Agri stakeholders hail new anti-smuggling law

A coalition of agriculture stakeholders hailed the signing of Republic Act   10845 or “An Act declaring smuggling of agricultural commodities as economic sabotage.

 

Under the new law, the amount of smuggled agricultural product subject to economic sabotage is equal or more than Php10 million for rice, and equal or more than Php1 million for other agricultural products such as sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish and cruciferous vegetables.
Smugglers and their cohorts will also face a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of twice the fair value of the smuggled agricultural product and the aggregate amount of the taxes, duties and other charges avoided.