Mla Int’l Container Port earns P543M from confiscated goods

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Manila International Container Port (MICP) generated P542.6 million in revenues from the sale of seized imported goods since January, its highest collection haul.

The MICP is the country’s largest port in terms of trade volume and revenues.

According to the BOC, the MICP has so far auctioned off 420 container vans of rice with another 1,047 more on hold.

Last Friday, the BOC-MICP successfully raised P73.51 million from the public sale of 70 20-foot container vans equivalent t 1.82 million kilos of rice packed in 36,400 50-kilogram bags.

Victor Del Rosario Rice Mill Corp. submitted the highest bid at P40.39 per kilogram of rice or 82 percent higher than the minimum floor price of P25.84 per kilogram. It was given five days to claim the rice.

The rice that was put on the auction block was originally consigned to Jade Bros Farm and Livestock Inc.  It was seized by the BOC in November 2013 for lack of required import permits and valid quota allocation from the National Food Authority.

 “We are pleased with the strong interest from bidders and the favorable prices we are getting for the goods we auction. We intend to expedite the disposition of forfeited goods not only to generate incremental revenue but to free-up much-needed space at our ports,” said BOC-MICP district collector ElmirDela Cruz.

Apart from the public auctions, the BOC-MICP also condemned 1,091 container vans of seized goods that can neither be sold through public bidding nor donated to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. These include pirated or fake goods, food items and medicines that are expired and have no permits from the Food and Drug Administration.