PERSISTENT THREAT | Customs officers in 2018 inspect white onions worth P4.5 million smuggled from China. Smuggling continues to undermine the country’s economy and food safety. (File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has decided not to sell smuggled white onions confiscated in November until early this month, saying those batches of produce were deemed unsafe for consumption.
The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) continues to inspect the impounded goods. But the results of 1,000 metric tons of white onions examined so far through phytosanitary analysis, or the monitoring of crops for plant diseases, “have not been encouraging,” according to DA’s deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez.
“Firstly, some of the confiscated onions … have deteriorated, and this would affect the others,” he said at a press briefing on Saturday.
He also noted that sanitation was not observed in the storage areas where the onions were found, which makes them unsafe “for human consumption.”
“The infestation is not safe also for our industry,” Estoperez said.
On Sunday last week, he said the DA may sell the onions at its Kadiwa stores after their inspection.
But on Saturday, he said “we will not risk … selling these to Kadiwa [now]. That’s no longer an option.”
Asked later how consumers can easily tell if the onions sold in the market are safe to eat, he said these onions could be deemed fit for consumption only after a phytosanitary analysis, which is conducted either at the country of origin or, in the case of smuggled items, upon their confiscation.
The DA earlier said the BPI had not authorized any importation of white onions in the latter half of this year, when the product has also been in short supply.
The deparment, together with the Bureau of Customs and other agencies, has been inspecting various ports and warehouses, leading to the confiscation of huge volumes of white onions.
Among the shipments intercepted were 100 metric tons, which was worth P30 million discovered on Nov. 29 at Manila International Container Port, and another batch of 1,147 bags of white onions worth P2 million which was kept at a warehouse in Tondo, Manila, on Dec. 2.
Charges being prepared
On Tuesday, the two cargo vans at the Port of Subic Bay were found containing red and white onions, carrots, frozen lobster balls and crabsticks, and other smuggled goods.
In response to these reports, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said it was coordinating with the government in preparing charges against the smugglers as well as against owners of warehouses storing the illegally shipped produce.
“For the past month, everyone [in government] had announced that no white onions are being locally produced and that (the ones in the market) are all smuggled. So these [circumstances] can be cited in the case,” the group’s president, Rosendo So, said in a dzBB interview on Saturday.
He said about 36 million kilos of onions were smuggled into the country last year.
The DA said it was preparing charges in connection with the recently seized contraband.