MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) maintained its momentum and exceeded its target collection with its latest haul of P434 billion in the first semester, even as total import voluslightly declined.
Latest data showed collections reached P74.861 billion in June, slightly above its monthly target of P74.721 billion.
This brought the BOC’s first semester revenue to P434.169 billion, nine percent higher than P396.735 billion it generated in the same period in 2022.
This is also three percent above its January to June 2023 target of P420.66 billion.
The revenue for the six-month period is now 48 percent of the P901.34 billion target for the year set by the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee.
The BOC noted that revenues for the first half of the year increased even as total import volume slipped by nearly three percent, especially for high-value commodities.
On the other hand, total oil import volume went up almost 10 percent but revenues from the commodity declined as world oil prices started to stabilize.
Oil only averaged at $0.63 per liter last month as compared to the $1.1 per liter in the same period last year.
Nonetheless, Customs commissioner Bienvenido said the agency’s drive against smuggling contributed to the higher collection performance.
For the semester, BOC’s anti-smuggling efforts resulted in the seizure of shipments with an aggregate value of P23.8 billion, more than half of which were counterfeit goods at P15.54 billion.
Others were agricultural products, as well as cigarettes and tobacco.
BOC is also ramping up its digitalization efforts, now at 96.39 percent, in order to streamline procedures, enhance trade operations, and improve processing times and accuracy in import and export transactions.
As the second largest revenue agency, the BOC is mandated to deliver financial resources to fund the government’s programs and projects.
Source: The Philippine Star | July 6, 2023 | 12:00am
