BOC abolishes brokers' accreditation unit for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - Bureau of Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez has abolished the BOC’s Customs Accreditation Secretariat (CAS) Thursday after hearing complaints alleging that the unit has allegedly been forcing Customs brokers to pay as much as P30,000 to have their accreditation papers released.

“I have talked to several business communities and the CAS is a major concern and that is why I decided to abolish the CAS and form a new team,” he said.

A source said among those allegedly complaining about irregularities at the CAS are members of the Chamber of Customs Brokers Incorporated (CCBI), Port Users Confederation (PUC), PhilExport, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and bonded warehouse operators at major ports in the country.

Even multinational companies were reportedly not spared from the alleged extortion activities at the CAS.

The source said brokers and importers have to pay P1,000 if they are first-time applicants and P500 if they are seeking to renew their accreditation. “These are legitimate fees… the ones issued with receipts,” the source said.

However, the source said there have been many complaints by brokers and importers that they are forced to fork out P30,000 to have their accreditation approved.

The source said the CAS reportedly demands more money if the brokers have shipments coming in while their application is still pending.

“The brokers would be caught in a tight situation and would be forced to pay the amount (being demanded) otherwise, their accreditation would not be issued and their shipments would be held hostage,” the source said.

The CAS’ alleged extortion activities would affect the BOC’s revenue collection because if the shipments are kept on hold, the BOC would not be able to collect duties and taxes, the source said.

Alvarez has ordered the relief of all 25 officials and employees of the CAS, which was headed by lawyer Czae de Guzman, as a way of curbing irregularities in the agency.

In a one-page memorandum order issued Aug. 12, Alvarez ordered the creation of the Interim Customs Accreditation and Registration Unit (ICARE) that would be headed by lawyer Rhea Gregorio.

Alvarez said CAS was abolished because it failed to protect the integrity of the bureau’s accreditation mechanism for brokers and importers. “It could be that as much as 20 percent of the more than 9,000 importers and brokers given accreditation by the defunct CAS were bogus, fly-by-night entities being used by big-time financiers as fronts for their smuggling activities,” he said.

Alvarez said their goal “is to deprive the smugglers access to the network of organizational smokescreens they had used effectively in the past to defraud government of billions of pesos in duties and taxes.”