The Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Customs will beef up intelligence sharing and profiling to address the smuggling of agricultural products, Customs spokesman Arnaldo dela Torre Jr. said yesterday.
Dela Torre said the BOC has already carried out 709 seizures as of early January, confiscating smuggled goods with an estimated value of P24.28 billion.
Of the amount, P12 billion in illegal drugs were seized, P7.69 billion in counterfeit goods, and P1.87 billion in agricultural products, most of which came from China.
“The last shipment we confiscated, on paper they declared the content to be fish balls, but it turned out to be onions,” he said.
He said Customs and DA held a series of meetings and agreed to coordinate closer even at just the stage of accrediting consignees to hasten the validation and clarification of permits issued by the Agriculture Department.
“We will also strengthen our intelligence and enforcement capabilities, especially in profiling to support our risk management,” dela Torre added.
He said the DA provided focal persons to rapidly validate issued permits.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who sits as the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, earlier vowed to run after persons involved in agricultural smuggling.
Over the weekend, the BOC-Port of Batangas seized the vessel MV Sunward for alleged sugar smuggling.
The vessel was found to be carrying 4,000 metric tons of Thailand white refined sugar without any import permit.
Meanwhile, at least 10 flight crew members of flag carrier Philippine Airlines may face sanctions after they were caught bringing in undeclared fruits and vegetables, including onions, from Riyadh and Dubai, the Bureau of Plant Industry said.
The BPI said the crew members were unable to present import and phytosanitary permits needed to bring in agricultural items.
PAL said it was already investigating the incident.
“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 last January 10,” PAL spokesperson Ma. Cielo Villaluna said in a statement.
“Philippine Airlines does not condone any violation of customs regulations. We will impose the appropriate disciplinary sanctions subject to the results of the investigations,” she added.