DA to deploy own food imports inspectors

THE Department of Agriculture ( DA) said that all food imports will be subject to inspection by the department’s personnel at the port of entry to ensure food safety and prevent cases of technical smuggling.

“Today ( Monday), I’m going to sign a department order creating the Agricultural Fisheries Trade Facilitation Unit which will effectively be stationed in the different ports of entry of the country to make sure that agricultural and fisheries products entering the country will be examined by our people before Customs,” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol told reporters on Monday, adding that the order will take effect immediately.

Mr. Piñol said that the agency will be “fair” to “lawabiding” institutional importers such as San Miguel Corp. and other big companies that have established themselves as regular importers, checking their shipments only “every now and then,” but will be more vigilant with those that import on an irregular basis.

“If (institutional importer) are paying the right taxes, what is there for you to check?” DA Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan told reporters on Monday.

With the enforcement of the order, Mr. Piñol said “even rice is subject to inspection to check whether they are compliant with SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary standards).”

The DA is authorized by Republic Act 10611, the Food Safety Act of 2013, which states that “imported foods shall undergo cargo inspection and clearance procedures by the DA and the DOH (Department of Health) at the first port of entry to determine compliance with national regulations.”

The law provides that inspection by the two agencies “shall always take place prior to assessment for tariff and other charges by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).”

The law covers drinks, chewing gum, water and other substances which are intentionally incorporated into food during its manufacture, preparation and treatment.

“We are doing this because as practiced now, our inspection activity happens after the Customs process which is why many shipments get through. So we will invoke this provision of the law that we should inspect before Customs. DA will determine first whether these shipments complied with sanitary regulations,” Mr. Piñol added.

The DA under former Secretary Proceso J. Alcala initiated the move towards pre- Customs inspections via Resolution No. 1 Series of 2016 and requesting the BOC under then Commissioner Alberto D. Lina to implement strictly the Food Safety Act of 2013.

For its part, the BOC and the Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL) are required by the law to provide the DA and the DOH with documents such as the Inward Foreign Manifest of Arriving Vessels to enable them to identify shipments requiring food safety inspection.

Shipments not complying with regulations will be disposed of according to policies established by the inspecting agencies.

Last week, the DA ordered the cancellation of all import permits it has previously issued — totaling more than 3,000 — to forestall the illicit entry of agricultural products.

As of Friday, the agency has validated 1,700 of the import permits. —