THE Bureau of Customs plans to dispose all its overstaying cargoes parked in the country’s major ports by auctioning them off in six months’ time.

Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon said all district collectors were instructed to make an inventory of all the containers that can qualify for auction, provided the products have no pending case before the courts.

“We have fixed a timetable [for the disposal of the goods] to six months. Storing these overstaying cargo in our ports is also costing us money so it is better that these are disposed off immediately,” Biazon said.

The overstaying cargoes are those impounded, confiscated or seized on the grounds of misdeclaration, under valuation, being illegal, while others have been deemed abandoned by importers for failure to pay taxes and duties.

“It is regrettable that when we inspected some warehouses, some food items have rotten. It was such a waste,” the Customs chief said.