THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) recently signed a memorandum of agreement designed to help fight smuggling.
The agreement allows PCG to conduct searches, seizures, and arrests in conformity with provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP).
Since it has patrol boats, the PCG will monitor Philippine waters and transactions conducted aboard ships and bancas. This will also help prevent terrorism and smuggling of firearms and weapons of mass destruction.
Specifically, the agency will use advance information provided to the BOC by carriers and freight forwarders in enforcing the agreement. Through the submission of the advance inward foreign manifest, the PCG will be able to verify and compare the manifest with the actual cargo load.
The deal was signed by Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales and PCG chief Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo.
“The BOC will use the data that will be gathered by the PCG to build up cases against smugglers,” Morales said.
PCG personnel will be trained to verify genuine shipside permits. Shipside permits are mostly required for oil shipments and dangerous goods, which are discharged on barges that park alongside ships.
A joint coastal coordination desk (JCCD) will be established to serve as executive office of the network. The desk will be chaired by BOC until yearend then turned over to the PCG.
The JCCD will receive confidential information relative to smuggling operations, fraudulent transactions in connection with the TCCP and its related rules and regulations, including Department of Finance issuances, as well as illegal port operations
