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DOMESTIC
manufacturers asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to
continuously update the agency’s reference values for
all imported commodities and then post them in its web
site to prevent unscrupulous importers and their cohorts
from undervaluing their shipments.
Jesus
Arranza, president of the Federation of Philippine
Industries (FPI), said not all commodities already have
their respective reference values at this time.
“And
[for] some products that have it, the values are not
even updated,” Arranza told the BusinessMirror.
They are
starting to suspect, he said, that this is being
deliberately done by Customs officials to allow a window
for negotiated transactions with importers, a situation
conducive to corruption.
He thus
underscored the importance of updating and posting the
values: once all the updated reference values are posted
in the BOC web site for the public to access, no port
will be able to accept imported items at an assessment
lower than their assigned reference values.
For
instance, Arranza said steel beams, which should have a
value of $800 per ton, are being assessed at prices far
lower in some ports because of the absence of a clear
reference value on the item.
If the
Customs bureau continues to renege on this
responsibility, Arranza said, their group will ask
Congress to include a provision on this in the new
antismuggling bill being pushed.
The
draft of the bill, which is an amendment to the Tariff
and Customs Code, is now being finalized by the
technical working group in which FPI is a
representative.
The FPI
will also seek to bar importers from changing the
description of incoming goods and their choice of port
of destinations, as these will allow technical smuggling
through misdeclaration.
“Changes
should only be allowed for typographical errors, not on
nature and description of shipment,” he said.
Also,
Arranza said, the new law should allow the private
sector to initiate the filing of smuggling cases.
Currently, Arranza said only Customs can file charges in
court against suspected smugglers.
Arranza
said they will be adding more provisions that they
overlooked in earlier proposed bills.
In the
previous Congress, the anti-smuggling bill managed to
get pass the House of Representatives but not in the
Senate.
The FPI
estimates that the government is losing at least P100
billion yearly in forgone import duties and taxes alone
due to technical smuggling. |
