HOUSE Committee on Ways and Means chairman Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Sarte Salceda vowed to resume his panel’s inquiries into plant product smuggling and misdeclaration.

Salceda expressed alarm that misdeclared imported fruits are flooding wet markets across the country.

He took note of the complaint by the Benguet Farmers Marketing Cooperative urging the Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI) to explain why strawberries from South Korea are flooding the wet markets of Cebu.

“In our earlier hearings on the matter, we called on the Bureau of Plant Industry to ensure that the inspection of plant imports is up to standard. They did point out that they are unable to inspect each shipment, which makes these shipments vulnerable to misdeclaration,” Salceda said.

Salceda referred to hearings by the House tax panel in February 2021, which scored the BPI for the alleged lack of stringent mechanisms to prevent the smuggling of plant products such as fruits and vegetables.

“We requested them to craft guidelines on their work with Customs, and how we can ensure that imports are processed on time, but without misdeclaration or technical smuggling,” Salceda added.

“When session resumes after the Christmas break, we will follow up on our request and give them a deadline,” Salceda added.

“If it’s not intentional, it seems to me that the technical processes for evaluation are still lacking. For example, strawberries from Korea aren’t included in the goods allowed inside the country under the Korea-Philippine Trade Agreement under the General Agreement on Tariff Agreement-World Trade Organization (GATT-WTO). So, something’s up,” Salceda said.

In Senate hearings, the BPI claimed that the strawberry imports were for use “by the Korean community” in the country.

“That’s not a satisfactory answer. So, I want to see how the import permitting process can be streamlined so that the rules are clear.”

Salceda also emphasized that “a highly arbitrary import permits process places the country’s own domestic agriculture at risk, especially from biosafety hazards.”

“Once January session comes, we’ll give a deadline for the BPI,” Salceda concluded.

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Ryan Ponce Pacpaco