The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has filed charges against an importer and customs broker who allegedly smuggled P13.5 million worth of sugar into the country.
Argic Dinawanao, and Steve Semblante, AMD Royale’s owner and customs broker, respectively, were charged before the Department of Justice with allegedly shipping in 260,000 kilograms of sugar without the proper import permits and misdeclaring the shipment.
Dinawanao and Semblante were charged with violating Sections 3601 and 101 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended, in relation to Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Sugar Order No. 8, Series of 1994-1995, and Joint Memorandum Order No. 4-2002.
The BOC complaint said AMD Royale had declared 10 forty-foot equivalent units of imported sugar from China that arrived at the Port of Cagayan de Oro on May 24 as containing “kitchenware, furniture, stoneware, tableware, and ceramicware” instead.
Based on derogatory information, BOC’s Intelligence Group issued alert orders that led to a full examination of the shipment.
“AMD Royale’s importation of refined sugar without import permit constitutes violations of the Sugar Regulatory Administration’s rules that all importers of sugar must have SRA clearance prior to the release of the importation by the Bureau of Customs,” Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said in a statement.
He added that failure to secure an import permit from SRA makes the sugar importation unlawful.
“We will aggressively pursue the filing of cases against all those involved in smuggling. We cannot afford to lie low in our anti-smuggling campaign as we have to protect the country from the entry of these illegal goods,” Lina said.
This is BOC’s 45th smuggling-related case filed against erring importers and customs brokers.
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