Philippine Customs proposes measures to curb oil smuggling

The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BoC) has proposed several measures that may help curb oil smuggling activities in the country. The proposed measures include the timely and periodic publication of established values of petroleum products to prevent undervaluation and the implementation of fuel marking for tax and duty-free imported kerosene and fuel oils to prevent unauthorized diversion into the domestic market. The policy also proposed the accreditation of bulk and break bulk cargo surveyors to ensure accurate reports and accountability in the importation of petroleum products. Customs Commissioner Napoleon L. Morales also proposed that they must be given access to check on ports because these are the prevalent smuggling points of petroleum products. “Smuggling of oil and petroleum products had been the problem of the industry particularly in Subic and recently in Cagayan de Oro,” he said. He likewise lamented “the constraints encountered by the BoC in intelligence build-up due to lack of sea assets and lack of operational funds.” He said that the BoC not having jurisdiction over the economic zones has also prevented them from going after illegal importers of oil products. (July 17, 2009)