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FLOUR
millers belonging to the Philippine Association of Flour
Millers (Pafmil) lambasted Bureau of Customs (BoC)
officials and personnel on Wednesday for their alleged
failure to clamp down on flour smuggling in the
Philippines.
In a
statement, Pafmil executive Director Ric M. Pinca
revealed that 15,314 metric tons (MT) of smuggled and
substandard flour have so far reached the Manila
International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Port of
Manila (POM).
These
are broken down as follows: 8,256.69 MT arrived in
January; 2,073.65 MT arrived in February; 3,770.37 MT in
March; and 1,215.32 MT in April.
Pafmil
noted that other shipments were also reported to have
been landed in Cagayan de Oro. Unbranded flour is
already being sold in
Cagayan Valley,
Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.
Despite
instructions by President Arroyo for the BOC to “clamp
down on flour smuggling and file appropriate charges
against flour smugglers and their accomplices in the
customs bureau, unmarked and Chinese-branded flour
continue to arrive at the MICT and POM,” said Pinca. The
power and influence of flour smugglers at the BOC
obviously know no bounds as they and their accomplices
defy even the President herself, he added.
According to him, to avoid scrutiny by local industry
representatives at the ports, smuggled flour now goes
through the so-called yellow lane. Shipments under this
category do not undergo physical inspection, as only the
documents are reviewed. Only shipments on the “red lane”
go through physical inspection.
Some
shipments were also declared as either soybean meal or
starch to avoid payment of 5-percent to 7-percent duty
on flour and 12-percent value-added tax (VAT). The
import duty for starch is only 3 percent. The import
duty of soybean meal is 3 percent, same as that of
industrial starch.
Pinca
said local flour millers have sought the assistance of
the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)
and the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) to
stem this unwanted tide of smuggled flour products, but
their efforts remain fruitless—except for occasional
seizures of some containers of smuggled items basically
for publicity purposes. The bulk of smuggled goods, he
said, remain untouched.
The two
flour-miller groups in the country—the seven-member
Pafmil and the four-member Chamber of Philippine Flour
Millers (Champflour)—also brought this matter to the
attention of the BOC, but Pinca alleged that flour
smuggling continues unabated.
“In
fact, the perpetrators and their cohorts have of late
become more brazen and shameless,” said Pinca.
He said
the same flour importers who brought in unbranded and
Chinese-marked flour continue to bring in these
commodities.
“They
are not being subjected to inspection as they have
suddenly been given the ‘yellow lane’ classification,
meaning they are not to be subjected to inspection. The
importers and their brokers only have to submit copies
of their import documents,” said Pinca.
“Obviously, these importers have been advised by their
accomplices within the BOC to avoid the warehousing
procedure as this system is under watch after the
President asked the BOC to file charges against flour
importer Rubills Inc. for alleged nonpayment of import
duties and value added tax,” he said.
Pinca
alleged that Double Excellence, another importer that
brought in unbranded Chinese flour, continues to bring
in this commodity and is not subjected to inspection
anymore as its entries are processed under the “yellow
lane” system.
“Two new
flour importers, Frontrunner Enterprises and Judd Monte
Enterprises, have also joined the fray. Flour importers
who have been caught with various offenses usually just
return with a new name to escape penalties and close
scrutiny,” he said.
Both
Frontrunner Enterprises and Judd Monte Enterprises,
Pinca charged, declared their imports at $210 per MT,
lower than the cost of poor-quality wheat flour for feed
which was declared at $321 per MT.
Bread
flour from
China
was offered to local flour millers at $470 per MT in
December last year. This was prior to the withdrawal by
the Chinese government of the 13-percent subsidy on
export of wheat grains and wheat-based products, and the
imposition of a 25-percent export duty on the same
products. The Chinese government implemented these new
impositions on December 30, 2007.
As of
press time, officials of Frontrunner Enterprises, Judd
Monte Enterprises, Double Excellence and the BOC could
not be reached for comment. |
