Successful antismuggling momentum

The Department of Agriculture (DA) must take advantage of our recent antismuggling moves that have been yielding results. If it does not, industry might be successful while agriculture might not. The Alyansa Agrikultura (AA) and the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) both have information regarding recent agriculture smuggling that have not been addressed.

The latest data show recent 2015 estimates that show improvement over 2014 in the antismuggling drive. There is a decreased smuggling rate (from 36 percent to 30 percent), as well as decreased lost government revenue (from $242.6 billion to $202.5 billion). The numbers are derived from the UN Trade Statistics, which cover the top 25 countries accounting for 85 percent of total exports to the Philippines.

For 2015, UN Trade Statistics did not have any reports from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Nevertheless, the improving antismuggling momentum is clear.

Analysis

The only other improvement seen in the latest data is the decrease in the smuggling rate from 2004 to 2005. This is attributed to the then newly created Cabinet Oversight Committee Against Smuggling (Cocas). It was chaired by a secretary, with undersecretaries from four departments: Finance (DOF), Agriculture (DA), Trade and Industry (DTI), and Justice (DOJ).

There were two private sector representatives: one from agriculture (Alyansa Agrikultura) and one from Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI).  Cocas met every two weeks. There was close monitoring of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), with the BOC commissioner attending every meeting and taking quick action on the Cocas recommendations.

Unfortunately, Cocas was dissolved in 2006. Many believe this was because Cocas effectively caught “big fish” and had to be abolished to enable smuggling to continue. This actually happened. Thankfully, the 2014 36 percent smuggling rate decreased to 30 percent in 2015.

In 2014, the National Competitiveness Council created a low level version of the 2005 Cocas. This was chaired by a Department of Finance assistant secretary for the government and co-chaired by an Alyansa Agrikultura leader for the private sector. Though it was far lower than the Cocas lever of representation, the NCC AntiSmuggling Committee was partially successful in improving BOC transparency through its monthly public-private sector meetings.

DA involvement

In 2015, this committee requested that its meetings be held in the BOC Commissioner’s Conference room. Transparency further improved, and the smuggling rate decreased. Unfortunately for the past three years, while the DOF, DTI, and DOJ sent their officially designated representatives to these meetings, not once did DA do so.  Agriculture smuggling therefore remained rampant.

The first meeting of the NCC antismuggling committee under the new administration will be on Nov. 23. In a 4 a.m. meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte with six leaders of the five coalition AgriFisheries Alliance (AFA),  Duterte added smuggling to the three sectors of drugs, corrruption, and crime that he would take strong action against.  With his strong advocacy for giving justice to the poor, agriculture smuggling should now be high on Duterte’s priority list.

This smuggling not only deprives government of revenue that can be used to reduce our 40-percent rural poverty rate. It also deprives our poor farmers and fisherfolks of their livelihood when smuggled, underpriced, and even unsafe agriculture imports flood our markets in a non-level playing field. Unlike the past three years, the DA must now join the DOF, DTI, and DOJ in fighting smuggling by finally sending an official representative to the NCC’S antismuggling committee meeting next week. This is the best way for agriculture to take advantage of the anti-smuggling momentum and fulfill its mandate of agriculture development and improving small farmers and fisherfolk welfare.