The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will conduct a 100 percent inspection of all imported farm products once it completes the construction of its examination facilities in the country’s key ports.
The DA issued the statement following its recent meeting with officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). They have “agreed in principle” to put up a cold examination facility in agriculture (CEFA) at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, the agency said.
The proposal, which would allow the DA to use a 2,000-square meter lot at the freeport zone for 25 years, renewable upon mutual agreement, is subject to the approval of the SBMA board.
The facility to be established at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone is one of the five CEFAs that the government is targeting to build. The Manila International Container Port and the ports of Batangas, Cebu and Davao are other possible sites for the CEFAs, which will cost P521 million.
The DA said the partnership with SBMA for the establishment of CEFA will transform the Subic International port into the “country’s major hub for agricultural product imports.”
“We thank SBMA Chair and CEO Wilma Eisma for the smooth negotiations, pending approval of the SBMA board, that will jumpstart the process of procurement. We wish the facility constructed as soon as possible,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.
The DA said the Subic CEFA will be able to conduct “full and thorough” inspection of containerized farm imports through risk assessment, which will be complemented by the x-ray screening of the Customs bureau.
“This means all farm, fishery, meat, and food imports will be subjected to 100% sampling and laboratory testing,” it added.
The Subic CEFA would earn at least P130 million yearly from testing and inspection fees on top of the expected employment generation, according to the DA.
Dar said the CEFAs will “initiate a new way of conducting first-border inspections” for imported farm goods as inspectors can open all arriving imports in one cold warehouse and have ample time to examine shipments.
The CEFA network, formerly known as Agricultural Commodity Examination Areas, will be equipped with laboratories and manned by quarantine officers from the various DA bureaus.
The DA said each CEFA will have controlled temperature systems that will enable quarantine officers to thoroughly inspect the contents of an identified high-risk containerized shipment and prevent the possible spread of hazardous biological agents, such as toxins, and radioactive elements carried by imported agricultural products.
“In all, the completion of the CEFA network will be one of the major accomplishments of the Duterte administration, as global biosecurity and quarantine protocols are put in place and strictly implemented to keep the country’s agriculture and fishery sector free from transboundary pests and diseases, and protect the health and welfare of Filipinos.”