The government is not doing enough to stem the smuggling of agricultural products in the country, as authorities confiscated only 10 percent of the smuggled onions entering the market, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said Saturday.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) should be stricter in monitoring the entry of these imported agricultural products, Rosendo So, SINAG president and chairman, said in an interview on Dobol B TV.
“These smuggled onions that are confiscated are only small compared to the total smuggled onions entering the country,” So added.
Last weekend, the DA cautioned the public against purchasing onions from online platforms as these may be illegally imported into the country.
Some P3.9 million worth of allegedly smuggled white onions were recently confiscated by authorities at Divisoria market in Manila.
group…So said authorities should file the appropriate cases against smugglers and brokers too.
“The problem is, for the past year, no cases have been filed against smugglers,” he added.
Some importers also misdeclare their products to be able to smuggle agricultural products into the country, So said.
