BOC raps importer, Customs broker over 101 MT illegal garlic shipments

The Bureau of Customs on Thursday filed smuggling complaints against a company that illegally imported garlic worth P30 million.

 

The BOC said Aiza Cita Asan Salise, owner and proprietor of Good Earth Merchandise, and Customs broker Antonio Castro Enriquez were charged for violation of Presidential Decree No. 1433 for importing garlic without a permit or clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry, and Section 3601 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines for the unlawful importation.

 

The complaint stemmed from the confiscation of 101 metric tons or 101,460 kilograms of garlic smuggled from Hong Kong at the Port of Batangas last June.

 

The garlic shipments packed in 10-kg bags arrived in four 40-foot container vans last June 1 and June 12. The shipments were declared as raw materials for chocolate.

 

"As the garlic was misdeclared, the shipment had no phytosanitary clearance as mandated by the Department of Agriculture for imported agricultural products, and both the importer and broker neither declared nor paid the correct duties and taxes for shipments," the bureau said.

 

The shipments will undergo forfeiture proceedings in favor of the government. If cleared of phytosanitary threats, the government may sell the garlic to help temper rising prices of the commodity.

 

The confiscation of the shipments came as retail prices for garlic soared from the usual P60 to P90 per kilo, to as high as P300 to P400 per kilo.

 

The Customs Bureau said garlic prices have increased by 213 percent in the first quarter of 2014 alone, based on monitoring by the Department of Agriculture. – Mark Merueñas/VS, GMA News