Smuggled onions, carrots worth P21-M seized at Subic

The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday inspected the confiscated fresh carrots and yellow onions amounting to P21 million at the Port of Subic.

In a statement, DA said the five containers were aboard SITC Licheng docked on 15 August and were imported from China by Betron Consumer Goods Trading.

Upon the shipment’s arrival, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Plant Quarantine Service requested BOC to inspect the contents of the five containers.

Betron’s declared the cargo as frozen fish egg balls; the inspection, however, revealed a substantial quantity of fresh vegetables: 58 metric tons (MT) of carrots and 86 MT of yellow onions.

According to the DA, import regulations mandate that fresh vegetables and other agricultural commodities require sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances issued by the BPI. Processed food items, on the other hand, require securing permits from the Food and Drug Administration.

“Clearly, these are smuggled goods that rob our government of tariff revenue, pose a risk to public health, and undermine the livelihood of our vegetable farmers,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said.

“As directed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., we will be relentless in our effort to go after these smugglers,” he added.

BPI director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said that samples from the confiscated vegetables will undergo food safety testing.

Imported agricultural products that are deemed unsafe for human consumption will be condemned and destroyed, according to the DA.