Two lawmakers have called on the House of Representatives to direct the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to adopt “import data reconciliation” procedures to reduce, if not totally eliminate, opportunities for the misdeclaration and undervaluation of shipments at the country’s ports of entry.
According to Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez of the Second District of Cagayan de Oro City and his younger brother, Party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. of Abante Mindanao, import-data reconciliation can address undervaluation and misdeclaration problems at the BOC because it is similar to the preshipment procedures where documentation and information from a shipment’s port of origin are provided.
The lawmakers, through House Resolution 1597, batted for the BOC’s adoption of import data- reconciliation procedures. The resolution has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Rep. Romero S. Quimbo of the Second District of Marikina City.
According to the lawmakers, a study conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center cited that the BOC collections rose from about P26.2 billion in 1987 to P304.9 billion in 2013, mostly on the back of higher value-added tax (VAT) collections.
The study also cited that in 1990, the gap between potential and actual customs revenues due to mis-invoicing was about P5 billion, using the exchange rates prevailing then. By 2011 the revenue gap rose to P167 billion, and it is estimated there were revenue gaps of P195 billion in 2012 and P189 billion in 2013, the study said.
Relatedly, the lawmakers cited a report by Global Financial Integrity, a US research firm, which showed that under-invoicing of traded goods has cost the country $23 billion in lost tax revenue since 1990.
The elder Rodriguez said that no less than Customs Commissioner John Sevilla, a few months into his new position, was “shocked” by the BOC’s failure to analyze the rich data it received.
“Information that held vital clues to the BOC’s endemic corruption problems included data showing that the BOC opens up less than 1 percent of shipping containers, but of the containers opened, 90 percent have problems,” Rodriguez said.
He said another problem is that “the BOC’s import-valuation data- were not systematically organized and that the 17 BOC collection districts nationwide do not have a uniform valuation reference.”
“One possible way to address this problem of undervaluation is the implementation of import data reconciliation procedures which call for documentation on shipments of imported goods at their ports of origin. The BOC should be directed to adopt import data reconciliation procedures which could reduce, if not totally eliminate, opportunities for the misdeclaration and undervaluation of shipments at the Philippine ports of entry,” said Rodriguez.
PNA