Ever wonder if travelers can bring in vegetables into the Philippines?

We have seen some news lately about FA’s being charged with smuggling because Philippine Airlines staff – who arrived on two separate flights from Dubai (PR 659) and Riyadh (PR 655) on January 10 —were caught with 27kg onions, 10.5kg lemons, and 1kg strawberries and blueberries, according to an incident report filed by officers of the country’s Bureau of Customs.

“Further investigation is underway for the charges of Smuggling for violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and Presidential Decree 1433 for Violation of Plant Quarantine Law by Customs and Bureau of Plant Industry against the 10 flight crew of Philippine Airlines,” the statement read.

Based from the Facebook post of Bureau of Customs NAIA:

Travelers may not bring in vegetables (regardless of quantity) into the Philippines without the required Plant Quarantine Clearance (for personal use) or Sanitary & Phytosanitary Import Clearance (for commercial use) from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

Any person/company intending to import plants/plant products shall file an application for Plant Quarantine Clearance (PQC) (personal purposes)/Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) (commercial purposes) with the NPQSD prior to importation. This is to safeguard and prevent the spread of plant pests in the Philippines.

Download the Plant Quarantine Clearance here https://npqsd.bpi-npqsd.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/PLANT-QUARANTINE-CLEARANCE-1.pdf

For further clarification and inquiry, you can contact Bureau of Plant Industry please see this link https://npqsd.bpi-npqsd.com.ph/contact-us/