P40-M smuggled poultry products busted in Zambales

The government continues to gain ground in its ongoing campaign against the smuggling of agricultural goods as authorities recently confiscated P40 million worth of poultry products that had entered the country illegally.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it would immediately initiate prosecution of consignee Abucayan Business and Trade for misdeclaration and misclassification of illegal shipment intercepted in Zambales.

In a March 2 operation, agents of the DA, Bureau of Customs, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Bureau of Animal Industry seized two containers of dressed chicken, duck head and duck neck that had been declared as squid rings.

The containers under Abucayan were also reportedly lacking the necessary documents, including sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance, according to the DA.

“The action, which led to the confiscation of the said shipment, is related to the ongoing directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to curb illegal trade activity to enable Filipino farmers and fishers to increase income and make locally grown agricultural produce more competitive,” it added.

Early in March, the DA reported they had discovered illegally-procured refined sugar totaling P150.8 million. They were in containers measuring 20 feet each, which hold 30,160 bags of refined sugar. The entire cargo has a total weight of 1.5 million kilograms.

The DA is set to file criminal charges against the shipments’ consignee JB8 Consumer Goods Trading.

Crackdown

Illegal entry of agricultural products is punishable by law, particularly Republic Act No. 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013 and RA No. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.

Large-scale agricultural smuggling refers to shipments worth at least P1 million for most farm products or a minimum of P10 million for rice, as defined by RA No. 10845.

The same law states that life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product and the aggregate amount of the taxes, duties and other charges avoided would be imposed on any person who commits any large-scale agricultural smuggling.

The DA has been inspecting container vans at major ports nationwide, hoping to put an end to the illicit trading of food products.

To recall, in December last year, the agency filed cases against five unidentified consignees. It was also in coordination with the Department of Justice to explore all means to end this illegal activity. At that time, the DA said they had seized agricultural products amounting to P500 million. INQ