The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) announced major milestones in 2024, including the distribution of over 54 tons of vegetable seeds to boost local production, blacklisting 18 importers to safeguard plant and human health and opening new international markets for Philippine fruits.
Based on the annual report submitted to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., BPI executive director Glen Panganiban said the agency’s efforts led to the interception of hundreds of tons of illegal agricultural imports such as onions, carrots, mushrooms and tomatoes as well as over half a million border inspections that surpassed internal targets.
“A total of 515,375 first-border inspections and 28,000 second-border inspections were carried out in 2024, achieving 199 percent and 206 percent of our targets, respectively,” Panganiban said.
BPI said it seized 1,958 non-compliant shipments, with notable intercepts including 5,640 Phalaenopsis orchids infected with the Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, which poses a serious threat to critical crops.
BPI’s efforts in 2024 resulted in the blacklisting of 18 importers, the highest in a single year and surpassing the total number blacklisted in the previous decade.
The violations were primarily due to misdeclarations, failure to secure sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances, and other regulatory violations.
BPI said it issued 93,727 sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for products like orchids and rice, with total imports surpassing 5.2 million metric tons of plant products in 2024.
The bureau issued 82,855 export certificates for products including bananas, pineapples, and coconuts, ensuring compliance with international food safety standards.
BPI also played a crucial role in opening new markets for Philippine agricultural exports, including the successful shipment of Hass avocados to Japan, fresh durian to Malaysia, frozen durian to China and New Zealand, pomelo to Poland, and mangoes to Lebanon.