The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has intensified. its anti-smuggling campaign in 2019, seizing P20.58 billion-worth of smuggled goods, mostly counterfeit goods, illegal drugs and tobacco products.

In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the BOC said it also filed criminal cases against 345 importers and 75 customs brokers last year in line with Dominguez’s directive for the bureau to step up its campaign against smuggling.

The BOC also revoked the customs accreditation of 196 importers and customs brokers for various violations of customs rules and regulations.

Of the seized goods last year, the BOC said it was able to apprehend P9.44 billion-worth of counterfeit products, P3.59 billion-worth of illegal drugs, and P2.67 billion worth of cigarettes and tobacco products—accounting for a combined value of P15.7 billion or three-fourths of its total haul for 2019.

The rest were agricultural goods (P398.47 million), general merchandise (59.87 million), vehicles and accessories (106.55 million), used clothing (P66.86 million), steel products (P78.59 million), electronics (P21million), goods and firearms (P815,000), currency (P35 million), and other products (P4.1 billion).

Preliminary data submitted earlier by the BOC to the Department of Finance (DOF) show that the bureau was able to collect P630.571 billion in revenues in 2019, representing a 6.3 improvement over the P593 billion collection in 2018 or up by P37 billion.

The BOC’s collection efficiency remains consistent at 95.4 percent.

“The collection in 2019, apart from the efforts of our Collection Districts, is also attributed to revenue collection from issued Alert Orders amounting to more than P40.9 million, Post Clearance Audits with more than P2 billion collected revenue, and more than P527.9 billion from public auctions,” the BOC said in its report.

To facilitate trade, the BOC was able to finally join the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) last Dec. 30 for the exchange of the electronic Certificates of Origin (ATIGA e-Form D) with Malaysia and Indonesia.

The BOC also officially launched the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program to provide the bureau and its stakeholders with increased security while ensuring the seamless movement of goods.

On yard utilization, the BOC was able to reduce this to 71.2 percent in the Port of Manila (POM) and 72.66 percent in the Manila International Container Port (MICP) “ to provide a facilitated trade environment to its stakeholders.”

Its online accreditation program also resulted in the accreditation of 17,760 importers and 2,241 customs brokers with zero backlog.

The BOC also reported to Dominguez the following accomplishments for 2019:

· Issued a total of 147 show-cause orders against customs personnel for their non-compliance with existing customs rules and regulations, in which 152 were administratively charged, 20 dismissed, 8 suspended and 120 were pending decision with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman;

· Procured various logistical needs of the BOC, which include 8 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects amounting to P340,42 million. The IT systems in these 8 projects were developed and are now being utilized to automate frontline transactions along with 4 other systems that were upgraded;

· Conducted 269 trainings to further improve technical and operational capabilities of BOC personnel, which benefited 5,481 participants. The Bureau was also able to forge strong ties with other customs organizations with 80 total meetings/engagements attended locally and internationally;

· Hired and promoted 1,016 personnel to fill-up existing plantilla positions. From a personnel complement of 2,856 in October 2018, the BOC now has 3,425 personnel or a fill-up of 54.67 percent of the authorized 6,264 plantilla positions;

· On the provision of incentives, the BOC recommended the payment of P345 million reward for surpassing the 2018 BOC collection target of P584-billion by P1.4-billion;

· On enhancement of Cargo Clearance and Examination capabilities, it acquired a total of 58 x-ray machines during the year, bringing the total number of scanning equipment to 117;

· On intelligence and enforcement capabilities, the BOC acquired state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and deployed the Cargo Targeting System to improve threat monitoring and detection and risk management;

· Issued 17 Customs Administrative Orders (CAOs), 53 Customs Memorandum Orders (CMOs), 356 memorandums, and 281 Customs Memorandum Circulars (CMCs) to codify and harmonize all customs implementing rules and regulations;

· Revised the BOC Citizen’s Charter to reflect processes that were streamlined for the ease-of-doing business (EODB) law;

· Audited 9 of the 17 Collection Districts that resulted to an 82 percent compliance and resolution of the 45 Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) issued by the Commission on Audit (COA);

· As part of its good governance program, the BOC enrolled into the Performance Governance System (PGS) of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) and passed the initiated stage with a Gold Trailblazer Award during the ISA-Public Governance Forum held last Nov. 28, 2019.

Also, the BOC received the Recognition of Excellence Award from the OpenGov, a Silicon Valley technology company that offers cloud-based software for public sector, budgeting, reporting and open data.

The BOC was likewise recognized by the Freedom of Information–Project Management Office under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) as an FOI (Freedom of Information) Awardee for being a significant contributor to FOI’s progress and one of the top agencies in the Electronic Freedom of Information Portal.

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