Gov’t seizes P650M worth of illegal food items as of Feb
More than P650 million worth of food items that were misdeclared, overvalued and entered illegally were seized as of February, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In a report, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste Jr. said imported farm and fishery products amounting to P548.56 million were confiscated from April to November 2021 while smuggled food items worth P109 million were captured from January to February this year.
“We are relentless in our joint efforts to confiscate all illegal imported farm, fishery and food products to protect not only our farmers and fisherfolk, but also our agri-fishery sector from transboundary diseases, and our countrymen from unsafe and unhygienic food items,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.
The DA, the Bureau of Customs, the Department of Trade and Industry and other member-agencies of the Sub-Task Group on Economic Intelligence and Compliance and Regulatory Enforcement for Security and Trade Office got hold of P46 million worth of smuggled agri-fishery, frozen meat and products from China on Feb. 8, 9 and 15.
They also confiscated P42 million worth of misdeclared fishery products from Vietnam in a cold storage in Meycauayan, Bulacan on Jan. 31; misdeclared frozen meat in Antipolo and Quezon City worth P11 million on Feb. 8 and 9 and smuggled fresh vegetables at Manila International Container Terminal amounting to P10 million on Jan. 21.
Earlier, government agencies seized P121.3 million worth of undervalued imported rice shipped in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo on April 5, 2021; P101.5 million worth of red onions in Subic on July 8, 12 and 19, 2021; P100 million worth of African swine fever-infected meat and assorted agri-fishery products in Navotas on May 27, 2021 and P72 million worth of assorted vegetables and red onions at CDO Port on Nov. 19, 2021.
Local authorities also confiscated P70 million worth of assorted vegetables in Subic on Nov. 18, 2021; P50-million worth of red onions at CDO Port on Nov. 8 and 9, 2021; P15-million assorted vegetables in Subic on Oct. 13 and 14, 2021; P10-million agri-fishery products in Calumpit, Bulacan, on Sept. 1, 2021; P4.7-million assorted vegetables in Malabon City and 1,874 sacks of sugar in Navotas on April 18 and 19, 2021.
“We commend the men and women of the DA, BOC, DTI and the composite teams of STGEI and CREST-O for their continued intelligence gathering and vigilance to prevent smuggling and apprehend offenders,” he added.
