The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) signed on January 27,  a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) to facilitate the exchange of data on traded agricultural commodities, primarily on unfair trade practices and surge of imports.

The DSA, which is governed by the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act, is one of the initiatives forged between DA and BOC to ensure that local agri-fishery products will remain competitive with imported counterparts.

Through this initiative, critical and intelligence information can be shared and acted upon by each agency promptly. It also strengthens their coordination on various inspection and control procedures to ensure food safety, and collection of right amount of custom duties, among other mutual benefits.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar lauded the initiative as information and communication technology is the way forward. “Credible and timely information is crucial in crafting policies, especially in this digital age,” he said.

“I have been very firm in my stand on transparency and I will do everything in my power to implement this along with our partner-agencies, as it is our moral duty to safeguard the welfare of our agricultural frontliners — our farmers and fisherfolk,” Secretary Dar added.

For his part, BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero welcomed the initiative and highlighted the partnership between the DA and BOC. He assured that the BOC will be a reliable partner in ensuring that the implementation of trade remedy measures on agricultural goods is backed by solid and timely data. ### (Bethzaida Sarian, DA-AFID)