The Department of Agriculture (DA)’s Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) has filed another complaint against a trader for importing fresh yellow onions last year in violation of food safety and plant quarantine regulations.
The DA said in a statement on Tuesday the complaint was filed with the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office against JRA and Pearl Enterprises Inc. president and directors.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the complaint has been part of DA’s efforts to safeguard local farmers and consumers from unfair trade practices and potential public health risks.
“Similar legal actions are being prepared as we intensify our campaign against agricultural smugglers. Let this serve as a warning to those who seek to challenge our resolve,” Tiu Laurel said.
The DA said the complaint, lodged by Henrick Exconde, the BPI-National Plant Quarantine Division area manager at the Port of Manila-South Harbor, was due to JRA’s importation of 25 metric tons of fresh yellow onions from China, without the necessary import permit.
The agency said the shipment, with an estimated value of P2.37 million, was consigned to JRA and arrived at the Manila’s South Harbor in July 2024.
Exconde said that during the period of importation, BPI suspended the issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSIC) for fresh yellow onions.
“It is important to note that during this time, the BPI had suspended issuing SPSICs for fresh yellow onion imports,” Exconde stated in the complaint.
The DA-BPI had halted the issuance of import permits for fresh yellow onions from January 1 to August 19, 2024.
However, the DA said JRA failed to explain why it imported the onions without first securing the necessary SPSIC, a certification ensuring the vegetables were safe for human consumption and free of pests or plant diseases.
The DA said that based on its registration papers at the Securities and Exchange Commission, JRA is based in Parañaque City.
Earlier this month, the DA, through the BPI, also filed a complaint with the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office, against Chastity Consumer Goods Trading, for misdeclaring imported onions as processed fish products.
The agency had then said the Cavite-based company violated the Food Safety Act and the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978 for two container vans, which arrived at the Port of Subic in August 2024.
Both JRA and Chastity were among 10 companies blacklisted by the DA last December, as part of intensified efforts to combat agricultural smuggling, profiteering, hoarding and cartel activities that drive up food prices and destabilize the local market.
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law was enacted in 2024, to deter activities of smugglers, profiteers, cartels and hoarders.
The law classified smuggling of rice and other agricultural products as “economic sabotage,” a crime punishable by life imprisonment and fines five times the value of the agricultural and fishery products smuggled.
Based on the monitoring of public markets in the National Capital Region, local red onions sold for P70 to P160 per kg as of Tuesday while local white onions went for P60 to P140 per kg.
Meanwhile, imported white onions sold for P60 to P140 per kg.
