Cavite 4th district Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (Facebook)

Here's an initiative from the administration of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. that could help the current Marcos government curb agricultural smuggling.

In a statement Sudnay afternoon, May 28, Cavite 4th Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said he welcomed Swiss company Société Générale de Surveillance SA's (SGS) recommendation to conduct pre-shipping inspections to stop the smuggling of agricultural goods.

"This proposal bodes well for President [Ferdinand] Bongbong [Marcos Jr.]'s administration because it yielded positive results in the past under the first Marcos administration," said Barzaga, a certified public accountant-lawyer.

Marcos Jr. last Thursday met with SGS officials, led by vice president George Bottomley and local managing director Cresenciano Maramot, and discussed the proposal to expand its services to include agricultural products since the SGS is only inspecting fuel imports.

The Philippine leader vowed to study the proposal and do a cost analysis just to be sure that no burden would be passed on to consumers once the government accepts SGS' services.

Barzaga, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, hailed the President's move to consider seeking SGS' services, saying it shows the government's seriousness in fighting smuggling, especially of agricultural imports.

"That's a good move. It makes a lot of sense because there will practically be no interference from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) anymore," he said.

"Kung halimbawa ang shipment galing sa China, sa China pa lang ini-inspeksyon na ng SGS bago isakay, saka bibigyan ng clearance. Kaya pagdating dito sa Pilipinas wala na, release na lang ng release (If, for example, the shipment originated from China, the SGS would inspect it and issue a clearance before it is even shipped)," said the senior lawmaker.

According to Barzaga, the Department of Finance (DOF) and the World Bank (WB) awarded a five-year contract to SGS for the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) at the BOC during the final days of Marcos Sr.'s tenure.

The SGS was then authorized to conduct pre-shipment cargo inspections at the ports of origin since the company was in charge of the valuation, classification and the release of clearance for all imports.

The practice continued during the first Aquino administration and the Ramos presidency but the contract was eventually canceled by the Estrada administration because of allegations of corruption that hounded the Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB), which was tasked then to monitor SGS.

It was reported that from 1987 to 1998, SGS-CISS was able to increase customs collection by an average rate of 30.1 percent.