BoC intensifies anti-smuggling drive in 2019
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2020 02:32:33 +0000
THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) has intensified its anti-smuggling campaign in 2019, seizing P20.58-billion worth of smuggled goods, mostly counterfeit items, illegal drugs and tobacco products.
In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd, the BoC said it also filed criminal cases against 345 importers and 75 customs brokers last year in line with Dominguez’s directive for the bureau to step up its campaign against smuggling.
The BoC also revoked the customs accreditation of 196 importers and customs brokers for various violations of customs rules and regulations.
Of the seized goods last year, the BOC said it was able to apprehend P9.44-billion worth of counterfeit products, P3.59-billion worth of illegal drugs and P2.67-billion worth of cigarettes and tobacco products, accounting for a combined value of P15.7 billion or three-fourths of its total haul for 2019.
The rest were agricultural goods (P398.47 million), general merchandise (P59.87 million), vehicles and accessories (P106.55 million), used clothing (P66.86 million), steel products (P78.59 million), electronics (P21 million), goods and firearms (P815,000), currency (P35 million) and other products (P4.1 billion).
Preliminary data submitted earlier by the BoC to the Department of Finance (DoF) shows that the bureau was able to collect P630.571 billion in revenue in 2019, representing a 6.3 percent improvement over the P593 billion collection in 2018 or up by P37 billion.
The BoC’s collection efficiency remains consistent at 95.4 percent.