren’t carrying pests that could harm local agriculture.
“We are trying to stamp out the smuggling of agricultural products not only to ensure the government collect the right amount of taxes but to ensure Filipino farmers and consumers are protected from these unscrupulous traders whose greed, wittingly or unwittingly, endangers public health and our food security,” said Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr.
“We must ensure that our borders are safe from pests that these illegally imported agricultural products may bring. We must learn from our sad and costly experience in the case of the Avian Influenza and the African Swine Fever,” the DA chief added.
Just a week earlier, the DA and the BOC raided a warehouse in Navotas with a makeshift cold storage facility to hide hundreds of tons of vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes and white onions.
This coordinated effort involved BOC agents from MICP, BPI officers, and members of the DA’s Inspectorate and Enforcement Unit.
Representatives from Customs Intelligence and Investigation Services, the Enforcement and Security Service, the Customs Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force, the X-ray Inspection Project, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were present during the 100% physical examination of the subject goods. In addition, the undocumented oranges were subjected to K-9 sweeping by PDEA personnel, however no dangerous drugs were found in the shipment.
The confiscated oranges will be subjected to condemnation proceedings in accordance with DA Department Order No. 09, series of 2010, to ensure that said goods do not reach the local market. This underscores the commitment of the BOC and DA-BPI to protect the country’s borders and prevent the entry of unsafe and illegally imported agricultural products.
The case records of the subject importation were also referred to the Bureau Action Team Against Smuggling for case build-up and eventual prosecution of personalities behind the halted unlawful importation of agricultural products, as may be warranted by collated evidence. ### (Photo by DA-BPI)
