'Biazon admitted technical smuggling of pork, poultry'

ROSALES, Pangasinan, Philippines – Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon has admitted the technical smuggling of pork and poultry, a group of hog raisers said yesterday.

Speaking to The STAR, Rosendo So, Swine Development Council director, said Biazon made the admission in a dialogue with them.

So said the misdeclaration and undervaluation of imported meat are rampant practices.

“He hasn’t arrested anyone,” he said in Filipino.

So said Biazon has not acted on their pleas to address the problem on pork and poultry smuggling that is hurting the local meat industry.

“We need action, not rhetoric,” he said.

It was better during the administration of Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez because arrests and seizure were made, he added.

So said records from the United Nations Commodities Trade show imported offal last year was only 50 million kilos. However, the Bureau of Animal Industry’s record was 110 million to 114 million and Customs recorded 105 million kilos, he added.

So praised former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for creating the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group.

They had no problem during the Arroyo administration, he added.

Biazon was disappointed with the continued accusations that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has done nothing to address pork and poultry smuggling.

He had long asked the hog raisers “to assign industry experts at the BOC to help in assessing and scrutinizing the importations, but they have not sent their representatives,” he added.

However, So said it is the work of Biazon’s office to monitor smuggling.

“Now he is telling us to monitor?” he said.

“We’re paying our taxes for them to work. We want action not words. It is easy to talk but it is disgusting when there is no action.”

So said they have given Biazon the list of meat importers so he could check on their complaints.

“Yet he has not acted on our complaints,” he said.

So said the continued inaction of Biazon has caused 20 percent of the backyard hog industry to die and P25 billion was lost.

“Very bad for our food security,” he said.

So said statistics show the number of backyard raisers in 2009 was 9.785 million and in 2010 it dropped to 8.57 million.

It further decreased in 2011 to 8.03 million and in March this year, the number was at 7.805 million, he added.