The Department of Agriculture for Inspectorate and Enforcement (DA-IE) recently seized smuggled fishery products worth P1.5 million in Navotas City.
The DA-IE raid at the Icy Point Cold Storage Processing Corp. also resulted in the apprehension of 3 personnel.
“The department will ensure that the storage facility will be shut down, while its owners will be held accountable for trading smuggled agri-fishery commodities,” DA Assistant Secretary James Layug said in a statement.
“It is clear that they violated the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act [10845], Food Safety Act of 2013 [RA 10611], and BFAR FAO 195.”
The DA official said the raid was conducted in response to the information it received regarding the alleged illegal sale of frozen golden pompano to the general public.
BFAR said the confiscated products were not given a Certificate of Necessity (CNI) or a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance.
The operation yielded 99 boxes of golden pompano, 114 boxes of frozen Pangasius fillet, 33 boxes of deep sea golden pomfret, 144 boxes of frozen round scad, 133 boxes of salmon head, 22 boxes of salmon belly, and 14 boxes of whole salmon.
The smuggled products have an estimated accumulated value of P1.5 million.
“The seized commodities lack the necessary clearances from the appropriate Food Safety Regulatory Agency [FSRA]. Food safety remains to be one of the DA’s major concerns, and selling fishery products in the market could endanger public health.”
