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The Department of Agriculture raided a warehouse in Navotas City where smuggled agricultural products such as onion, carrots and tomatoes were found, on August 19, 2024.
Rappler
The Department of Agriculture says the largest single seizure was smuggled imported rice worth P1.9 billion
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Inspectorate and Enforcement office recorded P2.83 billion worth of smuggled agricultural goods seized by authorities in 2024.
The DA said in a statement on Friday, March 14, that this is “a billion more” than the 2023 record of P1.87 billion.
Out of the total 71 operations the DA conducted in 2024, the largest single seizure was P1.9 billion worth of imported rice.
The DA said in a statement 11 inspections between January and June “uncovered thousands of tons of undervalued imported rice.”
“The importer had made several shipments during five-month period that reached 32,825 metric tons of rice, leading to a tax assessment requiring the payment of P285.3 million in taxes and tariffs,” the agency said.
Next to imported rice are fisheries products valued at P316.4 million.
Other smuggled products were condemned meat, white onions, frozen mackerel, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, pigeon meat, frozen bullfrogs, and cigarettes.
The DA attributed the increase in value of smuggled goods to “intensified operations.”
Operations in 2023 “exposed regulatory loopholes we need to address and procedures that must be streamlined to stamp out smuggling of agricultural products,” said DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
In a House hearing in December 2024, Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio claimed that rice smuggling was no long a prevailing problem. The reason cited was the imposition of lower tariffs on he national staple.
Agricultural smuggling is classified as an act of economic sabotage under Republic Act No. 12022, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed in September 2024. The law created the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council which held its first meeting in Malacañang last March 5.
In the first two months of 2025, authorities seized P162.7 million worth of illegal agri-fishery products across the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila International Container Port, and Subic Bay International Terminal. – Rappler.com
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