‘Hot potatoes’ too hot for Manila trader

A businessman was charged with unlawful importation for declaring a 2012 shipment to be made up of assorted household items when it was actually a P2.5-million cargo of potatoes.

A case for violation of Section 6301 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines was filed earlier this week in the Manila Regional Trial Court against Marlon Tan, owner of Marbatan Enterprises, a company based at FEMI Building, Andres Soriano Avenue, in Intramuros.

According to the complaint filed by the Bureau of Customs, the shipment from Korea arrived at Manila International Container Port on Nov. 14, 2012.

The bill of lading declared the contents of a 40-foot freight container consigned to Marbatan as 1,200 packages of household wares.

But a spot check conducted Nov. 19 by a customs examiner revealed that the shipment contained potatoes with an estimated market value of P2.5 million.

Importing potatoes requires a permit and sanitary clearance from the agriculture department’s Bureau of Plant Industry, the BOC said in the complaint.

The shipment was forfeited in favor of the government and the BOC filed a complaint against Tan in the Department of Justice’s Task Force on Anti-Smuggling.

A resolution by Assistant State Prosecutor Cielito Celi noted that the respondent neither attended the hearings for the preliminary investigation nor submitted a counteraffidavit.

Celi set Tan’s bail at P120,000.