BOC looking to collect ₧1B more from ’20 undervalued shipments
THE Bureau of Customs expects to collect at least an additional P1 billion from undervalued shipments this year, Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said on Thursday.
This sum, Guerrero told senators, would be on top of the P1.417 billion it recently charged from undervalued rice shipments of 47 rice importers from March to June last year.
“In our post-audit report we determined that for last year there was P1.4 billion in collectibles, and we issued the demand letters; and this year we are estimating there is P1 billion more in additional [collectibles] based on our collection data in January up to September,” Guerrero said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture on Thursday.
In a separate statement on
Thursday, the BOC said 60 rice importers have already been selected for the post- clearance audit, which shall cover their rice importations from January to June 30 this year. This as the bureau intensified its campaign against all forms of smuggling, especially of rice, through a continuous post- clearance audit to protect government revenues as well as local producers of agricultural products.
Asked if there is already a postclearance audit finding for these rice importations this year, Customs Assistant Commissioner and spokesman Vincent Philip C. Maronilla told the Businessmirror:
“None yet. We have just issued the ANL [Audit Notification Letters].”
Meanwhile, Maronilla also told this paper that the BOC has so far collected P30.908 million out of the P1.4 billion charged from erring rice importers for their “undervalued” shipments from March to June last year. This is equivalent to 2.2 percent of the total amount.
Maronilla said the amount was paid by 24 rice importers, 14 of which are farmers’ cooperatives.
On the other hand, 12 rice importers, all cooperatives, have filed motions for reconsideration to avert paying P914.5 million in total charges.
The remaining P471.77 million out of the P1.4 billion has also yet to be paid by those rice importers that were charged by the BOC but have not yet availed of any legal remedy.
“There are more who moved for reinvestigation,” Maronilla said. “But based on the amount, the assessment of those that moved to reinvestigate is bigger.”
Earlier, Senator Cynthia A. Villar, head of the agriculture committee, urged Agriculture Secretary
William Dar to closely monitor the farmer cooperatives amid reports that many of them are being used by rice traders and importers to buy from abroad. Besides paying the farmer groups a measly amount in exchange for using their permits, these unscrupulous businessmen also cheat the government by undervaluing their imports, an earlier investigative story by the Businessmirror had shown.
In the same Senate hearing, Guerrero also admitted that they do not have the expertise to determine the exact quality classification of imported rice, adding that they just rely on the Bureau of Plant Industry ( BPI).
“However, as to the exact quality classification of rice, we don’t have expertise there. We only classify lang rice based on its tariff heading when it’s claimed to be milled, whole grain or jasmine rice,” he said.
Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, former chief of the National Food Authority (NFA), expressed concern with Guerrero’s remark, saying that this technical expertise is crucial for BOC for it to make the proper assessment of customs duties.
“Kung hindi niyo alam presyo, paano niyo papatawan ng tamang customs duties?” Pangilinan asked.
But BPI Director George Y. Culaste said the agency did not have the expertise to determine the quality of rice being imported by the country.
Hearing this, Villar expressed frustration over Culaste’s remark.
Following this, senators recommended the transfer of redundant NFA employees to BPI to boost the capacity of the agency, particularly in importation.
NFA Administrator Judy Carol Dansal said at the hearing that 1,644 employees were considered redundant with the reorganization of the agency under the Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) law.
Villar recommended that these employees be transferred to the BPI, which is in charge of issuing Sanitary & Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPS-IC), to provide the agency additional capacity.
“If the BPI is in charge of importation, these employees should be given to BPI. Isn’t that logical? Why is that hanging if these employees are knowledgeable about importation.