Nearly 700,000-kg of smuggled garlic for public auction

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs has scheduled a public auction of 676,350 kilograms of smuggled garlic on Tuesday, August 26.

Viewing of the goods seized at the height of the garlic shortage and price spike will be on Friday, August 22.

Among those for auction are:

• 17 x 40 ft. containers of white garlic from China, seized from MC Jayson Int’l Trading, more or less 486,870 kg and offered at a floor price of P24.34 million ($557,579.86*)
• 4 x 40 ft containers of white garlic from China, confiscated from Sofrich Trading, about 104,670 kg at a floor price of P5.23 million ($119,884.31)
• 2 x 40 ft containers of white garlic from China, busted from Yan Hu Food Manufacturing, about 55,850 kg at a floor price of P2.79 million ($63,944.94)
• 1 x 40 ft container of white garlic from China, seized from CMA CGM Phils Inc, more or less 28,960 kg at a floor price of P1.45 million ($33,188.44)

The terms of the public auction, to be done through sealed bidding, include a non-refundable fee of P2,000 ($45.80), and the posting of duly receipted bond in cash or manager’s check equivalent to 20% of the floor price for each sale lot.

It also includes on-the-spot payment of the highest bidder in cash or manager’s check at least 50% of the bid price upon announcement of the winning bid as duly certified to by the Auction Committee and the Commission on Audit representative, with the remaining balance of 50% to be paid on the next business day.

The garlic shipment shall only be released after the required fumigation procedure is completed at the winning bidder’s warehouse. The subject shipment shall be continuously monitored until the fumigation is completed. 

The fumigation shall be undertaken by a Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) accredited service provider designated by the BPI-plant quarantine office. It will also be supervised by a plant quarantine officer and all expenses incurred during the process shall be shouldered by the winning bidder.

Importing garlic without the proper import permits from the Department of Agriculture (DA) is in violation of Presidential Decree No. 1433 promulgating the Plant Quarantine Law of 1978, which states that traders who wish to import agricultural products must first secure permits from the DA.

In July, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the BOC to check whether smuggled garlic seized by authorities can be released for domestic consumption, to bring down garlic prices. – Rappler.com

*$1 = P43.67