Customs chief open to changes in inspection of agri products

MANILA, Philippines—Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said he was “amenable” to changing the Bureau of Customs’ inspection process on agricultural goods to include quarantine officers in the examination of products that are usually misdeclared or undervalued.

Biazon said this during his dialogue with various pork and hogs raisers’ organizations, who have complained that the entry of smuggled meats have hurt the industry, which is mostly composed of small and backyard piggeries.

Asked if he could allow quarantine officers to inspect incoming agricultural goods like meat and vegetables first, Biazon replied: “That is an issue that we can act on with dispatch with simple coordination with agencies.”

He added that he was open to suggestion that the Customs revise its inspection protocol on agricultural commodities curb technical smuggling, which has cut down the profits of growers and traders.

Biazon added that he would conduct post- entry audits of top meat importers to make sure that the products they buy abroad, where the cost of production is lower, do not flood the local market.

“We have the records to audit these companies to check where their products go and how much they earn,” the Bureau of Customs chief said.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala has backed proposals to include quarantine inspectors at the start of the examination of commodities from abroad.

This, he said, would help reduce the illegal entry of products that unfairly competes with produce and commodities from Filipino growers and farmers.

Those who have complained of technical smuggling, which entails the misdeclaration of goods, are industry groups from the onion, livestock, and poultry sectors.

Edwin Chen, president of the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, said the entry of choice meats classified as pork fats, offals, and skin have led to a glut of cheap pork products that have put local swine raisers at a disadvantage.

Traders and meat processors can import as much as 50 million kilos of pork at 35-percent tariff under the minimum access volume scheme. But industry data showed that 178 million kilos of pork entered the country last year.

Chen and other players in the swine industry said most of the prime pork meats that entered the Philippines were classified as fats, offal, and skin, which can be imported at 7 percent tariff.

Not only did the government lose huge revenues from pork smuggling, it also bankrupted many small-scale hog raisers, industry officials said.

National Federation of Hog Farmers president Zosimo de Leon expressed fears that the unabated smuggling of pork will discourage backyard raisers to continue their business.

De Leon also appealed to consumers to buy locally produced pork, noting that the country is the only one in Southeast Asia that is free from the dreaded foot and mouth disease.

Most of the chilled pork in the supermarkets are raised and slaughtered by local hog businesses. Pork cuts that are frozen are mostly imported from abroad, De Leon said.