Smuggling of agricultural products have been going on unabated because officials tasked to monitor and regulate such shipments have been sleeping on their jobs. There is also lack of coordination between the Department of Agriculture (and its attached agency, the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Bureau of Customs. Smuggling has been bleeding both the farmers and the government coffers dry.
Smuggling of vegetables and fruits like strawberries, mostly grown in the highlands of Benguet and Mountain Province, has been going on for decades.
Despite the watchful eyes of Bureau of Customs—which is tasked to collect tariffs and duties from imports—the lack of coordination between the BoC and the Department of Agriculture bureaus of animal and plant industries has just benefited the smugglers (mostly from mainland China) into sneaking these products in our shores, particularly during harvest season, thereby depressing farmgate prices to rock bottom levels.
An ongoing investigation by the Senate Committee on the Whole is now looking at the rampant smuggling of vegetables and fruits and their impact on local farmers and the revenue collection.
As Agot Balanoy, spokesman for the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Areas said prosecutors must follow through with charges filed by BoC against smugglers and their protectors, who have yet to be identified, instead of simply raiding markets and retailers (the delayed reaction of DA when being exposed in the media).
Balanoy said the smuggling of farm produce has been affecting markets since 2001 and the DA typically does not act without the filing of complaints and submission of evidence.
Only raids and confiscation
Balanoy said that in September, it took DA a month to act on smuggling complaints aired in the media by the vegetable growers by conducting market raids and confiscations without taking further action. She added that smuggled goods continued to appear in the markets in October and November, forcing her association to elevate its complaint to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III.
Ruben Paoad of the Benguet provincial council agriculture committee said farmers might grow other crops if smuggling continues. “If production from the province drops off as a result, he added, import dependence will rise.”
“It would be good if the imports were legal, but the problem is that we know they are illegal,” he said.
“The farmers are affected and the government is being deprived of revenue,” he added.
DA does not coordinate with BoC
Rosendo So, president of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, said during the hearing that the DA does not appear to coordinate its actions with the Bureau of Customs (BoC), which leads to disparities in estimates of import volumes between DA and BoC, which makes it difficult to determine what are legit and smuggled.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary for Regulations Liza G. Battad said beginning this year the DA proposed to improve its collaboration with the BoC, particularly on the matter of inspecting goods after they have been admitted into the country.
The government performs two levels of border inspections. Customs and agriculture personnel conduct a spot check with 10 percent sampling on agriculture imports at the port of entry.
And the second inspection at the DA-accredited cold storage warehouses, in which goods undergo 100 percent physical examination via x-ray.
Seizures
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said seizures of agriculture products totaled 80 in 2019, 309 in 2020, and 172 in 2021, while cases filed with the Justice department numbered 55, counting from 2019.
“Eighty-six of the total apprehensions for 2021 are covered by 29 criminal complaints filed from January 2021 to present,” Mr. Guerrero said at the hearing, noting that “one case covers multiple apprehensions.” Twenty-one cases involved violations of Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.
On Senator Panfilo M. Lacson’s question of why smugglers manage to elude government monitoring, Guerrero said: “there is inadequate space at the port to conduct full stripping of dry and refrigerated containers.”
“Due to the pandemic, the inadequacy of manpower of port operators, shipping lines, and even consignees themselves, continues to be a problem,” he added, noting that the BoC lacks the capacity and resources to do more.
The BoC’s police force currently has only 523 members, augmented by 100 Coast Guard personnel manning 17 major ports and 39 sub-ports. Of the 523 customs police, 166 are assigned to the fuel-marking project while 74 are detailed to x-ray inspection.
‘Repeat violators’
Senator Risa Hontiveros asked BoC to submit an investigative report on why repeat violators of agricultural smuggling remain brazen in their attempts to move contraband produce in the country.
Hontiveros referred to a matrix from the BOC on government operations on smuggled agricultural products, noting that based on the report, at least four companies stood out for their repeated transactions.
“Kapansin-pansin ang Zhenpin, Thousand Sunny Enterprise, Dua Te Mira, at Gingarnion Agri Trading,” the senator observed, adding that “these companies were involved in at least P400 million worth of smuggled vegetables. Ibig sabihin, halos kalahati ng [That means, in half of the] P800-million reported apprehensions [of] BOC, [these four are] involved.”
BPIasked why it allowed strawberries to be landed in Cebu
At the same Committee of the Whole hearing, senators castigated BPI officials for allowing the importation of Korean strawberries unloaded in Cebu when there is ample harvests of strawberries from Benguet.
The BPI is mandated to issue a phytosanitary clearance for imported agriculture products, including fruits and vegetables.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson confronted BPI Director Ariel Bayot on why the BPI was killing the local farm products like carrots, noting observations they are intentionally allowing entry of imported carrots during the local harvest season.
Balanoy told senators they were able to obtain BPI documents allowing the importation of Korean strawberries for Cebu, but such were declared as “ornamental plants.”
Senators were told it was purportedly intended for Koreans in Cebu but the same could be bought in high-end groceries and malls in the city.
The lawmakers learned that two container vans filled with strawberries were being delivered to Cebu every week, with each van carrying 25,000 kilos, resulting in these outlets no longer placing orders from local planters that used to supply strawberries to Cebu groceries.
According to Balanoy the claim that Korean strawberries are of better quality cannot justify the importation, as she noted that jumbo strawberries from Benguet are much bigger.
In turn, Bayot said importations were allowed not to kill the local industry but only to comply with international trade agreements.
But Bayot could not defend why the shipment of strawberries was declared as “ornamental plants.”
BPI director snubbed Senate
At the same time, Senator Kiko Pangilinan noted the non-appearance of BPI Director George Culaste, who earlier said the Korean strawberries are not considered competition since they were being sold from P1,000 to P1,500 per kilo while Benguet strawberries are sold at P300 per kilo.
Subic’s biggest seizure
Sen. Hontiveros, cited documents showing all four (abovementioned) importers as being listed among the biggest forfeiture of agricultural products at the port of Subic. Both Thousand Sunny and Dua Te Mira had been arrested three times for mis-declaring shipments and overstaying.
Gingarnion had been arrested once with the shipments of onions, carrots, and broccoli.
“How are they able to repeat their caper? From June, they did it again in July, and then again in October. Why do they keep doing it? Do these people get special consideration? We want to know why these four can continue to do their business,” Hontiveros asked.
Hontiveros then called on the BOC to delist any repeat offenders from Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 20-01, which enabled the expedited release of refrigerated containers and dry vans during Enhanced Community Quarantine.
“All repeat offenders must be gotten rid of in that JAO. That’s a privilege. And if it’s proven that they smuggled and are guilty of economic sabotage, their licenses and permits must be revoked and they must be jailed according to law,” Hontiveros said.
“Smuggling threatens our economic recovery. People like these who victimize our farmers, our entire agricultural sector, must face sanctions. Even local government units are victimized because they should have gotten bigger shares of IRA [internal revenue allotment] from BOC collections that they can use for constituents. This is not a victimless crime. This shouldn’t be allowed,” Hontiveros stressed.
Tags: #BoC, #SenateCommitteeontheWhole, #DA-BPI, #smugglingofaggieproducts, #economy