The problem with pasalubongs

Three of my friends who visited family abroad and are returning home in the next couple of weeks all announced to our barkada that they were bringing us onions as pasalubong. When I told them that they couldn’t do that and that the onions would be confiscated and they could be arrested for smuggling or at least not declaring contraband cargo, they texted, “Seriously?!!”

They were serious about bringing home onions – after sending us photos of themselves at the supermarket (in New York, in Sydney and in Calgary, Canada) holding up big, beautiful white onions at what to us were ridiculously low prices, equivalent to around P150 a kilo.

I had to answer “Seriously!” and this was even before the incident involving the airline crew of two flights from the Middle East bringing in 11 and 15 kilos of onions. Even their lemons and strawberries were confiscated!

There really is a Plant Quarantine Law, RA 3027, promulgated in 1922 – yes, a century ago – but updated in 1978 by Plant Quarantine Decree 1433 that consolidated all plant quarantine laws and regulations. These regulations require a health and phytosanitary certificate for any agricultural product brought in to the country, and you get this by applying for one at the Bureau of Plant Industry, filling up BPI Q Form No. 1 or 5, paying the appropriate fee, then you get a Plant Quarantine Clearance. The same goes for bringing in meat or medicine, through the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Food and Drug Administration, respectively.

I looked up all of that because honestly, I had no clear idea of the requirements. I admit to having brought in fruits (oh those luscious white peaches!), fresh and dried herbs (medicines and for cooking) and even meat (lamb from Australia) in the past – oh dear, will I be retroactively arrested? – and always breezing through airport customs.

I am sure all of you have had the same experience. Before this onion crisis, bringing in foodstuff in obviously personal-consumption-only quantities was no big deal and has not attracted customs’ attention. During the bird flu alarm, airport customs was strict about the roast duck/goose products from Hong Kong, and I think to this day they still are.

Some netizens are faulting the airline crew, saying that they, being in the aviation industry, should have known about the rules and followed them. Not to sound like I’m condoning illegal behavior, but I’m sure they have been bringing in foodstuff on all their previous trips; unfortunately, this time the commodity is too hot to let pass.

So what pasalubongs are my friends bringing in? I haven’t asked them, but probably boring stuff like cosmetics and chocolates. But wait, these are food and drugs; don’t these need FDA clearances too? I think they better just bring fridge magnets.