The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has collected an additional P247-million revenue from importers that were found violating customs laws.
A total of P247,369,347.16 was generated from the post-clearance audit conducted on importers suspected to have violated the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) from January to February this year.
According to the Post Clearance Audit Group (PCAG), six outstanding final demand letters were collected while 48 applications for the prior disclosure program were filed from January to February 2021.
The audits covered mechanically-deboned meat importers with P67,596,830.74 worth of imports and rice importers with P6,741,407.
Meanwhile, 28 audit notification letters were issued during the same period. Of the figure, 17 were sent to importers in the coffee industry, 10 in the oil and petroleum industry, and to one consignee who had compliance issues based on the profiling conducted.
PCAG said it is optimistic that additional revenues will still be collected from post-clearance activities for the remainder of 2021.
“Presently, there are still 11 outstanding final demand letters amounting to P6.9 billion, which remain unpaid and will be referred to the Customs Legal Service for the filing of the necessary collection suit,” it said.