THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently created a private sector committee tasked to update the value of imported goods.
Composed of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation, the Chamber of Customs Brokers Inc, and Port Users Confederation, the committee will help strengthen the bureau’s Value Classification Division and in the process boost revenue enhancement and curb smuggling.
“With the use of updated values in assessment, the bureau can maximize duties and tax payments for every transaction with the bureau,” Customs commissioner Angelito Alvarez said.
“The bureau… would be ready to buy goods in case of undervaluation,” he said.
Updating began two weeks ago and will likely be completed in a month.
The BOC’s anti-smuggling program called Run After the Smugglers (RATS) has yet to show satisfactory results. In the last five years, 100 or so cases have been filed against alleged smugglers with not a single case won by government.
The Department of Finance is pressuring the BOC to step up RATS and file a smuggling case every other week.
