Thursday, February 21, 2008

Anti-smuggling Campaign in the Philippines

In the quest of plugging all revenue leaks and blocking all avenues for smuggling, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and the United Harbor Pilots' Association of the Philippines (UHPAP) for information sharing regarding domestic movement of imported goods and vessels in all ports that will boost the former's anti-smuggling campaign.

The MOA stipulates that the PPA and UHPAP immediately report to the BOC any information on smuggling that they may encounter in any port, especially private ports.

The PPA will require all vessels to submit cargo manifest and other documents prior to berthing. These documents will be used as reference for counter-checking by the BOC to check whether loaded cargo are smuggled, misdeclared or undervalued.

The UHPAP, which provide mandatory pilotage services to docking vessels, will also provide the BOC with a regular list of vessels that are maneuvered in ports. The BOC will be able to track the movement of all vessels and filter out the legitimate from the dubious vessels that claim to come from another domestic port but in fact come from foreign shores carrying smuggled goods.
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