Section 3Sec./Art. 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).