Gov’t can’t stop vegetable imports, says DA official

Agriculture Undersecretary Ernesto Ordoñez told the Senate committee on agriculture yesterday that there is no way the government could stop the importation of vegetables because of its commitments under the World Trade Organization.

"There is no way we could prevent the importation of products once they have been liberalized," Ordoñez told the committee headed by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.

Government officials and vegetables farmers from the Cordilleras have asked the Senate to stop the importation and curb the smuggling of vegetables from China, Australia and Taiwan.

Gov. Raul Molintas of Benguet said the importation of vegetables is causing damage to farmers, boothholders and traders amounting to P3.5 million a month in La Trinidad town alone.

He asked the government to stop importing vegetables from Australia and China.

"Australia is very strict with our banana exports so we should be strict with their vegetables also. Regarding China, we have no bilateral trade agreement with that country," Molintas argued.

Ordoñez said that while the government must live up to its commitment to the WTO, its agencies, principally the Bureau of Plant Industry, have been persuading importers not to proceed because this would hurt local farmers.

BPI Director Blo Adiong told the committee that since the representation of onion growers from Nueva Ecija and Sen. Manny Villar, there have been no importation of onions for about eight months.

Magsaysay said the government must stop all concerns about legalities and think of the welfare of the vegetable farmers. He urged a temporary stop to the issuance of permits to import vegetables to give local farmers a breathing spell. He pointed out that at the exchange rate of P53 to the dollar, it would be very prohibitive to import, so the vegetables being imported could only be purchased at dumped prices.

At the same time, he urged local vegetable farmers to improve the quality of their products, and be more businesslike. A vegetable importer, Martin Garcia, told the committee that airline companies, hotels, and supermarkets want imported vegetables because of consistent quality, stable pricing, packaging, and post-harvest handling.

He said he is most willing to buy vegetables from Benguet farmers if they could assure his firm of these requirements by his clients.

Meanwhile, Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo said the BOC has intensified its campaign against vegetable smuggling. He said a task force was created specifically for this purpose, and that recently, they confiscated 31 containers of imported vegetables.

He said that about three weeks ago, they implemented a "no redemption" policy on smuggled vegetables. He noted that smugglers still make money if the smuggling is detected by making a low bid for the hot items.

"The customs bureau made this policy at a sacrifice because it meant foregoing revenue, but we have to do it to help our farmers," Bernardo said.

Magsaysay cited this new customs policy, saying it would go a long way in curbing smuggling.