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MANILA - In a move to put an end to the collusion between its officers and smugglers, the Bureau of Customs will install an online inspection system that will make its cargo examination available for viewing 24/7.
Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon said the OIS has a four-fold purpose: promote transparency within the bureau; make Customs officers accountable for any release of smuggled or illegal goods; secure the country from unwanted, anti-social and harmful articles; and plug revenue loopholes.
At present, the bureau’s officers - especially those in the assessment and physical examination divisions - are merely relying on the X-ray department's report as to whether the cargoes are consistent with what was declared on the corresponding import documents.
As a matter of policy, only suspicious cargoes which could be determined through the X-ray machines are subjected to either 100 percent physical or random examination.
The bureau’s X-ray division was established in the country's major ports to promote trade facilitation, and is considered as the government’s “first line of defense against smuggling.”
A Customs official who declined to be named however said shipments undergoing X-ray inspection are still susceptible to simulation.
"Connivance between Customs’ X-ray officers and smugglers takes place when the corresponding hard copies of the X-ray images submitted to the examiners and assessors of tariffs and other taxes are either distorted or blurred, so that cargoes - even though suspicious - could still evade physical examination," the source said.
But with the OIS in place, Customs personnel would be accountable since the X-ray examination could already be viewed by anyone from the bureau 24/7.
"The second purpose of the OIS is to create consciousness among X-ray personnel that they are being closely watched by other Customs officers, and even by me. Thus, making connivance with smugglers and Customs officers very unlikely, if not impossible," Biazon said.
The bureau has set aside P200 million for the OIS in its 2012 budget.
“We are now preparing the terms of reference for the public bidding. Hopefully, it can be operational within the second half of the year,” Biazon said.
"And ultimately, the new system would plug our revenue loopholes, and will result in higher revenue collections," he said.
At end-April, Customs raised P94.896 billion, or 11.6 percent higher year-on-year, but still fell short of its P109.36 billion revenue target for the period. For the entire year, the bureau is tasked to raise P347 billion.
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