Miriam seeks probe on Customs book blockade

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is wrong in its interpretation of a law that supposedly imposes duties on imported books and urged the Senate to investigate the alleged “book blockade.”

According to the BOC, Republic Act 8047, or the Book Publishing Industry Development Act, only exempts from import taxes and duties “books or raw materials to be used in book publishing.”

But Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said the BOC interpretation of RA 8047 violated the 1950 Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials, of which the Philippines is a state party.

“The Florence Agreement provides that the contracting states undertake not to apply Customs duties or other charges on, or in connection with, the importation of books, publications, and documents,” Santiago said. 

“The Philippines is bound by this treaty under the principle of pacta sund servanda.  This simply means that every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith,” she explained.

The imposition of Customs duties on imported books has reportedly caused book importers to reconsider future importations due to higher costs.  Foreign books have become more expensive and are now in danger of becoming scarce or completely unavailable in local bookstores, according to those opposing the BOC plan.

RP party to treaty

Santiago said the government could not use RA 8047 to evade its obligations under the treaty.

“The Philippines, as a party to the treaty, is not authorized to invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform the treaty,” she said.

“Moreover, RA 8047 itself provides that the Philippines’ national book policy is to reaffirm and ensure the country’s commitment to the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) principle of free flow of information and other related provisions as embodied in the Florence Agreement and in other similar international agreements.”

Santiago also said the BOC’s interpretation of RA 8047 was erroneous because the exemption from import taxes and duties applies equally to books and raw materials to be used in book publishing.

“The legislative intent of RA 8047 is to adhere to the Florence Agreement and exempt books from import duties,” Santiago said. “The BOC’s interpretation has no legal basis.”        

‘Go to court or Congress’

BOC Deputy Commissioner Alexander Arevalo said protesters are barking up the wrong tree and should instead raise their complaints before the courts or the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“Our hands are tied. The BOC does not collect duties and taxes to make life difficult for the importers. Our objective is to implement the law,” said Arevalo.

“We implement the guidelines on the importation of books…or else we would be brought to jail. The venues for their complaints are the courts that interpret the law or the legislative that writes the law.”

The deputy commissioner said he is puzzled why there is now a public outcry when there had been no change on the duties on imported books and the law that has been existing and being followed for many years.

“We are not implementing anything new. The policy has not changed.”

Under the clarificatory guidelines on duty-free importation of books or Department Order no. 17-09 issued by the DOF, there is a one percent duty for books that are educational, technical, scientific, historical or cultural, and five percent duty for books/materials other than educational, technical, scientific, historical or cultural and those books or raw materials not to be used for book publishing but are intended for sale, barter or hire, he added.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are the agencies that determine if the imported articles are economic, technical, vocational scientific, philosophical and historical books.

He explained that the BOC could not do anything about it at this time, and that readers should ask the DepEd or CHED to include their favorite books in the exempted list.

He added that the public might not even be aware that they have been paying duties for books for a long time now.

“The book importers know about this. May be the readers do not know that they have been paying duties.”

To shed light on the misinformation and appease book lovers, he said that they would be loading the Finance department’s order and clarificatory guidelines in their website www.customs.gov.ph — With  Evelyn Macairan