BOC urged to disclose value of smuggled goods

AN ANTI-SMUGGLING movement on Friday urged the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to disclose the import prices of products that are persistently being smuggled into the country.

“One way of highlighting the menace of smuggling is for the Customs bureau to publish the declared import prices of frequently smuggled goods. This is consistent with the BOC’s mandate under the Tariff and Customs Code to prevent and suppress smuggling and other customs fraud,” Fight Illicit Trade (Fight IT) lead convenor Jesus L. Arranza said in a statement.

Arranza, who also chairs the Federation of Philippine Industries, added that making such information public “adheres to the principles under the Revised Kyoto Convention that the necessary information regarding customs shall be provided to interested parties, and that customs bureaus shall maximize the use of information technology.”

“By posting the import prices of frequently smuggled goods on the Customs bureau’s website, the general public has access to such vital information on a 24/7 basis. The concerned citizens can also readily alert authorities if they come across suspected smuggled products,” Arranza explained.

Arranza pointed out that not only the government but also businessmen lose so much money from the entry of illicit goods.

“The problem of smuggling is harming both government, which is losing billions of pesos in revenues, and the private sector, whose legitimate businesses are stolen by illicit traders,” he said.

Citing the latest report of Washington-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI), Arranza noted that in 2011, the entry of goods that evaded payments of import duties and other taxes resulted in foregone revenues worth $25.8 billion.

Also, GFI’s report showed that one-fourth of all imported goods that year were “not reported” to the BOC, Arranza added.

“GFI’s analysis further revealed that from 1960 to 2011, $410.5 billion flowed through the Philippines as ‘illicit funds.’ Out of this amount, $277.6 billion resulted from underreporting goods shipped into the Philippines,” he said.