Benguet tillers slam smuggling of carrots

FARMERS from Benguet province, who have been growing carrots for Metro Manilans for decades, have assailed the reported smuggling of carrots from China and Europe into the Philippines. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Vegetable farmers from the province are complaining about unfair competition with the entry of cheaper carrots flown in from Taiwan but packed in boxes marked “Product of China.”

The Benguet Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative (BFMC) said the imported carrots were being sold in markets in Metro Manila at prices much less than those grown in the province.

Augusta Balanoy, BFMC executive manager, noted that restrictions in the import of vegetables, including carrots, were still being enforced as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Free Trade Agreement and the Asean Economic Community Integration had yet to start in December.

“This brings us to the [conclusion] that imported carrots seen in Metro Manila markets may have been smuggled into the country,” Balanoy said in a report dated Aug. 14.

Records from the UN Commission on International Trade said 350,775 kilograms of carrots were imported to the Philippines by China (341,175 kg) and the Netherlands (9,600 kg) in 2014, according to Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag).

But only 12,133 kg of carrots were recorded to have entered the country by the Bureau of Customs, suggesting that 338,642 kg were smuggled into the country, said Rosendo So, Sinag president.

Concerned government agencies responsible for checking the entry of imported or smuggled vegetables should be more vigilant, according to a BFMC report sent to Joan Bacbac, coordinator of the Cordillera High Value Commercial Crops unit of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The cooperative urged the DA to inspect the smuggled commodities being sold openly in Metro Manila. It asked the department to promote locally produced vegetables and to encourage consumers to buy Filipino products.

During a news conference last week, Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan said that when he approached the Bureau of Plant Industry about his province’s competitors, he was told that the agency had not issued any phytosanitary permits for new carrot imports.

Benguet carrots sell for P30 to P50 a kg at La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post here. BFMC said imported carrots sell for P5 to P15 less than those grown and harvested in Benguet.

Balanoy said farmers had been forced to match the prices set by traders selling imported carrots.

“Buyers would always base their buying price on the imported carrots. If Benguet farmers offer their carrots at P45 a kg, buyers would tell them that it should be P40 [to match the import’s price range],” she said.

The BFMC report said samples of the imported carrots, which they retrieved from Manila’s Divisoria market, appeared to have been in storage for some time.