EDITORIAL - Unscrupulous traders

Amid complaints of highland farmers about a flood of smuggled agricultural commodities during the holidays, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has formed a committee that will blacklist unscrupulous traders who violate Republic Act 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act of 2002.

Covered by Laurel’s order are “manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, contractors and consultants” in the agriculture sector. The committee will assess complaints initiated by the bids and awards committee of the Department of Agriculture.

The committee is being organized as lawmakers ask why the Bureau of Plant Industry has failed to blacklist importers allegedly involved in hoarding and manipulation of agricultural products.

Whether the committee can effectively carry out its mandate remains to be seen. Proving hoarding and manipulation of supply and prices of agricultural commodities has always been a challenge in this country. In 2022 amid sky-high prices of refined white sugar, several warehouses found to be storing the product were padlocked. The owners, however, pointed out that it was normal business practice to release their stocks in batches over a certain period instead of releasing their inventory all at the same time. They noted that as in other commodities, there is also speculative trading in agricultural products. Businessmen project supply and price trends and make their purchases and sales accordingly.

Last year as rice prices surged, several warehouses were raided. How many of the owners were actually indicted for price and supply manipulation or cartel-type operations? The government has been talking about a rice cartel for many years now and, last year, an onion cartel. How many have actually been prosecuted for such unscrupulous trading?

Still, any effort to crack down on unscrupulous agriculture traders is a positive development. It should be properly coordinated with state prosecutors so that charges against accused offenders will stick. And it should be complemented by an intensified effort to crack down on agricultural smuggling.

It was a sad Christmas for farmers in the Cordilleras who were forced to dump or virtually give away for free their crops including tomatoes, carrots and cabbage because of a supply glut that they attributed to a flood of imports. The dirt-cheap prices at the farm gate, however, did not translate into dirt-cheap retail prices in Metro Manila and other places far from the Cordilleras.

Benguet farmers are bewailing that their carrots, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are rotting due to a lack of buyers. Sugarcane producers have also pointed out that sugar retail prices remain high despite multiple importations and a significant drop in mill gate prices. If this situation continues, agriculture will no longer be viable and the sector will be even less productive than it already is. The unscrupulous traders behind this situation are a threat to national food security and must be identified and prosecuted.