In its effort to provide a better and more efficient way to safeguard the agricultural industry in the country, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) inaugurated its Plant Quarantine Service (PQS) office here Tuesday morning.
DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr. and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Eduardo Jose L. Aliño led the inauguration of the National Plant Quarantine Services Division (NPQSD) office at the Subic Bay Freeport on Tuesday.
According to Laurel, the NPQSD office aims to prevent the entry of foreign pests into the country via the Subic port, contain and minimize the spread of pests already existing in the country, and comply with the phytosanitary requirements of trading partners.
“Today, we are making substantial progress in our aim to guarantee the well-being of our agriculture industry and the prosperity of our farmers,” Laurel said.
“The establishment of this new office in Subic holds a significant importance due to its position as a prominent center for trade and logistics. Let us continuously improve our border control system with increased efficiency and effectiveness,” he added.
SBMA Chairman Aliño welcomed this gesture from the BPI’s NPQSD since it would help foil the smuggling of illegal agricultural products in the Freeport.
He added that the agencies involved, including the Bureau of Customs (BOC), are all working in line with President Marcos’ thrust to combat agricultural smuggling, providing a digitized government service, and ensuring proper border control.
DA BPI Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban has requested the BOC to order all imports of plant-based agricultural commodities go through the PQO at the respective ports for mandatory document verification and inspection.
Customs Memorandum Circular (CMC) No. 102-2024 signed on June 7 by Customs commissioner Bienvenido Rubio states that this is a requirement regardless of the categories that the plant-based agricultural commodities may fall under.
The procedure is in compliance with the provisions stated in DA’s Department Circular No. 4 series of 2016, which provides guidelines on the importation of plants, planting materials, and plant products for commercial purposes.
Under Article VI Section 23 of the DA circular, the plant commodities are subject to the existing procedures for inspection at the port of entry.
The NPQSD cited that upon the arrival of the consignment, the importer should apply for inspection (BPI Q Form No. 4) at the PQS office in the port of entry. The importer should provide pertinent documents during inspection, while samples of the commodity will also be collected for laboratory analysis.
