Lack of screening abroad allowing piracy to prosper?

A high-ranking official of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) said the possible lack of screening of pirated items abroad may be allowing the influx of pirated digital video discs (DVDs), video compact discs (VCDs) and music CDs in the country.

"The best place to screen items should be at the port of origin. But in the matter of whether or not the importation violates the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), I am not aware if there is an agency taking care of that in another country (from the point of origin)," BOC-NAIA District Collector Celso Templo said in an interview over the weekend.

Templo pointed out that in the Philippines, the BOC, Philippine National Police (PNP), and airline representatives screen shipments out of the country.

Templo also said that for anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage purposes, it is the mandate of the PNP, in collaboration with the BOC, to check all outbound shipments.

For incoming shipments, it is solely the responsibility of the BOC to check on these shipments.

"From the point of origin, I do not know if IPR violations are included in the mandate of foreign government agencies. But as far as I know, screening abroad only targets on anti-terrorism and anti-sabotage," Templo said.

Optical Media Board (OMB) Chairman Edu Manzano said that based on the latest information they gathered, pirated DVDs, VCDs and CDs in the country come from foreign countries and are not manufactured in the Philippines.

He said Malaysia produces about 80 percent of the DVDs being marketed here.

The OMB chief said law enforcement agencies have set up a wider network for intelligence gathering that has resulted in an unprecedented number of seizures by the BOC.

He said that in September, an international summit will be held in the Philippines to discuss the curbing of IPR violations.

Meanwhile, Customs Deputy Commissioner Alexander Arevalo said the seizure of smuggled pirated DVDs, VCDs and CDs is having a positive impact on Customs revenues.

He said groups or individuals who smuggle products violating IPRs do not pay taxes.

"So if we can apprehend and stop the entry of these products, then there will be an expected increase in legal shipments. And if imports of legal goods come in, this will result in the increase of tax revenues for our Bureau of Customs," Arevalo said.

"That is why it is very positive to note that with our efforts and the close collaboration with the OMB, we should be able to plug that leak so that more revenues can come in through legal importation of IPR products," he added.

For the month of May, the BOC has collected P10.7 billion in taxes. This is P1.04 billion, or 10.8 percent above target for the month.

For year 2004, from January to May, the BOC collected P50.5 billion, about P7 billion, or 16.1 percent above target.

The collections have been based on data collected in the four major BOC ports, namely: — NAIA, Manila International Container Port (MICP), Port of Manila and Batangas Port.