Effectiveness of anti-smuggling policies for selected agricultural commodities in the Philippines

Issue Date

1-2013

Abstract

The paper examined the dynamics and extent of smuggling of selected agricultural products and assessed the effectiveness of existing policies in mitigating smuggling in the Philippines. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field visits were conducted in selected sites/ports in the Philippines in Indonesia and Singapore. Econometric techniques were performed on secondary data collected for rice, sugar, ginger, onion, carrots, dressed chicken, beef, and pork from 1986 to 2010. Findings revealed that the Philippines' accreditation of importers is done by three different agencies while in Indonesia and Singapore such is done by a single agency thus preventing fictitious importers. Further, the boarding protocol in the Philippines is unique because the Bureau of Customs is the first to board and also the last hurdle in the importation process, contrary to the practice in Singapore and Indonesia. Volume of technical smuggling is increasing and the country's antismuggling measures were ineffective in mitigating smuggling. Reforms that would need legislative actions and those that simply require administrative order were recommended by the study.

Source or Periodical Title

Journal of the International Society for Southeast Asian Agricultural Sciences

ISSN

0859-3132

Volume

19

Issue

1

Page

8-23

Document Type

Article

Physical Description

tables

Language

English

Subject

Boarding protocol, Import regulation, Piecewise regression, Single window system, Technical smuggling

Digital Copy

yes

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