Intensifying it’s drive against smuggling operations in the country, particularly on agricultural products, Bureau of Customs (BoC) agents were able to confiscate some ₱7 million worth of carrots stored inside four container shipments in the Port of Manila.
Officials of the BoC and Department of Agriculture (DA) recently conducted an inspection of several cargoes and in one of them, they found the smuggled carrots stored in 12,909 sealed boxes behind other cartons of egg noodles.
The seized shipments, which arrived last March 22 and 25 (the current year) and traced to one consignee, were falsely declared as assorted food products, including egg noodles, flat noodles, siya wrappers, fish tofu and wakame salad.
Inspectors likewise found that a significant portion of the carrots have visibly been infected with mold or else are already decayed and damaged, making them unfit for human consumption.
Accordingly, the authorities warned that bypassing proper inspection and quarantine procedures of product imports, particularly agricultural produce, pose serious public health risks.
Aside from threats to public health, they also warned that smuggled products could inadvertently harm local farmers through unfair competition and market prices.
“If these were released to the market, they would sell it more affordably, which means they would kill the livelihood of our local farmers,” DA assistant secretary for inspectorate, enforcement and legal service Willie Ann Angsiy noted.
“Bypassing import fees, taxes and regulatory restrictions gives smugglers unfair advantage over local farmers and legitimate traders,” Angsiy added.