MANILA - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is ready to support the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) if it decides to take legal action against the Canadian government over a Canadian firm's importation of over 50 containers vans full of garbage from 2013 to 2015 to the Philippines.

DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said the DENR and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) are the lead agencies in handling the issue of the Canadian waste illegally imported to the country.

Jose said it is the primary duty of the DENR and BOC to check the kind of materials being imported into the country.

He said the BOC should be held accountable for accepting the garbage from Canada.

According to Jose, the DFA last year informed the Canadian embassy on the illegal importation of garbage into the country by one of its importers.

The Canadian government, however, said that the transaction was purely a commercial transaction and that it has no domestic laws that will require the importer to take back the garbage that was already received by a local broker and that has passed through the BOC.

However, under the UN Basel convention, it is prohibited for countries to throw their garbage in another country or in international waters.

The DFA said that if the DENR will file a case against Canada then they are willing to help the DENR.