THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is pursuing a fuel-marking system whose cost would be shouldered either by government, passed on to consumers or shouldered even by importers under a plan that continues to be crafted even now.
This was learned from Customs chief Alberto D. Lina, who on Tuesday vowed to improve the collection of excise tax from local and foreign firms that import fuel to meet the country’s energy requirements.
According to Lina, the planned fuel-marking scheme could cost from a low of 5 centavos to as high as 7
centavos per liter.
“The cost will range from 5 centavos to 7 centavos per liter,” he said.
With the new fuel-marking scheme, the BOC can easily determine if oil imports are smuggled. Whether the products are stamped as tax-exempt or tax-paid, as long as no markings are apparent, it will be considered as smuggled. He also particularly said strong enforcement and compliance would be key for the success of the program.
“The only issue is the enforcement. Of course, when you impose a marking scheme, how will you enforce it? So that is what we want to strengthen,” he added.
In earlier engagements with the Customs chief, he cited numbers indicating that such a fuel-marking system would likely cost the government $25 million a year to pursue.
But while the cost is relatively steep, pursuing such a system should be able to stop the illicit flow of imported fuel oil into the country and generate a revenue stream as high as $300 million.
As for selecting the entity that would enforce the fuel-marking scheme on the ground, Lina said this, too, was still on the drawing board.
“We have not yet decided because that is still up for bidding. We cannot just point to a company and task them to do this or that since we also have two or three bidders,” Lina explained.
Under a much earlier fuel-marking scheme, the chemical signatures were placed on tax-exempt fuel products, but none on the tax-paid imports.
The company responsible for the processing of the marking scheme then was SGS Philippines Inc.
The previous scheme, implemented by then-BOC Commissioner Napoleon L. Morales, was discontinued
later.