By Tracy Cabrera
MANILA — Intensifying its drive against smuggling operations in the country, particularly of agricultural products, the Bureau of Customs (BoC) confiscated around ₱7 million worth of carrots stored inside four container shipments at the Port of Manila.
Officials of the BoC and the Department of Agriculture (DA) recently conducted an inspection of several cargoes, and in one of them, they discovered the smuggled carrots stored in 12,909 sealed boxes hidden behind other cartons of egg noodles.
The seized shipments, which arrived on March 22 and 25 (this year) and were traced to a single consignee, were falsely declared as assorted food products, including egg noodles, flat noodles, seaweed wrappers, fish tofu, and wakame salad.
Inspectors likewise found that a significant portion of the carrots were already infected with mold or had decayed and were no longer fit for human consumption.
Authorities warned that bypassing proper inspection and quarantine procedures for imported agricultural products poses serious public health risks.
Aside from threats to public health, they also noted that smuggled goods could harm local farmers by creating unfair competition and affecting market prices.
“If these were released to the market, they would be sold more cheaply, which would hurt the livelihood of our local farmers,” said DA Assistant Secretary for Inspectorate, Enforcement and Legal Service Willie Ann Angsiy.
“Bypassing import fees, taxes, and regulatory requirements gives smugglers an unfair advantage over local farmers and legitimate traders,” Angsiy added.
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