BoC meets with China Customs to enforce anti-smuggling agreement

THE Bureau of Customs (BoC) has started talks with its Chinese counterparts to enforce an agreement to streamline the exchange of trade information, in a bid to deter smuggling, amid multiple seizures of counterfeit products from China.

Quan Li, chief of the Anti- Smuggling Bureau of Xiamen Customs, together with Xiang Yang Di, deputy director of its investigation arm, visited Customs Commissioner Nicanor E. Faeldon yesterday to firm up the two countries’ commitments, the BoC said in a statement yesterday.

According to BoC spokesperson and Office of the Commissioner Chief of Staff Mandy Therese M. Anderson, the agreement was to streamline information exchange on the profile of traders and their trading activity, as well as best practices on both countries to discourage illicit trade.

“This agreement with China has been in place for a few years, but never really implemented because of lack of cooperation with China. But the Commissioner has been setting up meetings, with China, to implement the agreement and to possibly amend it, that’s why we’re having discussions,” she said in a phone interview yesterday

“The agreement is more on enforcement of anti- smuggling and info-sharing. So if China can’t stop it at their borders, then they can give it to us so we can stop it here,” she added.

The agreement was signed in April 2010, under which both countries agreed to assist each other in preventing and investigating smuggling.

“Upon request, the Customs administration shall provide assistance in the form of information necessary to ensure the enforcement of Customs laws and accurate assessment of Customs duties and taxes by the Customs administration,” the agreement read.

Moreover, Ms. Anderson added that it could also curb rampant misdeclaration.

“A lot of the smuggled goods actually come from China, so this data sharing will also include export values of Chinese commodities, so we can check it here if what the importers have been reporting to us is not undervalued,” said Ms. Anderson.

The BoC found numerous shipments that entered the Philippines containing counterfeit commercial products and illegal drugs from China. Last month, the bureau seized P105 million worth of fake goods from China.

Earlier this year, the BoC also started talks on a separate agreement made during President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Beijing trip last October, to strengthen efforts against drug smuggling.

“This renewed commitment of both China and Philippine customs to fight smuggling is a strong signal and warning to smugglers to rethink and stop their illegal trade,” said Mr. Faeldon in the statement. —