Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina has directed Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials to submit status reports on all seizure and forfeiture cases from January 2015 to the present in the interest of ensuring fast resolution of such cases.
Lina, through Customs Memorandum Order No. 21-2015 signed on July 10, instructed BOC’s legal service chief, all district collectors, law division chiefs, and other concerned officials to submit reports on seizure and forfeiture cases “initiated and commenced in your respective ports/offices from January 2015 to present, including those already elevated for automatic review or on Appeal with the regular courts.”
Lina said this is part of BOC’s thrust to “provide fast and efficient service to importers, brokers and other stakeholders, and for consistency in the disposition of seizure cases and expeditious resolution thereof.”
Earlier, he also directed customs officials to submit an inventory of confiscated goods as of December 2014, and hard copies of inward foreign manifests and load port survey reports on all oil imports that arrived from January 1 to June 5.
The BOC chief likewise requested weekly reports of alert and hold orders as part of the agency’s efforts to promote transparency and accountability regarding the issuance and lifting of such orders, and to “protect the integrity of legitimate importers against unnecessary delay in the release of their lawful importation.” – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
