The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now pilot-testing an internal system that will help its assessment officers determine and verify the value of a commodity.
The web-based National Value Verification System (NVVS) officially underwent trial in all ports on April 8. It allows customs assessment officers to “verify whether the value declared by the importer is the price actually paid or payable for the goods when sold for export to the Philippines,” BOC said in a statement.
Value verification will be based on the previous importation, similar and identical goods at the same period of importation, and other methods of valuation available under Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Under NVVS, the data will be presented based on all aggregate importations of commodities per Harmonized System (HS) Code, specific description, and country of origin.
BOC spokesperson Atty. Erastus Sandino Austria, in a phone interview with PortCalls, said the system is a tool that customs assessment officers can use to verify values, but clarified this does not mean the value provided by NVVS is absolute.
Austria said there are procedures available for importers should they seek to contest the value provided in the NVVS.
NVVS was created and is maintained by BOC’s Management Information System and Technology Group.
“The NVVS will ensure that updated and correct valuation is being implemented in all ports nationwide,” the customs bureau noted. “Hence, the system is also an effective tool in addressing the issue of benchmarking in the BOC through application of correct values of goods entering the ports.”
BOC also noted that the system will help improve its revenue collection performance and strengthen border protection against technical smuggling.
“We will provide the necessary tools for our customs officers to ensure fair and facilitated trade for all our stakeholders,” Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said.
