Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 4) — The Commission on Audit has flagged the Bureau of Customs for not having specific timelines in the disposition of abandoned or seized goods worth over ₱567 million.
In its 2022 report uploaded on its website on June 30, the COA said it has resulted in delays of up to eight months.
State auditors found that some forfeited or abandoned goods were perishable and should have been disposed of immediately.
They said the delay has exposed the goods “to the risks of further spoilage/deterioration and foregone government revenues.”
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Under the Customs modernization law, goods subject to disposition may be donated to another government agency, declared for official use of the bureau, or sold at a public auction.
Records showed that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Port of Manila had the highest number of confiscated or abandoned assets for disposal.
The COA said the inability of the ports to carry out disposal proceedings resulted in the loss of government revenues from possible proceeds or collection of duties and taxes from these cargoes.
It added that the delays have caused a “possible loss through theft and deterioration, additional storage fees, and further contributes to port congestion due to overstaying containers.”
The BOC management agreed to provide specific timelines for the disposal of goods and to require ports to immediately process pending cargoes that are for removal.
Goods declaration, supporting documents
The COA also questioned the BOC over its non-submission of goods declarations and supporting documents for more than 700,000 import entries worth over ₱315 billion from 2021 and 2022.
These entries are from ports in NCR and the Port of Legazpi in Albay.
Under the law, the BOC is supposed to maintain records of goods declarations and corresponding supporting documents.
A goods declaration is a document that details the goods and articles that are being imported.
“The non-submission of all lodged entries/goods declarations deprived the ATs (audit teams) from conducting an objective examination/evaluation of the bureau’s revenue transactions, determination of authenticity of the documents and communication to management of any deficiencies thereon,” COA noted.
The BOC management assured COA that it will require ports to regularly submit all goods declarations and supporting documents to the audit team.
