SINAG blames DA for continued agri smuggling

Farmers group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) is blaming the Department of Agriculture for the “wanton” smuggling of agricultural commodities, alleging that the agency refuses to fully implement the quarantine first policy of the Republic Act No. 10611.

In a statement on Tuesday, SINAG said that the RA 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013 emphasizes that  quarantine inspection, including import permit clearance, takes the primary role before tariff collection and trade related concerns.

“Funds have already been allotted since two years ago, yet not even a single post for the construction of the first border quarantine was erected by the DA,” said Rosendo So, SINAG chairman.

“We remain to be the only country that is not applying the global standard of quarantine inspection at the port of first entry of imported food, food products, and agricultural commodities that would ensure food safety and public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic; and avert the unrestrained smuggling of agri-food products,” he added.

GMA News Online reached out to the DA for comment, but no response yet has been received as of this posting.

The DA, together with the Department of Justice (DOJ) must also be made to answer why not even a single smuggler has been put to jail despite the reported 25 anti-smuggling operations of the different government agencies, according to SINAG.

“Ano ba ang ikinaso sa kanila? Malinaw sa RA 10845 o ang Anti-Agriculture Smuggling Act na ipinaglaban ng sektor ng agrikultura, na ang kaso ay economic sabotage; bakit wala pang nakulong kung may naisampa ng kaso?” So asked.

(What cases were filed against them? The RA 10845, fought for by the agriculture sector, says that the case should be economic sabotage; but why has no one been jailed if cases were filed?)

The group said smugglers remain inspired because no one among them has been put to jail despite the clear provisions of RA 10845.

Section 5 of the said law states that “mere possession of rice or any agricultural product under this Act, which has been the subject of smuggling, entered into the Philippines other than the BOC (Bureau of Customs) controlled ports or without the necessary permits shall be prima facie evidence of smuggling.”

The group’s statement came amid the Senate committee of the whole’s investigation into the alleged “large-scale smuggling” of agricultural products.

In his privilege speech last week, Senate President Vicente Sotto III stressed that the smuggling kills and destroys the local agriculture industry and robs farmers of a decent living.

SINAG proposed the following measures:

1. Enactment/implementation of quarantine and food safety and inspection services that are at par with global standards.

Importers must first satisfy the following requirements:

•     products must originate only from certified countries and establishments, i.e. comprehensive audits of foreign country inspection system
•     equivalence determination process
•     labeling requirements, policies and methods to ensure food safety from misbranded and economically adulterated products; i.e. all labels must be truthful and not misleading
•     availability of samples for research and testing
•     on-site review, at the cost of the importer - to evaluate the six risk areas: Government Oversight, Statutory Authority and Food Safety Regulations, Sanitation, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems, Chemical Residues, and Microbiological Testing Programs
•     other aspects of  the inspections system; including plant facilities and equipment, laboratories, training programs, and in-plant inspection operations.

2. Proposal (institutional mandate) to let the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) handle importer accreditation, since the BIR will have the data (updated) on sales and equity of an importer – that is operating for at least two years.

3. 100% examination on:

•     any new importer and first time supplier
•     if an importer of an agriculture product is a trading firm who simply ship to limited Philippine companies
•     if the country of origin for the products is suspect, i.e. offal from country of origin that does not produce such volume.

4. Open information on:

•     list of all accredited importers and their SEC papers, annual financial/income report for the past three years
•     accreditation requirements and current status of importers
•     weekly submission and publication of prices and importers from source country
•     list of players and location of each Customs Bonded Warehouses (CBW)
•     data on tariffs paid and special safeguard duties (SSG) of raw materials sold locally and data on utilization of raw materials.

5. All food and agri products should only be unloaded in ports of Manila and Subic for Luzon, Cebu in Visayas, and Davao in Mindanao.

—AOL, GMA News