Customs team at NAIA commended

The Bureau of Customs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (BoC-NAIA) has earned a commendation from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) and the Department of Agriculture for its success in detecting and blocking the entry of pest-infested mangoes into the country.

Ricardo Belmonte, BoC-NAIA district collector, said the commendation given last week will go a long way in inspiring his men to boost their vigilance on the entry of fruits and plants that may carry pests and other diseases unknowingly being brought by "balikbayans" and tourists into the country.

"It will encourage us to persist in our efforts to guard against the entry of fruits and other goods being brought by passengers that are not allowed to be carried into the country," Belmonte said.

The DA and its attached agency, the BPI, as well as Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture, and Rep. Nereus Acosta, chairman of the House committee on agriculture, showered praises on the BoC-NAIA last Monday for four instances in 2005 when it confiscated ripe and green mangoes from tourists who entered the country through the NAIA.

Subsequent lab tests showed that the mangoes confiscated in all four cases were infested with mango seed weevils, a bane of the mangoes in other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The DA said that if these mangoes had entered the country and spread their pests to the mango plants and trees in the different mango producing provinces of the Philippines, the country’s multi-billion peso mango export industry would have been killed.

Carmelita Manahan-Talusan, BoC-NAIA collector, said the DA recognition was very encouraging, considering the agony many examiners are subjected to by tourists and balikbayans, who get angry with the confiscation of the fruits and other goods they bring with them into the country.

She said some passengers even accuse examiners of wanting to have the fruits and food products for themselves when these are confiscated.

Talusan stressed that arriving passengers need to show an import permit or clearance from the BPI to bring in fruit and plants, and a permit from the Bureau of Animal Industry to bring in live animals and meat products; and a permit from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to bring in marine and aquatic products.

In the case of birds and other poultry animals and their meat, Talusan said there is a strict ban on these due to the country’s anti-bird flu virus watch.

"We have reasons for confiscating these animals, fruits, plants, meat and other food products," Talusan said.