Saturday, April 12, 2008 Smuggled Thai rice, sugar seized
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Friday confiscated two shipments of alleged smuggled rice grains and sugar from Thailand worth P16.8 million which entered two major ports in Manila last month.
With this, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales ordered to closely monitor all the seaports in the country from rice smuggler.
The first cargo arrived in the country on March 19, loaded with 21 containers full of rice grains consigned to Jubilee Multi Tech Inc. The bureau is still verifying the stated address in the shipping manifest.
The second shipment, which entered the Manila International Container Port (MICP) early last month containing container vans loaded with rice (seven) and sugar (11).
Customs officials said they are still conducting audit on the MICP shipment, the reason why they cannot release the estimated amount of the cargo.
The shipments, which came from Cotabato City and General Santo City, were seized for violation of Section 4.4 of Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 20-2001 for failure to present proper documents.
According to the CMO: "The absence of the pertinent shipping permit and or import authority or any violation thereof shall be a ground for the seizure of the rice shipment/vessel in question, which shall be then proceeded against in accordance with applicable law, rules and regulations."
Morales said the second shipment would undergo scrutiny from the National Food Authority (NFA) to identify the real variety of the rice grains after it was reported that the gains is NFA rice and was repacked in commercial sacks.
"The NFA has gotten samples of the rice to determine its real variety," he said.
The shipments will be turned over to the NFA for the rice and to the Sugar Regulatory Administration for the sugar for safekeeping, as the bureau will be preparing to auction the commodities.
Aside from the rice grains, Customs operatives foiled attempts to smuggle thousands of sacks of sugar in 15 container vans at Manila North Harbor.
The smuggled sugar packs worth P4.2 million had markings of Korach Industrial Co. Intl. and was consigned to JD Aguilar Rice Mill, declared as rice grains and yellow corn.
However, upon close inspection, it was found that the shipment contained refined sugar.
The BOC chief recommended for the issuance of warrant of seizure and detention against the consignee.
"We want to make sure that the smugglers will not be able to take advantage of high prices of commodities."
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) to coordinate with the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) and focus on illegal rice hoarding and profiteering practices instead of smuggling.
Arroyo, during Friday's visit to the NBI main office in Manila, said the investigation bureau would just be wasting a lot of efforts and money if it goes after rice smugglers when there is "liberalized importation" in the country.
"So we're barking up the wrong tree. If we're going to go after smuggling, we'd be wasting a lot of effort. The whole point is the hoarding. If the rice from abroad is more expensive (than) the rice here, it is really not rational to smuggle at this time. So we're barking up the wrong tree by using resources against rice smuggling," she said.
She added that the country even has limited resources and investigators to go after hoarders and profiteers and the NBI should "not be distracted."
"Rice smuggling is not your concern anymore now. The concern is the hoarding and the profiteering. We don't have enough investigative manpower to go after everything, and since we've liberalized rice importation, and it's their risk because rice is very expensive abroad, it's more expensive than the rice here. Put our efforts on the hoarding and the profiteering, do not be distracted," Arroyo said.
The President received an update on the NBI inspections and raids of six rice warehouses including warehouse in Paco, Manila, which she personally inspected with the NBI, where some of the NFA subsidized rice were delivered and stocked by traders.
NBI Task Force on Rice Hoarding chief Ricardo Diaz said they have already informed and issued subpoenas to the grain and warehouse owners of their violations and they expect them to answer next week.
Among the warehouses raided include that of the Metro Greens Marketing in Valenzuela City, the Isabela Greenfields in Paco, Manila, and the Purefeeds Corporation in Malolos, Bulacan. (FP/JMR/Sunnex)
