Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña on Monday ordered customs collectors to subject all shipments of tiles to magna scale amid reports of rampant misdeclaration.
Magna scale is a system of weighing shipments like tiles, break bulk cargoes like steel, logs and cement, or non-containerized shipments whose duties and taxes are assessed by weight.
Under customs rules, tile shipments declared below the minimum ceiling of 22 tons are automatically subjected to magna scale. Tiles are taxed by weight and classification.
But if the bureau has set a 22 ton minimum ceiling, some unscrupulous importers declare as low as 15 to 18 tons and still manage to pass customs scrutiny.
Lapeña said all goods should be properly assessed so that the government can earn more revenues.
“All tiles (shipments) should be subjected to magna scale for them to declare the correct valuation,” he said in a news briefing.
He directed Deputy Commissioner Edward Dy Buco of the Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group to issue the corresponding memorandum order, subjecting all tile shipments that were declared below 22 tons to magna scale to determine the correct weight for proper assessment of duties and taxes.
Dy Buco said the correct weight can also be determined through the stowage plan of a particular vessel carrying the tiles.
“As of now we are addressing that by requiring our operations people to submit the stowage plan of the ships as basis for determining the correct weight of containers loaded,” he added.
In a related development, the BoC-Port of Manila seized two 40-footer vans from China containing misdeclared cigarettes and fireworks worth P8.98 million.
PoM Collector Veneer Baquiran said the cigarette shipment declared as brackets. It was consigned to Paragon Platinum International Trading Corp. with office address at unit 108, The Centennial Bldg., 375 Escolta St., Binondo Manila.
Baquiran said the cigarettes would be destroyed, while the fireworks would be turned over to Philippine National Police- Firearms and Explosives Office for proper disposition.