More than P100-M agri contraband destroyed

UPLAND HARVEST Vegetables from Benguet province are sold in the public market of Baguio City in this photo taken on March 28. Traders of highland vegetables are complaining about the unabated smuggling at the expense of local farmers. —ALLAN MACATUNO

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has destroyed more than P100 million worth of smuggled agricultural products, including onions, carrots and seafood.

The contraband, valued at P101,134,900, were consigned to various entities, including Zhenpin Consumer Goods Trading, Gingarnion Agri Trading, and Schnell Wert OPC, and arrived in December 2020, and June and December 2021 at the Port of Subic.

The BOC reiterated that only meat and food products with import clearances issued by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health (DOH) will be released from the BOC ports.

The bureau, as part of its clearance procedures, requires importers to present permits issued by the regulatory agencies before releasing shipments.

For meat and food products, the DA and the DOH are the primary government agencies that regulate the said commodities in the country, the BOC said. —TINA G. SANTOS

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