Philippine Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto is urging President Benigno Aquino III to sign into law the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), saying it will help stamp out smuggling such as that happening in the hog-raising industry.
Recto issued a statement after a big national alliance of pork producers threatened to stage a “pork holiday” if the government fails to curb pork smuggling.
Swine farmers belonging to the alliance, led by the Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines Inc., Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, and National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc., are complaining that tens of millions of kilos of imported pork meat are being misdeclared as pork offal, fats, rind, and skin.
These parts fetch a lower tariff rate of 5% to 10% compared to the 40% tariff on pork meat.
The alliance wants the strict enforcement of the quarantine first policy, 100% quarantine test, and inspection at the port of first entry for all meat imports with declared 5% to 10% tariff.
Recto said the proposed CMTA prescribes measures designed to make Bureau of Customs (BOC) processes “simple, streamlined, transparent and fast.”
The bill, ratified by both houses of Congress, also imposes a longer imprisonment term of up to a lifetime and higher fines of up to P50 million for smugglers and their coddlers in government, Recto added.
Section 1401 of CMTA slaps a jail term of 31 days to six months or a fine of P25,000 up to P75,000, or both, if the appraised value of the smuggled goods does not exceed P250,000.
If the value of smuggled items exceeds P200 million, guilty parties will be sentenced to life imprisonment on top of a fine of not less than P50 million.
Customs officials extorting from shippers or consignees, on the other hand, face a penalty of six years to 12 years imprisonment and a fine of P500,000 to P1 million.
Additional penalties include forfeiture of all benefits due from service in government as well as perpetual disqualification to hold public office, vote, and participate in any public election.
Recto said he hopes the sanctions will act as a “fear factor” to discourage smuggling.
But the measure pending on Aquino’s desk does not only jack up the penalties, but also “modernizes Customs operations, computerizes all aspects of transactions, simplifies rules, and expedites the issuance of import clearances and valuation of goods as well,” Recto explained.
One section of the proposed law also provides that goods declaration be submitted electronically pursuant to the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000.
The CMTA mandates the use of modern information and communications technology to speed up and simplify BOC procedures, Recto noted.
“Hopefully this and other measures would allow easy tracking and monitoring of goods,” Recto said, adding “it would also empower concerned parties to red flag suspicious shipments.”
Recto likewise backed the appeal of hog growers for Aquino to sign into law a separate bill treating large-scale smuggling of farm products as economic sabotage. “This and the CMTA are a one-two punch that can bring down smuggling,” he said.
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