BOC to share info with other gov’t agencies

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) wants to work with other government agencies through information sharing and monitoring of imports as part of efforts to curb smuggling.

Speaking at the Federation of Philippine Industries General Membership Meeting Wednesday, Customs commissioner John Philip Sevilla said the agency intends to work with other agencies in terms of sharing information and monitoring imports as part of efforts to address smuggling.

In particular, Sevilla said he wants the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI)  Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS)  to look at every single import, every product that was cleared by BOC.

“I want them to tell us, this one we gave certification, this one we didn’t…I want other agencies which issue permits to do that,” he said.

By working with other agencies, the BOC would determine whether imports have the necessary clearances.

Working with other agencies through sharing of information and monitoring of imports is likewise important as the BOC currently lacks manpower.

The BOC, which currently has over 3,000 employees, is in the process of hiring personnel.

The agency needs an additional 1,050 personnel such as accountants, administrative officers, lawyers, special police, special agents, intelligence agents, statisticians and Customs operations officers.

Sevilla expects to hire the additional personnel and have about 4,500 employees by January.

After filling up the 1,050 vacancies, Sevilla said the BOC intends to hire another 700 people to support the agency’s operations.

Apart from increasing its staff, the BOC is also pushing for other reforms to fight corruption and smuggling.

By the middle of next year, Sevilla said the BOC wants to have a better information technology (IT) system which would allow faster processing, better monitoring of collections as well as enforcement of import restrictions, in place.

“That IT system is being designed right now. It has to be tested. We want it up and running by this time next year. We hope it will be partially running by first quarter next year,” he said.