DA: P30 million smuggled veggies seized in Navotas contaminated

MANILA, Philippines — At least P30 million worth of smuggled vegetables seized at a warehouse in Navotas tested positive for pesticide residues, metals and microbiological contaminants, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced yesterday.

Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Gerald Glenn Panganiban said the tests conducted on onions, tomatoes and carrots from the makeshift cold storage facility showed the presence of pesticides that are harmful to humans: organophosphates, organochlorines and pyrethroids.

The vegetables also contained cadmium and lead, which pose health risks.

Panganiban said the agricultural products also contained microbiological contaminants such as E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp.

“The analysis confirms that the allegedly smuggled agricultural crops contained pesticide residues, heavy metals and microbiological contaminants that do not comply with our food safety regulations,” Panganiban said in his report to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

Last month, members of the DA Inspectorate and Enforcement Office and the Bureau of Customs confiscated over 300 tons of white onions, carrots, tomatoes and other products that were imported without the sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances from the BPI.

Tiu Laurel said the contaminated vegetables would be destroyed, adding the government could not “risk the health of consumers.”

The DA legal team will determine the legal actions that can be taken against the unscrupulous traders who evaded payment of tariffs, Tiu Laurel said.