THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) announced it had seized a shipment of frozen mackerel from China worth P202 million for misdeclaration.
In a statement, the agency said Port of Manila (POM) district collector Alexander Gerard Alviar, decided to defer the release of the shipment, consisting of 19 reefer vans, on their arrival last January at the request of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) under Director Verne Enciso for the conduct of actual physical examination.
The Plant and Quarantine Service (PQS) of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture (BPI-DA), had also informed the BOC that the consignee (not identified) is yet to comply with PQS requirements.
On February 13, Alviar decided to issue an alert for the shipment declared as ‘frozen fried taro’ in the shipping manifest.
The BOC said initial inspection of the containers on February 18 and February 19 uncovered the misdeclaration when their content turned out to be frozen mackerel.
Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio and DA Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel led in the public opening of the containers last March 3.
It can be recalled that in support of the fight against hunger by the Marcos administration, the BOC turned over to President Marcos and Secretary Laurel its donation of P178.5 million worth of frozen mackerel last December 14, 2024 the agency previously seized and found to be still fit for human consumption (Pinoy Exposé, December 31, 2024).