NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines — To combat the country’s pervasive smuggling of agricultural products, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee recommended the creation of the Agricultural Trade Intelligence and Investigation Service (ATIIS) within the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday.

Salceda urged DA Secretary William Dar and DA Undersecretary Fermin Adriano to formalize the DA’s request for police powers, which Dar had indicated in a statement, by submitting him a draft of the proposed measure.

Salceda also stated that he is developing a proposed measure and would like the department’s input.

“I’ve already taken the initiative, and we’re going to file that bill.” But I also want DA to figure out what works best for them, given their structure and requirements,” Salceda said.

Salceda made the plea in the wake of news that PHP300 billion worth of palm oil products had been smuggled into Philippine markets.

Technical palm oil smuggling is purportedly carried out by reporting imports to be crude palm oil appropriate for animal consumption, which is exempt from VAT.

According to him, the ATIIS will have the authority to conduct investigations, apprehend criminals, seize technically contraband agricultural items, and collaborate with customs enforcement.

The unit will also be able to prosecute violators of Republic Act 10845, popularly known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.

“The difficulty with RA 10845 is that, while it identifies large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage, it does not specify the teeth or the strong arm with which to implement the law. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has been designated as the principal implementing agency, but even its prosecutorial and enforcement powers are inadequate, according to Salceda.

In addition to the ATIIS, the Bureau of Customs’ Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (BOC) should be enhanced to close the vulnerabilities exploited by technical smugglers.

Giving the DA unit police powers to enforce anti-smuggling laws, according to Salceda, will provide another layer of protection for the country’s domestic farm sector from smuggled commodities.

“The unit will also help address the DA’s worries that the Department of Justice may not have the bandwidth to prosecute cases filed on agricultural smuggling in a timely manner,” Salceda said.

He observed that the Secretary of Agriculture should be empowered to pursue prosecutions against agricultural traffickers in the same way that the Bureau of Internal Revenue may conduct cases against tax evaders.

“Agricultural smuggling poses a grave and existential danger to local agriculture and food security.” He stated, “We cannot allow a legal loophole to hinder us from combating the problem.”

For his part, DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra said government authorities are already investigating into cases of agricultural product smuggling, including alleged misdeclaration of items to avoid or take advantage of lower tariff rates.

Guevarra stated that he has asked the National Bureau of Inquiry (NBI) to conduct an independent investigation into reports of widespread smuggling, misdeclaration, and undervaluation of agricultural products.

Prosecutors have also been asked to pursue ongoing preliminary inquiry charges involving agricultural smuggling, according to him.

“I’ve instructed our state prosecutors to review their dockets, expedite the preliminary investigation, and pursue their cases in court,” he said. The Department of Justice and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) are working together to develop cases against persons in the government and private sector who are suspected of being involved in agricultural smuggling, he said.

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