BOC submits list of imported food products from Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday, the list of imported products from Taiwan in the last five months to determine if prohibited food items have entered the country.

Adelina Molina, chief of staff of BOC Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said the BOC-Management Information and System Technology Group (MISTG) prepared the list of importations.

“We would no longer sort the shipper from Taiwan. We just e-mailed the list of importations from Taiwan to the FDA, regardless of commodity. They would be the ones to sort and profile who are the possible importers,” Molina said.

 She also assured that the BOC would check importations from other countries like Hong Kong if the FDA would ask them.

Molina admitted that it is possible that importations from Taiwan might have been diverted to another country such as Hong Kong before they are shipped to the Philippines.

FDA head Suzette Lazo also requested for a copy of the cargo manifests to determine when the shipments from Taiwan arrived in the Philippines.

The FDA had warned that some Taiwanese sports drinks, jellies, jams and tea that might contain excessive amounts of Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a chemical widely used in manufacturing PVC or polyvinyl chloride have entered the Philippines.

Large amounts of DEHP in food products could cause infertility and block boys’ sex organ development, FDA has warned.