DA to suspend onion importation pending cartel probe, says Piñol

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Friday the Department of Agriculture will be suspending the importation of bulb onions pending a probe on alleged cartel operations as prices of the crop have gone down due to oversupply.

In a Facebook post, Piñol said importation of onion will be halted "pending the results of the investigation of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the reported operations of a cartel manipulating the buying price of locally-produced onions."

Piñol said the move could stop the cartel from benefiting from their operations "where they forced the drop in the buying price of local onions by leasing and closing cold storage facilities to onion farmers."

Prices of onion have gone down due to excessive supply glutting the market, on the back of the harvest season and the availability of imported onions.

Farmers have been forced to sell their produce at  low prices just to recoup their capital.

In Nueva Ecija, onions are sold at P15 to 16 per kilo.

"The DA on Wednesday asked the PCC and NBI to investigate reports that trading firms have closed down four major cold storage facilities in an apparent attempt to force farmers to sell at low prices," Piñol said.

"The traders are expected to consolidate the local production as they await the time when they will be allowed to import," he said.

The Agriculture chief said that with the farmers' produce bought at very low prices cornered and consolidated, traders could control the pricing of onion in the market and generate huge profits.

"Under an arrangement between farmers groups and importers, the importation of onions would only be done after the harvest of the local onions," Piñol said.

The Agriculture department has directed the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) to support the arrangement by scheduling the processing of Sanitary and Pytho-Sanitary (SPS) permits until after the harvest season, Piñol said.

On the other hand, no SPS permits have been issued since October, the BPI has reported.

"The moratorium on the issuance of SPS permits will be extended until such time the PCC and NBI have terminated their investigation," Piñol said.

"All agencies under the DA are notified to implement this directive," he said. —John Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News