Declaration of Policy.
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to promote the productivity of the agriculture sector, protect farmers and fisherfolk from unscrupulous traders and importers, and ensure reasonable and affordable prices of agricultural and fishery products for consumers.
It is the policy of the State to prevent smuggling of agricultural and fishery products, which negatively affects supply, production, and price stability of agricultural products and threatens food security. The State shall also eliminate hoarding, profiteering, and cartel that unduly restrain supply and manipulate prices. These illegal acts likewise deprive the State of much needed taxes and revenues for economic development.
The State shall therefore impose severe sanctions on the nefarious acts of smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel of agricultural and fishery products as a self-preservation measure to shield itself from the manipulative scheme of economic saboteurs, protect the livelihood of our farmers, plus leakages in tax and duty collections on these products, protect the State from tax evaders and non-payors of duties, and ensure the well-being of agricultural and fishery producers, the welfare of the consumers, and the soundness of the economy.
Definition of Terms.
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act:
(a) Abnormal Situation refers to supply shortage or unreasonable increase in prices of agricultural and fishery products. It may pertain to only one (10 agricultural or fishery product;
(b) Broker refers to any person who acts as such, whether licensed or not, whose services consist of any of the following: consultation; preparation of customs requisite document for imports and exports; declaration of customs duties and taxes; preparation, signing, filing, lodging, and processing of import entries; acting as facilitator; acting as agent of importers before government agencies and private entities; and rendering other services on matters relating to customs and tariff laws, its procedures, and practices;
(c) Constructive Custody refers to the authority of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group (Enforcement Group_ under Section 18 of this Act to restrict or prevent the movement or removal, from the plants of discovery or storage, of agricultural or fishery products that are suspected of being the subject of smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, or cartel during the twenty-four (24)-hour period given to the owner or possessor of the said products to show proof of compliance with or non-violation of this Act;
(d) Daily Price Index (DPI) refers to a system of monitoring and publishing or broadcasting the prevailing retail prices of agricultural and fishery products in all regions of the country on a day-to-day basis;
(e) Economic Sabotage in agriculture refers to any act or activity that disrupts the economy by creating artificial shortage, promoting excessive importation, manipulating prices and supply, evading payment or underpaying tariffs and customs duties, threatening local production and food security, gaining excessive or exorbitant profits by exploiting situations, creating scarcity, and entering into agreements that defeat fair competition to the prejudice of the public;
(f) Import Clearance refers to a written certificate issued by the concerned regulatory agency stating the volume, classification, and quality of the imported product. This includes the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) import certificate, import permit, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Import Clearance, Clearance for Release of Imported Sugar, or any other equivalent document issued for the importation of agricultural and fishery products;
(g) Importation refers to the act of bringing in goods from a foreign territory, whether for consumption, warehousing, or admission as defined in Republic Act No. 10863 or the "Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA)";
(h) Person refers to a natural or juridical person;
(i) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures refer to any legislation, regulation, requirement, or procedure applied for the purpose of (1) protecting animal or plant life and health within the territory of the Philippines from risks arising from the entry, establishment, or spread of pests, diseases, disease-carrying organisms or disease-causing organisms; (2) protecting human or animal life and health from risks arising from additives, contaminants, toxins, or diseases-causing organisms in agricultural imported produce; (3) protecting human life and health from risks arising from disease carried by animals, plants, or products thereof, or from the entry, establishment, or spread of pests; or (4) preventing or limiting other damage from the entry, establishment, or spread of pests within the territory of the Philippines;
(j) Simple Process of Preparation or Preservation of an Agricultural and Fishery Product for the Market refers to the process of handling agricultural and fishery products in its original state through freezing, drying, salting, broiling, roasting, smoking, or stripping;
(k) SPS Import Clearance refers to the document issued by the concerned bureau or agency prior to importation to ensure that imported products meet the standards to protect human, animal, or plant life and health, ensure that the agricultural or fishery products are safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of pests or diseases among animals or plants. Such document also prescribed the conditions to be complied with by the imported to maintain the quality and suitability of the product for its intended purpose;
(l) Tobacco refers to unmanufactured and manufactured tobacco, including finished products such as cigars, cigarettes, or heated tobacco products.
Unmanufactured tobacco refers to agricultural components derived from the tobacco plant, which are processed for use in the manufacturing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Manufactured tobacco refers to any finished product that contains tobacco such as cigarettes, cigars, heated tobacco products, or any product containing tobacco that is intended for smoking, heating, puffing, oral, or nasal use.
For purpose of this Act, smuggled tobacco refers to tobacco that is:
(1) Not compliant with prevailing laws, or with the following processes and requirements of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and/or other relevant regulatory agencies for the importation of tobacco products including the:
(i) Registration with the BIR of the particular variant and brand to be imported;
(ii) Pre-approval of packaging bearing the required graphic health warnings and other mandated fiscal markings for imported tobacco products; and
(iii) Advance payment of excise taxes and affixing of genuine required tax stamp or marking as proof of payment; or
(2) Subject of a misdeclaration, misclassification, and/or underevaluation, resulting in the non-payment of the proper customs duties.
The sale of tobacco products at a price thirty percent (30%) below the DPI shall raise the presumption that acts of smuggling have been committed;
(m) Trade Regulatory Agencies refer to the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), National Tobacco Administration (NTA), and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA); and
(n) Value refers to the retail prices of agricultural and fishery products as set by the DPI, multiplied by the quantity of the product at the time of the commission of the crime. For manufactured tobacco, the retail price shall be inclusive of excise tax and value-added tax (VAT).
Covered Agricultural and Fishery Products.
SEC. 4. Covered Agricultural and Fishery Products. - The following agricultural and fishery products are covered under this Act: rice, corn, beef and other ruminants, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, other vegetables, fruits, fish, salt, and other aquatic products in their raw state or which have undergone the simple process of preparation or preservation for the market within the primary and post-harvest stages of the food supply chain, palm oil, palm olein, raw and refined sugar, and tobacco.
Daily Price Index.
SEC. 5. Daily Price Index. - In support of the implementation of this Act, the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) are hereby mandated to establish, strengthen, and maintain a DPI:
Provided, That the BIR, in consultation with the NTA, will set a minimum price for the sale of tobacco products. The minimum retail price shall take into account the applicable taxes, reasonable production cost, and trade margins for the lowest priced brands registered wit the BIR.
The AMAS and BAR, in coming up with the prices, shall ensure that the DPI exhibits transparency and accountability and is published on their official websites and social media platforms. These agencies shall be subject to a periodic audit by an independent party to be decided upon by the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council (Council).
The DA shall finish the establishment of the DPI within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act.
Failure in the implementation of this section shall render the head of the concerned offices of the DA liable for administrative and criminal prosecution in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Regulation and Reportorial Requirements.
SEC. 6. Regulation and Reportorial Requirements. - Upon effectivity of this Act, all persons engaged in a business involving agricultural and fishery products shall maintain records of their business, which shall be safely stored for five (5) years from the dates of transactions.
All persons with warehouses, cold storage facilities, or any property involved in the storage of agricultural and fishery products, whether owned, leased, or maintained through third persons, shall, upon effectivity of this Act, register the storage facilities with the appropriate regulatory agencies, stating therein:
(a) The name of the owner of the facility;
(b) The contractual arrangement for the use of the facility (whether leased or other arrangements), if applicable;
(c) The complete address of the facility;
(d) The agricultural and fishery products being stored in said facility;
(e) The maximum storage capacity of the facility for a particular product in bags, sacks, or kilos; and
(f) The inventory of any agricultural product in the facility at any given time.
They shall prepare a monthly report on the operations of the said facilities, which shall include an inventory of any agricultural product in the facilities at any given time, which shall be electronically submitted quarterly to the Council under Section 15 of this Act, through the regulatory agency.
Failure to produce documents and/or records required to be acquired or maintained under this Act, applicable laws, rules, regulations in connection to a business transaction, or failure to produce a copy of an updated report of the operations of the facilities as submitted to the Council through the regulatory agency, upon demand by any member or a combination of members of the Enforcement Group, shall constitute a prima facie evidence of violation of this Act: Provided, That the collection, storage, utilization, and transmission of such record submitted to the Council shall be in accordance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the "Data Privacy Act of 2012".
