Farm producers want Customs to pin down smugglers

MANILA, Philippines – A group of farm producers under the Samahang Industriya sa Agrikultura (Sinag) has called on Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to put more teeth to its anti-smuggling drive  and file charges of economic sabotage against those who attempted  to smuggle 87 containers of onions into the country.

“This is the litmus test  on both the resolve of the Duterte government to combat smuggling and the effectiveness of the recently signed law – RA 10845, that decreed the smuggling of agricultural products as an act that constitute economic sabotage,” said Sinag chair Rosendo So.

“We are hoping this time these smugglers will be apprehended, charged and punished accordingly. Many in the agriculture sector voted for President Digong (Duterte) because of his campaign promise to end smuggling,” he added.

According to Sinag, they were alerted by a source at the Bureau of Customs that these 87 containers were abandoned by the consignee, Sanfred Trading and Great Light Trading. 

“They wanted these shipments to be inspected at their warehouse. Next thing we knew, they had  already abandoned their shipments citing decomposition. Most of the shipments were declared as garlic, but the content was onion,”  So said.

Citing RA 10845, Sinag said the amount of smuggled agricultural products subject to economic sabotage is equal or more than P10 million for rice, and equal or more than P1 million for other agricultural products such as sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish and cruciferous vegetables.

Smugglers and their cohorts will face a penalty of 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.

SINAG argued that the 87 containers were valued at least P130 million, much more than the P1 million minimum amount for these smugglers to be charged with economic sabotage, also a non-bailable offense. 

In the last five years,  Sinag research showed that close to P200 billion worth of agricultural goods were smuggled into the country, translating to around  P60 billion to P80 billion in lost revenues for the government since these agricultural commodities are supposed to be protected and levied a higher tariff of 30-40 percent.

Around 65 percent of global onion output comes from the top eight onion producing countries, with China as the top onion producer with over 22.3 million tons. India is ranked second, producing some 19.3 million tons. The rest of the list includes USA, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan. 

In India alone, onion production is estimated to increase by at least 10 percent this year.

According to Sinag, smuggling of rice, vegetables, meat and other agricultural products remains rampant even under the new administration which has vowed to to stop smuggling.