Seized smuggled cigarettes and cigarette label-making machines worth P32 million were recently disposed of by the Bureau of Customs.

Various smuggled cigarettes and cigarette label-making machines, including materials used to produce fake seals and labels for cigarettes were destroyed on January 14 at a condemnation facility in Carmona, Cavite.

The condemned items were seized by the Port of Manila in previous operations, District Collector Michael Angelo DC Vargas said. 

“The items condemned were estimated to have a value of P32 million and was completed through physical destruction by means of crushing which rendered the machines as scrap metal,” Vargas added.

The district collector said that the condemnation is “part of the port's continuing efforts to curb the entry and sale of smuggled and fake cigarettes.”

It also aims to free up much needed space in Customs facilities to further improve trade facilitation.

Meanwhile, the Customs bureau announced that the Manila International Container Port (MICP) has activated its own Customer Care Center (CCC).

The transaction hub shall house offices that will receive and release documents filed through the Bureau’s Customer Care Portal System. It would also provide information to queries and concerns from stakeholders.

The port’s CCC completes the list of transaction hubs operating in all collection districts under the bureau.

The CCC also promotes “No Contact Policy” as the center would also serve as the port’s pass control ensuring that only authorized transactions and individuals are allowed inside the port.

“The inauguration of MICP CCC is a milestone for the bureau as it marks the completion of CCC implementation throughout all the 17 collection districts of the Bureau of Customs. MICP CCC is also by far the largest center of the BOC as it aims to handle the volume of transactions being processed in the country’s premium port,” District Collector Romeo Rosales said.