THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) will tighten rules on declaring imported items as it braces for potential revenue losses from the dumping of goods into the Philippines, following the United States’ imposition of tariffs on several countries.
On the sidelines of a business summit organized by the Federation of Philippine Industries on Wednesday, Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno stated that undervaluation and misdeclaration remain top concerns, as foreign exporters may divert goods to the Philippines.
This comes after Trade Secretary Cristina Roque called on the BOC to work closely with the Department of Trade and Industry in protecting local industries from possible dumping by countries such as China and Vietnam that face higher US tariffs.
‘We will monitor strictly against misdeclared imported items,’ Nepomuceno said in response, adding that shipments must match the quantity and value declared in documents.
The Customs chief explained that when countries dump goods into the Philippines at low or almost zero tariff rates, the volume of imports rises, resulting in lost revenues for the government.
Using last year’s data, Nepomuceno said the impact of zero taxes and duties from US-imported goods would mean more than P30 billion in foregone revenues for the government.
‘So, it has an impact on our collection,’ Nepomuceno said, noting that the BOC is in talks with the Department of Finance (DOF) to identify areas where stronger collection efficiencies can offset losses.
‘Kung saan taya mawalan, magkaroon tayo ng pang-compensate with other important items. We will look for that,’ Nepomuceno said.
To strengthen border security and guard against smuggling, Nepomuceno said the BOC will prioritize the full digitalization of customs processes, which will be procured through a public-private partnership (PPP) project.
Nepomuceno said a private proponent from the PPP Center already stepped forward and submitted a proposal to develop the BOC’s digital system, which will be implemented at no cost to the government.
Under the proposal, importers will be charged P350 per transaction, no matter how many shipments they have, with the government entitled to a share of the revenues.
‘Our job is to make sure that the minimum required features or capabilities will be there. The system should have the capacity to have full or 100 percent digitalized processes. Hindi puwedeng partial-garbage in, garbage out is not allowed,’ Nepomuceno said.
The Philippines is not spared from US tariffs, having been subjected to a 19 percent reciprocal tariff on its exports to the US, while also removing its tariffs on certain US-made goods.
This will be a challenge to the BOC, one of the country’s main tax-collecting agencies tasked to collect P958.7 billion this year, on top of the expected revenue losses from the rice import ban.
Nepomuceno said the foregone revenues could cost around P3 billion to P4 billion per month, with losses to be even higher in high-import months.
Despite the leakages, Nepomuceno said the country still benefits from the ban. ‘But from the point of view of BOC, those are our foregone revenues.’
This August, the BOC’s collection dipped by 1.38 percent to P77.436 billion from the P78.521 billion raised during the same month last year.
As of end-August, the BOC generated P621.4 billion, a 1.14 percent increase from the previous year’s P614.4 billion.