400 cars smuggled each week in Cebu since ‘06
The rampant smuggling in Cebu prompted some smugglers to leave their operations at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.
At least 400 luxury cars loaded in some 100 container vans have been arriving every week at the Port of Cebu since Customs Collector Ricardo Belmonte started his stint there in July 2006, an Inquirer source at the Bureau of Customs claimed on Wednesday.
Told of this allegation, Belmonte said: “That’s not possible.”
“All selected red shipments go through the X-ray. We’ve also had a high number of seizure cases. And we also coordinated with the [Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group] on that issue,” he said.
Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., head of the PASG, said Belmonte’s group coordinated only after the PASG uncovered a number of smuggling activities at the Port of Cebu.
According to the source who did not want to be named for risk of losing his job, only eight to 10 vehicles a week are legally released with clearance from the office of the commissioner.
About 370 cars are declared as replacement parts or tires. At least 40 containers with those kinds of declarations belong to a smuggler whose clients include Chinese-Filipino and Korean traders.
The same smuggler has been allowed to declare five containers as personal effects since the first quarter of 2007. Personal effects are goods usually shipped in by balikbayans, overseas Filipino workers or travellers.
Belmonte called the schemes as “misdeclaration.”
“These are in violation of the [Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines]. We do not allow that,” he said.
The Inquirer source said that “very few are declared as motor vehicles.”
Smugglers bring out the cars by registering these with the Land Transportation Office district in Cebu or Toledo cities, the source said. Their vehicle registrations cover separate BoC-issued certificate of payments (CPs) for chassis and engines or CPs that are recycled or fake.
Legally, there must be one CP for every motor vehicle. An exception to this is when an importer is an assembler who is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry.
The rampant smuggling in Cebu prompted some smugglers to leave their operations at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.
A Supreme Court decision allowing the importation of used cars into Subic but banning the resale in the country had put some brakes on smuggling, it was learned.
Cars released as personal effects have no records with the customs, said the source.
Smuggled cars get past the customs through the use of informal or formal entry.
An informal entry is a BoC accounting form wherein the importer or broker declares under oath the nature and quantity of goods he is importing.
The Tariff and Customs Code provides that only personal effects and goods valued at P1,000 may be declared using informal entry.
By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk
At least 400 luxury cars loaded in some 100 container vans have been arriving every week at the Port of Cebu since Customs Collector Ricardo Belmonte started his stint there in July 2006, an Inquirer source at the Bureau of Customs claimed on Wednesday.
Told of this allegation, Belmonte said: “That’s not possible.”
“All selected red shipments go through the X-ray. We’ve also had a high number of seizure cases. And we also coordinated with the [Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group] on that issue,” he said.
Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., head of the PASG, said Belmonte’s group coordinated only after the PASG uncovered a number of smuggling activities at the Port of Cebu.
According to the source who did not want to be named for risk of losing his job, only eight to 10 vehicles a week are legally released with clearance from the office of the commissioner.
About 370 cars are declared as replacement parts or tires. At least 40 containers with those kinds of declarations belong to a smuggler whose clients include Chinese-Filipino and Korean traders.
The same smuggler has been allowed to declare five containers as personal effects since the first quarter of 2007. Personal effects are goods usually shipped in by balikbayans, overseas Filipino workers or travellers.
Belmonte called the schemes as “misdeclaration.”
“These are in violation of the [Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines]. We do not allow that,” he said.
The Inquirer source said that “very few are declared as motor vehicles.”
Smugglers bring out the cars by registering these with the Land Transportation Office district in Cebu or Toledo cities, the source said. Their vehicle registrations cover separate BoC-issued certificate of payments (CPs) for chassis and engines or CPs that are recycled or fake.
Legally, there must be one CP for every motor vehicle. An exception to this is when an importer is an assembler who is registered with the Department of Trade and Industry.
The rampant smuggling in Cebu prompted some smugglers to leave their operations at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.
A Supreme Court decision allowing the importation of used cars into Subic but banning the resale in the country had put some brakes on smuggling, it was learned.
Cars released as personal effects have no records with the customs, said the source.
Smuggled cars get past the customs through the use of informal or formal entry.
An informal entry is a BoC accounting form wherein the importer or broker declares under oath the nature and quantity of goods he is importing.
The Tariff and Customs Code provides that only personal effects and goods valued at P1,000 may be declared using informal entry.
By Tonette Orejas - Inquirer Central Luzon Desk
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
6:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home