The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) is coordinating with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for the confiscation of smuggled carrots, cabbage and ginger flooding local markets in Metro Manila.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar warned consumers about the safety of these goods as these have not undergone inspection and may have high levels of pesticide residues.
BPI is tasked to issue sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance permits on shipments that legitimately enter the country.
Dar said intelligence reports showed the vegetables are misdeclared as other itemsand are shipped into Subic from China.
“The BPI only issues permits on frozen and processed vegetables intended for embassies and hotels. For (those to be sold in) public markets, (importers) need to go through BPI to get import clearance,” Dar added.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of 11 markets in Metro Manila as of yesterday (September 28), the prevailing price of carrot is at P70 per kg, cabbage at P120 per kg and ginger at P150 per kg.
Smuggled carrots are sold as P50 per kg.
Yesterday’s prevailing prices of carrot and ginger were lower from week-ago prices which were at P100 per kg and P160 per kg respectively. However, the average price of cabbage last September 21 was similar at P120 per kg. – Jed Macapagal
