Thursday, December 04, 2008 Fruit shipments to be monitored
FRUIT shipments this month will be closely watched as they are being utilized to conceal illegally imported vegetables.
Johnny Martinez, officer-in-charge of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), said they have placed on alert all refrigerated containers entering ports all over the country, especially those coming from China.
"We are also inspecting cold storage facilities in Manila to ensure that no imported vegetables are being stored there and so far, we have found none," he said.
The alert order requires the shipments to undergo 100 percent examination prior to release.
Martinez said that any vegetable shipment will be considered suspicious since the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) has not issued import permits, especially for brocolli, carrots and cauliflowers, which are being supplied from Benguet.
However, he said only shipments of onions and garlic have been approved by the BPI.
"They told us that they have not issued permits for vegetables, except for onions and garlic. It seems that imports for other vegetables are not needed because there is already an adequate supply," he said.
Importation of vegetables requires permit from government line agencies since they are classified as regulated importations.
The absence of such document would deem the shipment automatically as contraband articles subject to seizure and forfeiture by the government. (FP/Sunnex)
