Customs seizes more smuggled garlic

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) intensifies its drive against the illegal entry of agricultural products in the country as it seized an estimated 125 metric tons or 125,000 kilograms of smuggled garlic at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) worth over P37-Million.

 

BOC issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention on five (5) 40-foot refrigerated container vans of garlic that arrived in the country without a Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Import Clearance or Permit from the Department of Agriculture (DA). Importing garlic without the proper import permits from the DA is in violation of Presidential Decree No. 1433 (Promulgating the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978, thereby Revising and Consolidating Existing Plant Quarantine Laws to Further Improve and Strengthen Service of the Bureau of Plant Industry), which states that traders who wish to import agricultural products must first secure permits from the DA.