BLT to stop agricultural smuggling

No, BLT here does not refer to Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT). It instead refers to the Biazon-Lim Team (BLT) of the Bureau of Customs (BoC). BLT has given farmers and fisherfolk renewed hope in their heretofore losing battle against smuggling.

Alyansa Agrikultura leaders met BoC Commissioner Ruffy Biazon last September 30 and BoC Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim two days ago. On both occasions, they were encouraged by the commitment and courage shown by these two newly appointed officials.

But to successfully accomplish PNoy’s “tuwid na daan” (straight path), it is imperative that BLT works with other forces, which should include the farmers and fisherfolk. This is because they are the most affected sector and have access to important smuggling information.

Rampant smuggling

The International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics, and our very own National Statistics Office have reported annual agricultural import value levels that are generally 30 percent higher than the BOC recorded levels.

This difference is due to outright or technical (i.e., undervaluation, misdeclaration, or misclassification) smuggling.

This deprives our government of more than P100 billion in annual revenue. More importantly, it robs our people of jobs they badly need because of unfair competition from smuggled products.

Since the Alyansa believed that certain key BoC officials were not serious about fighting smuggling and in fact benefited from it, the Alyansa filed a case against BoC in the Ombudsman’s office regarding one blatant violation. In addition, the Alyansa teamed up with the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) and the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) to propose an Anti-Smuggling Bill (ASB) as early as the 13th Congress six years ago.

With Rep. Erin Tañada as a key champion, the ASB was approved by the House of Representatives, but not by the Senate “for lack of time.”

The ASB was also not passed during the 14th Congress because of “other priorities.” It is now being discussed in the 15th Congress, but who knows what will happen next?

Political will

Many of the key provisions in the ASB can actually be implemented even without a law. All it takes is political will. But since this will was lacking in the past, these provisions were included in the proposed anti-smuggling law that would legally require these to be implemented. Lack of political will would then not be an obstacle to their execution.

However, BLT shows political will. Even without waiting for the ASB’s passage into law, BLT has said it will already implement some of these provisions.

One initiative is a stop to the practice of some BoC personnel to consciously present weak anti-smuggling cases so that these cases fail and the smugglers go scot-free. The BoC now intends to actively solicit, instead of the present practice of preventing, the submission by private sector lawyers of additional evidence and information that can strengthen the anti-smuggling cases.

A second initiative is that the BoC will work actively with the Department of Agriculture (DA) in systematically examining the Inward Foreign Manifest (IFM) to automatically catch all the smuggled items that do not have the required import permits. The IFM provides information on the products being imported, the vessel used, the date of arrival, and the port of entry. This is a very simple and effective procedure to catch smuggling, but it is only now that the BoC will do it.

A third initiative is that the BoC will harness the private sector, following PNoy’s advocacy of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Leaders knowledgeable about smuggling have already been identified from the Alyansa for agriculture and the FPI for industry. They will help BoC secure and analyze information that will lead to smuggling apprehensions.

Rural broadcasters

Inspired by BLT, the Alyansa forged an agreement with Louie Tabing, Philippine Federation of Rural Broadcasters (PFRB) president, to solicit farmer and fisherfolk feedback on any smuggling activity they know about. This will broaden the anti-smuggling fight because of the nationwide network of the Alyansa and the rural broadcasters, who will announce this campaign over the radio.

Those who know of any smuggling activity, please call or text details such as the product being smuggled and the place where it is happening to 0918-9302118. You can also e-mail this information to [email protected]. The PFRB and the Alyansa will then consolidate this information and send this to BLT for action. With BLT, other government agencies such as DA and the private sector acting in PPP unison, the fight against agricultural smuggling promises to be a victorious quest.

(The author is chairman of Agriwatch, former secretary for presidential flagship programs and projects, and former undersecretary for Agriculture, and Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax 8522112.)