BPI, BOC form team to look into onion imports

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will create a team that will look into the alleged discrepancy between authorized onion importations and the volume of onion imports processed by the BOC.

"We have asked the BOC to verify data released by onion growers that supposedly came from the BOC’s records on onion importations. We expect to conduct a joint investigation to thresh out this matter," said BPI director Lealyn A. Ramos.

The Union of Growers and Traders Onion of the Philippines (UGAT) submitted data to the BPI showing the BOC volume of imported onions from January to July 11, 2006 reached 30, 328 metric tons. In contrast, BPI issued permits for onion importations of only 17,749 MT during the same period, resulting in a discrepancy of about 12,578 MT.

"We have to figure out where the discrepancy lies. It could be that technical smuggling was committed through misdeclaration of the cargo," said Ramos.

UGAT has been complaining about the untimely importation of onion that is coming from China, while the rest are coming from India, while high-end or first class onions are coming from The Netherlands and New Zealand.

Local onion growers said that imported Red Creole onions are priced at P300 per 25-kilogram bag and retailed at about P35 per kilo, while locally-produced onions sell for P700 per bag and the current retail price averages P60 per kilo.

The BPI said however, that prevailing market prices of onion does not support complaints of an oversupply of the commodity. – Rocel Felix