THE Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) decision to scan incoming balikbayan boxes will not affect the operation of the country’s ports as the agency has the necessary capability and facilities to implement such measure.

Lourdes Mangaoang, head of BOC’s x-ray inspection project, said the agency started scanning all incoming balikbayan boxes early last month at the height of the case against Lynard Alan Bigcas, the alleged smuggler of luxury vehicles.

Bigcas said the smuggled vehicles were knocked down or dismantled then shipped through balikbayan boxes, an allegation that Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez found hard to believe.

“These balikbayan boxes are supposed to be personal effects; the shipments do not have to arrive immediately unlike raw materials for the production of electronics,” Mangaoang said, when asked if the move would affect the country’s trade facilitation procedures.

“What’s important here is we stop the smuggling of drugs,” Mangaoang said.

Balikbayan boxes usually contain personal items or nonperishable food items sent by overseas Filipinos to relatives in the country. On average, around 1,000 containers arrive in the country loaded with balikbayan boxes per month. Each container can load up to 400 boxes, or a total of 400,000 boxes monthly.

Mangaoang said the BOC’s examiners cannot look at all the boxes owing to their sheer number, but containers can be scanned by the agency’s nonintrusive container x-ray.

Last week the BOC partnered with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to use the PDEA’s K-9 unit for the random inspection, search and examination of incoming cargoes. The K-9 unit, which will be housed in the BOC compound in Port Area, will target mails, parcels and balikbayan boxes from high-risk countries.

Mangaoang said the dogs would be used to sniff containers suspected to contain drugs or other prohibited items.