MANILLA: Some P14 million worth of alleged smuggled goods from China, Japan and South Korea were seized in the Port of Manila, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Thursday.
The alleged illegal shipments of ceramic tiles, sanitary wares, circuit breakers, steel sheets, and resin, among others were confiscated on grounds of technical smuggling in violation of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP).
Seven 40-foot container vans of ceramic tiles and sanitary wares, consigned to Linking Enterprises, arrived from China through the Port of Manila in January this year.
A 100 percent document and physical examination revealed that the shipment was found to be grossly undervalued and misdeclared in weight by more than 30 percent, the BOC said.
In its import documents the importer declared the shipment’s volume at 121,720 kilograms with the declared value at P216,139.00. Upon examination it was found that the shipment’s actual volume is 174,362.80 with a value of P529,382 or a difference of P313,243 or 59 percent.
The BOC said it also seized a container van of circuit breakers that had also been grossly undervalued by as much as 84 percent. The shipment arrived in the Port of Manila from Japan last March was consigned to Fortress Kinetic Electrical Enterprises.
In addition, two container vans of steels sheets, dryer machine, molding machine, polycarbonate, and pigment which are used to produce galvanized roofs were seized due to a discrepancy in weight of more than 30 percent and various items inside were also not declared.
The shipment consigned to Aberjov Trading has an estimated value of P1.88 million.
The BOC also confiscated a one 20-foot container van of polyurethane resin, a raw material used in producing an array of products from ink to plastics, for gross undervaluation with the declared value of only P97,538 while the actual value upon examination was P258,923 with a discrepancy of P212,595 or 63 percent.
The shipment arrived at the Port of Manila in December 2014 from South Korea and consigned to Richneil Marketing.
Under Section 2503 in relation to Section 2530 of the TCCP, any discrepancy between what was declared and what was found that exceeds 30 percent is gross undervaluation, which constitutes prima facie fraud.
Warrant of Seizures and Detentions (WSD) were issued on the shipments upon results of the examinations.
The items will be seized in favor of the government and the owners and licensed customs brokers of Linking Enterprises, Fortress Kinetic Electrical Enterprises, and Richneil Marketing will be facing smuggling-related charges for the fraudulent importations, the Customs said.