CTA affirms seizure, auction, forfeiture of P68.4M imported rice in 2018
The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has denied for lack of merit the petition of Calumpit Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMPC) which contested the seizure, auction and forfeiture in 2018 of its P68.4 million worth of imported rice from Thailand.
The case started on Sept. 9, 2015 when CMPC was granted a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to import 7,450 metric tons (MTs) of Thai white rice. The importation of rice pushed through from November 2015 until January 2016, with a total of eight shipments.
CMPC did not have Import Permits for four shipments as the National Food Authority (NFA) only issued four permits. Thus, the Manila International Container Port (MICP) issued Warrants of Seizure and Detention for the four shipments without permits.
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) later proceeded with the sale of the shipments by public auction on March 1, 2016 for P68,422,000, with Faerdig General Merchandise as the winning bidder. The MICP, on the other hand, ordered the forfeiture of the subject shipments in a decision dated Sept. 27, 2018.
An appeal was made before the Commissioner of Customs (COC) regarding the seized auction amount, but it was denied on Dec. 7, 2018. CMPC then went to the CTA by filing a Petition for Review on Feb. 1, 2019.
The CTA stressed that import permits are required for the rice shipments, and their absence makes the shipments illegal.
Thus, the CTA ruled that the four shipments without permits "are legally seized" and the forfeiture of the auctioned amount of P68,422,000 is affirmed.
The 20-page decision was written by Associate Justice Corazon G. Ferrer-Flores with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ma. Belen M. Ringpis-Liban and Maria Rowena Modesto-San Pedro.