SEIZED PAINT CLEARED BY DRUGS BOARD: DTI

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has cleared the seized shipments of
imported coatings and paints owned by furniture manufacturers in Cebu.

According to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Regional Director
Aster Caberte, the DDB released the clearance certificates last Wednesday.
This should prompt the Bureau of Customs to release the cargoes immediately.

"I have already informed the CFIF today, and together we will do the
follow-up for the immediate release of the shipments," she told Sun.Star
yesterday.

Caberte also said the DDB had granted a moratorium on the implementation of
the Dangerous Drugs Act until July 31 to give companies time to comply with
certification requirements specified by the law.

She said DTI Secretary Cesar Purisima, Department of Environment and
Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun and Regional Development Council
Chairman Erico Aumentado had helped urge the DDB to hasten the release of
the stranded goods.

"We (DTI 7) have been working on these because we know the extent of the
damage done by the seizure to Cebu's furniture industry and the economy in
general," Caberte said.

Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) president Jay Yuvallos
earlier said the seizure of the shipments had delayed the production of
furniture makers, and resulted in losses on their investments.

He said the cost to operate a furniture company on the average is P300,000,
per day, per company, with or without output.

CFIF cried foul over the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency 's (Pdea)
seizure of the imported paints and coatings, which are raw materials used
in the manufacture of furniture. These were seized last May because they
contain toluene, a chemical said to be an ingredient in the manufacture of
Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, commonly known as "shabu."

Yuvallos said furniture manufacturers in Cebu who have been importing these
paints and coatings for a long time were caught flat-footed when the Pdea
suddenly implemented the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 with little notice.

Roger Scott of Lilly Industries said the US-based company had been
supplying furniture manufacturers in Cebu with these paints for 12 years
now in the Philippines, and this is the first time its products have been
questioned.

He said the company is also supplying the same paints and coatings
throughout the world including Asia Pacific, Europe and Brazil.

"And nothing like this has ever happened in these places," Scott said.