The Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday reiterated that travelers may not bring in vegetables, regardless of quantity, into the Philippines without the required import permits and clearances.
The importation of such requires Plant Quarantine Clearance (for personal use) or Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (for commercial use) from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
“Any person/company intending to import plants/plant products shall file an application for Plant Quarantine Clearance (personal purposes) or Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (commercial purposes) with the National Plant Quarantine Services Division prior to importation. This is to safeguard and prevent the spread of plant pests in the Philippines,” the Port of NAIA stated in its advisory.
The port came up with the reminder after 10 flight crew of Philippine Airlines were intercepted for carrying more than 20 kilos of onions from Dubai and Riyadh.
PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said Philippine Airlines does not condone any violation of Customs regulations.
“We are investigating the incident involving ten crew members who were found to be carrying undeclared vegetables and fruits in their baggage after flying in from Riyadh and Dubai. We will impose the appropriate disciplinary sanctions subject to the results of the investigations,” she said.
Villaluna added: “We are fully cooperating with the Customs authorities on this matter. We reiterate to all our personnel the need to adhere strictly to customs regulations at all times.”
Lawyer Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang, Customs Deputy Collector for Passenger Service at the NAIA, said the onions together with 10.5 kilos of lemons and a kilo of strawberries were found being carried by the crew of PAL flights PR-655 and PR-659, which arrived at Terminal 1 on Jan. 10, without the required import documents.
Mangaoang said the crew violated Presidential Decree 1433 (Plant Quarantine Law of 1978), and also Section 1404 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) for their “failure to declare (the) baggage.”
“Customs examiners asked the cabin crew members if they had anything to declare and also informed them the consequences of not declaring, to which they replied in the negative,” said Mangaoang.
Citing a report (memorandum) from Customs examiners, Mangaoang said, one of the flight attendants involved was heard or noticed saying “sirain natin para hindi nila mapakinabangan” (let’s destroy it so no one else will use it), referring to the confiscated agricultural produce.
She added that other crew members then “started to stomp on the goods, sprayed disinfectant, and poked the goods with their chopsticks and pens also in public view.”
The Customs memorandum, which was submitted to the Office of the NAIA District Collector, also stated “the behavior showed by the above-mentioned cabin crew members were conduct unbecoming of an employee, unethical, a direct insult and disrespect to the persons in authority.”
Mangaoang said her office is considering lodging a complaint against “PAL authorities” on the matter.
