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Sunday, April 11, 2004
DA extends moratorium on shrimp exports to EU
By Ria Isidro-de Fiesta
SAN FERNANDO -- The Department of Agriculture recently ruled to indefinitely extend its self-imposed moratorium on marine shrimp exports of the European Union (EU) to avoid perpetration of irregularities affecting the country's tiger prawns market.
The extension came as the DA discovered anomalous export shipments of frozen marine shrimps to EU using tampered and forged documents so that marine shrimps would appear to have originated from the Philippines and availed of the tariff advantages under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
The shipments were later discovered to be transshipments from a neighboring Asian country.
Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo called on the shrimp producers and exporters to closely police their ranks following the discovery of the anomalous export shipments.
"The Philippines, which exports tiger prawns or peneaus monodon variety, is one of the few prawn producing countries allowed entry in the EU and we must protect and strengthen our foothold in this market. I am calling on the shrimp producers all over the country to closely police their ranks so anomalous trading practices like these will be eradicated," Lorenzo said.
"We will be instituting additional safety measures for verifying entitlements of the GSP privilege particularly for consignments of frozen shrimps and all other fishery products from the country for export to the EU," Lorenzo said.
These assurances and commitments, Lorenzo added, were given to the members of the European Commission team who conferred with concerned Philippine officials from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The EC team, led by David Hannay of EC-OLAF, included representatives from the customs services of the Netherlands and Spain.
The reported anomalous shipment includes a variety of shrimps, also known as red shrimps, which have been exported to the EU by entities not eligible to avail of reduced duties under the GSP but benefited from the privilege by using forged or tampered documents.
Under the GSP, Philippine fishery products are entitled to preferential rate of duties provided they are wholly obtained from the country, from its territorial waters or caught by its vessels.
The national government investigated the case, which involved fictitious companies and imposed a unilateral six-month moratorium on marine shrimp exports to the EU starting September last year. The moratorium is supposed to have been lifted last March 18.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has also been working with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) which in turn has filed criminal charges against the broker and the shipping lines involved in the fraudulent shipments.
Meanwhile, to prevent a repeat of such scheme, the health certificates have been revised to include safety features while an electronic certification system is being studied, Lorenzo said.
Malcom Sarmiento Jr., BFAR director, reported to Lorenzo the results of the EC mission's visit.
"We should learn from our past debacles," Lorenzo said. "While we may be able to control the spread of diseases such as the green luminous bacteria which almost wiped out our local shrimp industry, we should also be able to maintain the confidence of our markets, which are getting more discerning and demanding nowadays," he noted.
Lorenzo pointed out that foreign buyers, particularly European countries, are rejecting antibiotic-laden shrimps.
"Everyone must do his share," he said noting that the government has taken extra precautions in the country's various ports of entry in order to control smuggling activities that could wreak havoc to the local industry and erode market confidence abroad for various Philippine produce. (Sun.Star Pampanga)
(April 11, 2004 issue)
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