PH working closely with US, South Korea versus smuggling

The Bureau of Customs is now working on separate partnerships with the United States and South Korea to step up its campaign against smuggling, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

Based on the report by Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, the bureau had met with Washington’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to discuss ways of strengthening Philippines-US cooperation on drug matters.

“Our talks with the DEA included concerns we had raised regarding the increasing incidence of illegal drug shipments from the US to the Philippines using parcel services. They said they will take action on this,” said Lapeña during a DOF Executive Committee (Execom).

Aside from the US, Lapeña also sat down separately with officials of the Korea Customs Service to discuss customs clearances and processes as part of the Customs’ intensified efforts to thwart smuggling.

“We also talked about a possible Korea-Philippines customs heads’ bilateral meeting. They said that they will invite us to Korea sometime in October,” Lapeña said.

Besides the US and Korea, Customs has also partnered with China, which has agreed to set up a data exchange system with the Philippines to facilitate the timely sharing of trade information and aid in their respective campaigns against smuggling and tax evasion.

During their meeting, General Administration of Customs of China Deputy Director General Zou Zhiwu expressed their support for the Philippines’ anti-smuggling efforts and agreed on the designation of focal persons between the two countries.

The government wants to facilitate the coordination between the Philippines and China’s respective customs agencies.