The continued collaboration of the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Bureau of Customs led to the seizure of a 40-foot container van filled with fresh yellow onions, valued at approximately P3.5 million. The shipment was imported from China by JRA and Pearl Enterprise, Inc.
The container van arrived at the Port of Manila on board the vessel Green Pacific in July, a time when Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. ordered BPI to suspend the issuance of permits for onion imports.
Upon verification through the Inward Foreign Manifest, BPI–Plant Quarantine Service at Manila’s South Harbor requested BOC for a Warrant of Seizure and Detention to inspect the container’s contents. The inspection yielded 25,000 kilos of fresh yellow onions.
“It’s impossible that this shipment of onions were imported using an SPIC because we only issued sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances in late August,” said BPI director Gerard Glen Panganiban.
He said BPI has stepped up inspection of imported agricultural products on orders of Secretary Tiu Laurel to “enforce our biosecurity measures and keep out these smuggled articles to uphold the interest of our farmers and protect public health.”
“We remain steadfast in our support to the newly signed Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act. We hope that these confiscations will serve as a warning to unscrupulous traders and companies that the DA and BPI are fully committed to cracking down on these illegal trade practices that endanger not only public health but undermine the livelihood of our farmers,” he added.
On October 3, 2024, BPI and BOC officials led by Director Panganiban and Port of Manila District Collector Rizalino Jose C. Torralba, respectively, presented the confiscated container. They were joined by Assistant Director for Regulatory Services Ruel C. Gesmundo, NPQSD Chief Joan May Tolentino, PQS-South Harbor, Port of Manila Area Manager Henrick B. Exconde, and members of the DA-Inspectorate and Enforcement (DAIE) Team. Through this, the government emphasized the importance of strict regulatory implementation to safeguard Philippine agriculture. ### (DA-Bureau of Plant Industry)
