The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on September 5 destroyed an estimated P3.5 million worth of various forfeited goods in a facility in Angat, Bulacan.
BOC destroyed the helmets and expired jelly candies, which were contained in four containers abandoned at the Port of Manila (POM), at the Bulacan facility of Zafra Feed Milling, the awarded contractor for the condemnation.
According to POM-Auction and Cargo Disposal Division (ACDD), the shipments were found to be unfit for human consumption and had no commercial value. Moreover, they could not be sold through public auction and their release would be contrary to law, BOC said in a statement.
The condemnation was also in line with sections 1145 (Disposition of Goods Injurious to Public Health) and 1146 (Disposition of Prohibited Goods) of Republic Act (RA) No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), and other relevant customs orders.
Of the four containers, two 40-footers contained expired jelly candies from China, which had an estimated worth of P2 million and were consigned to Richco Marketing. The candies were destroyed through composting/rendering.
Meanwhile the remaining two 40-footers that contained helmets having an estimated worth of P1.5 million and consigned to Mild Red Trading were crushed.
BOC said that further investigation also found that the shipment was misdeclared as housewares and lacked the required Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Philippine Standards permits and clearances.
Last July, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña ordered all ports to dispose quickly of seized and abandoned goods to free up space in ports and remove doubts that seized containers were being pilfered or recycled.
And in line with Lapeña’s directive to make disposition of forfeited goods transparent, the condemnation in Bulacan was done with members of the media and representatives from the local government present.
