MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 16, 2014)- The Bureau of Customs said it filed charges against the owner of a trading firm and the company’s customs brokers for allegedly smuggling steel angle bars.
It said the cases have been filed against Shine Rapadas Montes, owner and proprietress of Thunder Birds Trading based in Manila and the firm’s customs broker, Jolly Lareza, after they allegedly misdeclared the importation of steel angle bars.
The shipment arrived in 25 containers from China through the Port of Manila in five batches from January 2 to 5 and was declared as “steel bar, clamp, flexible tubing and hinges” in the import documents, but upon inspection however, customs examiners discovered that shipment contained “steel angle bars.”
Under the law, importers of steel products must have their products tested and certified by the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Product Standards that these meet safety and product quality standards. Products that meet Philippine National Standards for safety and product quality are issued a Philippine Standard License.
The BOC said product certification is mandatory to obtain the required Import Commodity Clearance to be able to import steel angle bar products. Importers of products covered by the mandatory Philippine National Standards are issued ICCs and are allowed to use the ICC Mark after samples of the product to be imported have been tested and evaluated by the DTI-BPS.
It said Thunder Birds Trading never applied for product certification nor it is a registered Philippine Standard License holder for any steel products which is a mandatory product certification requirement of the government meant to avoid the proliferation of sub-standard steel products from circulating in the market.
“Aside from curbing smuggling, we at the Bureau of Customs are mandated to stop the entry of substandard products in the market. These products pose risks for our people’s health and safety,” said Customs Commissioner John Sevilla.
He said Thunder Birds also misdeclared their import entries allegedly to evade payment of the additional Safeguard Duty for imported steel angle bars of P3,706.03 per Metric Ton or a total of P1,556,532.
He said Montes and Lareza also misdeclared the quantity of steel bars imported by Thunder Birds by as much as 140%. The import documents declared a quantity of 175 Metric Tons, but the customs examiners found that the actual weight of the shipment was 420 Metric Tons.
Consequently, Thunder Birds’ owner and brokers also cheated on the Dutiable Value declared for the shipment. Instead of a $306,600.00 (P14.495-Million) total Dutiable Value, which would result in total Duties and Taxes of P4.458-Million, they only declared $105,000.00 (P4.974-Million) and Duties and Taxes of P1.417-Million.
Data from the Bureau of Customs also showed that Thunder Birds was the second largest importer of steel products in 2013, bringing in about 7.6-Million kilograms of iron and steel products under HS Code 7214. However, as compared with other large importers in the same steel product classification, Thunder Birds paid the second lowest amount of duties and taxes per kilogram of steel product they imported at just P16.15 per kilo, and way below the weighted average import valuation for the same HS Code for products coming from China.
Local steel manufacturers have been appealing to government to step-up measures that will stop the unabated entry of smuggled steel products that are sold at a much lower price in the market. This has caused harm to the local steel industry, putting at risk at least 20,000 jobs.
“We will not stop in our drive to curb smuggling and plug the loopholes that have allowed unscrupulous traders to illegally import goods that have hurt local industries, caused the closure of companies and loss of jobs and hampered our economic growth. Hindi makikita ang kabit-kabit na tangkang pandarayang ito kung hindi na pagtutulungan ng iba’t ibang opisina sa Bureau of Customs. Our stakeholders in the steel industry have long complained about the unhampered smuggling of steel products. Hindi na natin pwedeng patagalin pa ang pagsugpo sa mga smuggler na walang-awang pinapatay ang kabuhayan ng ating mga kababayan.”
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