illegal onion imports trader in hot water

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has filed a legal complaint with the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office against a trading company for misdeclaring imported onions as processed food.

Through its attached office, the Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI), the DA filed the complaint against Chastity Consumer Goods Trading after two container vans of imported goods were declared as frozen fish egg balls, a processed food item not under the jurisdiction of BPI.

However, the inspection of the goods, which arrived at the Port of Subic last year, revealed thousands of cartons of yellow onions, violating the Food Safety Act and the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978. A total of 6,395 sacks of yellow onions have been confiscated.

The DA also revealed that the onion imports contained high microbiological contaminants, including E. coli, making them unsafe for human consumption.

The inspection followed after the BPI-National Plant Quarantine Services Division at the Port of Subic received "derogatory information" suggesting that the shipments might contain agricultural products not declared in the importation documents.

The onions, along with the frozen fish eggs, were found to lack the necessary Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance, a permit required to prevent the spread of harmful pests that could threaten local crops and ecosystems.

Additionally, the DA said Chastity Consumer Goods Trading is not a registered BPI importer, thus violating importation regulations.