DA can't sell seized sugar - DOJ

The Department of Justice has thwarted the plan of Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara to sell to the world market the government's confiscated smuggled sugar in an attempt to revitalize the ailing sugar industry.

Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas said the Department of Agriculture does not have the power to sell these seized goods as it is not within its mandate to do so, but is rather vested in the Bureau of Customs.

"It is clear that the disposition of the smuggled shipments of sugar subject to this query pertains to the Bureau of Customs and shall be governed by the provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code," the DOJ chief stated in his six-page opinion.

The former Supreme Court justice cited as basis four provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code (2612, 2610, 2605 and 2606) which laid out the procedures on how to disposes of the smuggled articles, unsold articles for want of bidders, disposition of proceeds as well as the surplus from the proceeds of sale of abandoned or forfeited articles.

"While it is noted that the objective of the DA in the disposition of the smuggled shipments of sugar is commendable, the nobility of the purpose does not, however, create an authority to dispose where there is none," Cuevas wrote.

As it is, the Cabinet member stressed that even if the BOC undertakes the selling of smuggled sugar, "the utilization of the proceeds thereof is not subject to its absolute discretion but must be undertaken in accordance" with the Tariff and Customs Code.

Angara sought the DOJ's opinion in his attempt to curtail smuggling which, he complained, has brought the prices of sugar down "to the detriment of sugar farmers and millers."

President Estrada has ordered the DA secretary to dispose of these smuggled items (sugar), tons of which are now kept at the warehouse of the National Food Authority (NFA) and Bureau of Customs, to "remove the excess inventory from the market."