The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is now working on separate partnerships with the United States and South Korea to step up its campaign against smuggling.

BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña reported recently to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that he had met with officials of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to discuss ways of strengthening Philippines-US cooperation on drug matters.

“Our talks with the DEA included concerns we had raised regarding the increasing incidence of illegal drug shipments from the US to the Philippines using parcel services. They said they will take action on this,” Lapeña said during an Executive Committee (Execom) meeting of the Department of Finance (DOF).

Lapeña said he had also sat down separately with officials of the Korea Customs Service to discuss customs clearances and processes as part of the BOC’s intensified efforts to thwart smuggling.

“We also talked about a possible Korea-Philippines customs heads’ bilateral meeting. They said that they will invite us to Korea sometime in October,” Lapeña said.

Besides the US and Korea, the BOC has also partnered with the customs agency of China, which has agreed to set up a data exchange system with the Philippines to facilitate the timely sharing of trade information and aid in their respective campaigns against smuggling and tax evasion.

During their meeting, the GACC officials led by Deputy Director General Zou Zhiwu, of the General Administration of China Customs, expressed China’s support for the Philippines’ anti-smuggling efforts and agreed on the designation of focal persons between the two countries to facilitate the coordination between their respective customs agencies.

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