THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily disallowed 55 more traders from importing garlic while the Department of Justice (DOJ) is conducting an investigation into allegations that they manipulated supply and prices.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the suspended trading firms were initially identified by the DOJ and Sen. Cynthia A. Villar during an investigation into the supposed existence of a garlic cartel in 2014.
“I have issued a suspension order for more than 50 firms based on the list of the DOJ and Villar, which was a result of their investigation before,” Piñol told reporters in an interview on Wednesday.
The DA chief said the 55 garlic traders will remain suspended pending the result of an investigation currently being conducted by the DOJ.
“The [suspended traders] were involved in the garlic cartel. This was the result of the Senate investigation into its existence,” Piñol said. “The DA has to ban them pending the results of the DOJ investigation and filing of cases. We will lift the ban as soon as things are cleared.”
A study conducted by the DOJ found that the “unusual” increase in the price of garlic in 2014 was caused by the collusion between DA officials and garlic traders, and not because of a supply shortage.
Piñol also disclosed that the DA has lifted the suspension of five trading firms that were part of the 43 importers earlier banned by the agency. He said these traders were able to prove that they were able to bring imported garlic into the Philippines.
“The five traders were able to show proof that they brought into the country the volume they promised and that the Bureau of Plant and Industry erred in its computation,” he said.
In July the DA suspended some 43 importers following their failure to use their sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPS-IC) for 50,000 metric tons (MT) of garlic.
Documents provided by the DA to reporters showed that from January to June this year, the government issued a total of 1,420 SPS-ICs for 70,100 MT to the 43 garlic importers.
However, the 43 garlic importers were only able to use 438 SPS-ICs, or 30.84 percent of the total issued permits, in the first half. The permits covered 19,252.2 MT of imported garlic.
The DA chief said in an earlier interview that a “garlic cartel” manipulates the importation and supply of garlic, as well as its retail price. “At the time we needed to import, the traders did not import. This is a sign that there is a cartel.”
Image credits: Nonie Reyes