BORDER inspections must be strengthened, and a Food Safety Regulatory Administration (FSRA) must be created to combat the decades-long struggle against the smuggling of agricultural goods in the Philippines.

This was stressed by Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar during the recent House Committee on Agriculture and Food (CAF) hearing saying that the FSRA must be under the agriculture department.

Dar added that there is also a need to create an interoperable digital system for recording the entry of goods.

The congressional hearing sought to investigate the implementation status of border inspection and food safety regulations, the state of first border inspection facilities, and the country’s capacity to curb agricultural smuggling, as urged by House Resolution No. 2282.

The resolution was authored by Representative Argel Joseph Cabatbat following consecutive reports by local farmers, traders, and organizations regarding the sale of smuggled vegetables from China in various markets, with Benguet farmers stating that the practice started way back in 2007.

“We could at least tighten institutional cooperation that allows data to be instantly accessible, the regulatory hierarchy to be defined, and the procedures harmonized with those of institutions duly mandated to apprehend and sanction,” Dar explained.

He disclosed that the FSRA will solely focus on ensuring that the provisions stated in the Food Safety Act are being observed. This includes protecting consumers from “trade malpractices and substandard or hazardous products” such as smuggled agricultural goods.

Large-scale agricultural smuggling is committed when at least P10 million worth of rice and at least P1M sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables in either raw, processed, or preserved state is illegally brought into the country, as per Republic Act No. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.

In a previous statement, DA Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste, Jr., who heads the DA-Wide Field Inspectorate, reported that the DA has recorded P667.5M worth of technically-smuggled agri-fishery commodities from 2019 to 2022 – P10M of which was apprehended in 2019 and 2020.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) also reported 103 cases filed against violators of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act starting in 2016. It has also conducted 542 seizure cases involving P1.99B worth of agricultural products since 2019.

“Hindi lamang po kita ng ating mga magsasaka ang nakataya kapag hindi natin naagapan ang ganitong mga pangyayari. Kasama na doon ang revenue losses ng gobyerno pati risk ng pagpasok ng mga peste na higit na magpapahirap sa sektor ng agrikultura,” stressed Quezon Province 1st District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga, who also chairs the House CAF.

Meanwhile, Dar assured that despite inadequate funding and limited power, the agency collaborates with various national government agencies (NGAs) to implement “heightened” countermeasures against agricultural smuggling.

“The Food Safety Act provides for the participation of several national agencies. It would be great if DA can come into it with a more empowered role, even as we upgrade the processes of our own food safety regulatory agencies,” he added.