Customs Bureau seizes illegal onions from China

The Bureau of Customs on Thursday seized two containers laden with onions from China that was illegally imported by a local trader who tried to pass the shipment off as orange juice. According to Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, 888 BIZ Inter Trade Corp., the shipment consignee, tried to transport the onions into the country without a valid permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI). The illegal shipments, Alvarez said, were in two 40-foot containers which arrived on Aug. 4 at the Port of Manila via the M/V Montecillo. Declared as orange juice, the shipments were actually some 5,600 bags of onions, the bureau said. "It was obvious the importer wanted to take advantage of the minimal 1-percent rate of duty on imported juice," Alvarez said. In contrast, the duty levied on imported onions covered by a valid BPI permit could reach as much as 40 percent. No import permits issued The BPI, Alvarez said, has not issued any permit for onion imports this year. The Customs chief said the accreditations of both the importer and the broker were revoked, adding that the move was in line with the orders of President Aquino to discourage smuggling by making it not only risky but also unprofitable. Local onion growers reportedly lose as much as P75 million in potential revenues due to illegal smuggling of the produce. Samahan ng mga Katipunan ng Magsisibuyas ng Nueva Ecija (KASAMNE), a group of 10 farmer cooperatives in the province, earlier said illegal onions that entered the country in June have driven onion prices to as low as P23 per kilo. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/225346/business/phl-onion-growers-lose-p75m-to-illegal-smuggling Some 540 metric tons of onions were allegedly shipped from China and India since June, and passed through different ports in Manila, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao. This was despite the fact that the Agriculture Department had not issued any import permit for onions since 2010.— JMT/VS, GMA News