Imported fish sale ban under review

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said on Monday that it is reviewing the rule that says frozen salmon and pompano from other countries can't be sold in the wet markets.

BFAR officer-in-charge Demosthenes Escoto made this disclosure during the Senate committee hearing on agriculture, food, and agrarian reform after Senator Raffy Tulfo questioned the BFAR order in a privilege speech.

Tulfo also mentioned that the BFAR's Fisheries Administrative Order 195 might affect the livelihood of small-time vendors and the availability of some fish products.

Escoto said in response to Tulfo's query on the agency's action regarding concerns about FAO 195 that BFAR would open up a review with a wide range of stakeholders, adding that amending the order is possible.

"We are opening up the review to a wide range of stakeholders. Included in our review are the importers stated under (FAO) 195, (and) other importers," Escoto said.

"Also included in the review are stakeholders from fisheries sectors, (and) market vendors, and we will also invite owners of supermarkets (and) groceries," he added.

Escoto said that they had conducted two meetings with Metro Manila market administrators to discuss and take their views on this particular issue.

He said that BFAR hopes to move forward with a more responsive and effective rule for importing fish and fisheries products by the next quarter of next year.

FAO 195 was issued in 1999. After lawmakers and other interested parties questioned BFAR's decision to suddenly enforce the 22-year-old regulation and ban these varieties from being sold in wet markets, the bureau put a stop to its crackdown on imported fish.

Meanwhile, Tulfo and fellow Senator Cynthia Villar want to know how the sale of imported salmon and pompano reached the country's wet markets.

Tulfo questioned BFAR why it allows the selling of salmon and pompano in hotels and restaurants, but prohibited it in the wet markets.

"What's the difference?," he asked, referring to FAO No. 195 issued in 1995 that allowed traders to import frozen fish, like pompano and salmon, for "institutionalized buyers" including restaurants and hotels.

His queries came after the bureau's earlier decision to ban the sale of such fish varieties in wet markets.

"This is just part of the expanded program that we wish to implement — that market monitoring," Escoto said.

He stressed that it was just part of their information campaign and they have not yet confiscated anything in the wet markets after ordering a moratorium on its crackdown against imported fish.

Tulfo chided the BFAR for causing alarm to the local fish traders and vendors for not using the media to educate the public on the provisions of the FAO 195 since 1995.

"We recognized that it was a little bit late but we are moving forward to address that, because, for the past years, we've seen it grow, and really it's about time to (address it)," Escoto replied.

Villar, meanwhile, said the sale of imported pompano and salmon won't easily get into the wet markets unless it was smuggled or coursed through the importers.

"Why don't you drag them (importers) not these vendors in the wet market because they are just simple people who just resell what has been sold to them and bring it to the wet market. You should stop those importers and smugglers," she said.

In a resolution, Villar urged the BFAR to find out and penalize smugglers pompano and salmon in the Philippines as well as to deepen the definition of the term "institutionalized buyers" stated in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the FAO 195.

Villar likewise ordered BFAR to review the IRR.

Escoto replied the bureau will be responding to calls to spare small retailers and instead go after importers who violate the order.