SMUGGLED YELLOW ONIONS. The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) present the 40-foot container filled with undocumented fresh yellow onions at the Port of Manila on Oct. 3, 2024. The BPI on Tuesday (Oct. 15) said the PHP3.5 million shipment from China has no sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance. (Photo courtesy of BPI)
MANILA – The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) reported on Tuesday the seizure of 25 metric tons (MT) or 25,000 kilograms of illegally imported yellow onions from China worth PHP3.5 million.
In a phone interview, BPI Director Glen Panganiban said the shipment arrived at the Port of Manila in a 40-foot container van aboard the vessel Green Pacific on July 16, 2024.
After BPI verified its arrival through the Inward Foreign Manifest (IFM), it alerted the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to hold the shipment.
Panganiban said it was found out that the shipment has no sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC), which led BOC to issue a warrant of seizure and detention for inspection.
The BPI, together with the BOC, presented the seized yellow onions on October 3.
Panganiban said the declaration for yellow onion in July when the issuance for SPSIC was still suspended tipped them on the smuggling activity.
He said the Department of Agriculture only allowed the issuance of SPSICs for yellow onions in August.
“So, nakita po namin na merong dineclare na yellow onions pero wala naman tayong (we saw that there was a declaration for yellow onions but we don’t have) yellow onions at that time, July, so positive agad (that’s immediately positive),” he said.
“Lahat naman po ng mga shipments and dumadating ay meron po yung manifesto sa barko. Tayo po kasi nagiging vigilant po tayo talagang sinusuyod po natin iyong mga manifesto na iyan (All of the arriving shipments are contained in the ship’s manifesto. We are becoming vigilant and we are really inspecting all of those manifestos),” he said.
Panganiban, meanwhile, reiterated that the consumption of illegally imported agricultural products poses health risks.
“Hindi siya safe. it's either hindi pasado sa pesticide residue level, mataas masyado, or iyong kanyang microorganisms content ay hindi ganun kaganda (It’s unsafe. it’s either it failed in the pesticide residue level, too high, or the microorganism content is not that good),” he said.
He, likewise, vowed to continue the stringent measure against illegal importation with the enactment of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.
Stable onion supply, prices
Meanwhile, Panganiban assured stable supply and prices of both red and white onion for the rest of the year.
“Of course, since holiday season nga, ang tendency is dumadagdag ‘yung presyo. Pero at least ngayon, alam ng tao at kami, tinututukan din namin na talagang may supply. So, hindi sila pa pwedeng magtaas o mag-spike agad ng presyo (there’s a tendency for prices to go up. But at least now, the people know that we are monitoring the supply. So, they can’t increase or spike the prices),” he said.
Panganiban said around 7,000 to 8,000 MT of imported yellow onions arrived this month.
The DA earlier approved the limited importation of 16,000 MT of white onions prior to the expected local harvest in January next year.
For red onions, the DA said the country’s stocks are enough until March 2025. (PNA)
