Farmers groups back pre-shipment inspection vs smuggling

Farmer groups are supporting the antismuggling proposal of pre-shipment inspections in vessels containing agricultural products.

“I think pre-shipment inspection can be a big help in curbing smuggling,” Leonardo Montemayor, chairman of Federation of Free Farmers and former agriculture secretary, told the Daily Tribune last Saturday.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last Thursday said he is ordering the Department of Finance and the Department of Agriculture to study the mechanism and operation costs of the proposal.

Inspect products in countries of origin

“This will minimize smuggling. This means authorities will inspect the products in the countries of origin to see if the products are of proper weight and good quality and if the shipment details are correct,” Marcos said in an interview with the Presidential Communications Office.

PCO said the proposal was the result of a meeting by Marcos with SGS vice president George Bottomley and managing director Cresenciano Maramot in Malacañang.

The Switzerland-based SGS or Société Générale de Surveillance conducted quality and quantity inspections for imported goods to the Philippines from 1986 to 2000.

Tap private firms for pre-shipment inspection Montemayor agreed that the government could tap private firms for the pre-shipment inspections to ensure transparency of transactions.

“SGS used to do this until the late 1990s. However, the Bureau of Customs claimed it could do a better job. Sadly, that does not seem to have been the case,” he said.

“The proposal should help. Its success depends on the transparency that will occur,” United Broiler Raisers Association president Bong Inciong stressed.

According to the PCO, SGS said the costs of registration to its platform, inspection and authentication of transactions will be shouldered by the exporter.