Monitoring intensified in piers, ports vs. agricultural smuggling, says DA exec

The Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said it is working closely with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to intensify the monitoring in piers and ports against agricultural smuggling, particularly of carrots.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes said this in a radio interview, after a Senate hearing on Monday revealed that farmers in La Trinidad, Benguet, are losing an average of P2.5 million daily since the start of 2022 because of agricultural smuggling.

“‘Yan ang pinaiigting ng Bureau of Customs at ng DA diyan sa mga piers at mga ports ‘yung pagpasok niyan. Dapat talaga makumpiska na ‘yan. Ibig sabihin, talagang ‘wag na papasukin dito,” Reyes said.

(That is what the BOC and the DA are intensely looking at now in piers and ports. The smuggled crops should be confiscated and not be brought here.)

“Hindi po tayo nagbibigay ng import permit ng carrots. Ibig sabihin niyan, puslit ‘yan. Nakikiusap tayo sa mga traders na nakakasakit ‘yan sa ating mga magsasaka,” he added.

(We do not issue import permits for carrots. Those are smuggled. We appeal to the traders that those acts hurt our farmers.)

During the Senate hearing on Monday, League of Association at the LA Trinidad Vegetable Trading Areas public relations officer Agot Balanoy said the volume of smuggled carrots has doubled from 20% in 2021 to 40% this year despite the claims that there are confiscations being conducted by government agencies.

Reyes said consumers prefer imported carrots because they have no tariffs, making them more affordable than homegrown ones. Aside from that, imported carrots are usually bigger in size.

“Consumers prefer siyempre mas magagandang carrots pero gayunpaman, ‘yan po ay bawal. Sabi natin, tangkilikin natin ‘yung sariling atin,” he said.

(Consumers of course prefer these carrots but nonetheless, that is illegal. Let’s just support the crops produced by our own farmers.)

For the farmers that are having trouble selling their crops, Reyes said they could reach out to the DA’s Marketing Assistant Division to help them trade their products in urban areas such as Metro Manila. —KBK, GMA News