BOC eyes sale of seized smuggled goods to private sector

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is looking at buying billions of seized smuggled goods languishing in warehouses and reselling this to the private sector.

Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said the government is considering a suggestion from the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) that the BOC does “forced acquisition” to shore up revenues and curb technical smuggling.

“That is being considered because it is mandatory under the law but consideration is (that) where would the funding come from,” Alvarez said.

He said he is seriously considering such a suggestion since it would be a major deterrent to smuggling.

However, he said he still needs to check with the National Treasury if there’s available “seed money” for their “acquisition program.”

One option, Alvarez said, is to request funding from the Department of Finance (DOF) if the Treasury cannot provide seed money.

“Under forced acquisition, for a laptop that is grossly undervalued at $100, we can acquire it at that value and then sell it to the private sector at a higher value,” he said.

Alvarez said importers who undervalued their shipments will have no choice but to mend their ways and start declaring the right value of their imports.

He said the importers themselves may buy the goods but for the right value.

Earlier, the Federation of Free Industries (FPI) urged the BOC to do “forced acquisition.” The group, an umbrella organization of local industry players, said the government could have raked in billions in fresh revenues when the previous BOC leadership failed to wield its power of forced acquisition.

FPI chair Jesus Arranza said the previous Customs administration used this power and acquired some 93,000 metric tons (MT) of undervalued steel imports that entered the country in the first five months of the year.

“The BOC must invoke its right of compulsory acquisition for imported products that are grossly undervalued if the agency really hopes to curtail smuggling and generate more revenues for the government,” Arranza said.

He said the steel shipments were only valued at an average price of $63 per MT when their proper valuation should have been $700 per MT.

Under Sec. 2317 of the Tariffs and Customs Code, the BOC has the right to acquire them and then sell them to the private sector at the correct value.