Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 24 | Page 12

BUSINESS NEWS
12
Dominguez orders
Customs to donate rice
shipments to DWSD
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY December 16 - 31, 2018
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Finance
Secretary
Carlos
Dominguez III ordered the Bureau of
Customs to donate the 30,000 bags
of undocumented rice shipments
intercepted earlier by the agency to
the Department of Social Welfare
and Development to help in the
government’s
anti-poverty
and
disaster relief programs.
Dominguez issued the order
to Customs Commissioner Rey
Leonardo Guerrero after reporting
the interception of the shipment that
was tagged in Zamboanga City as
undocumented imported rice.
“Donate that to the DSWD.
They can use that,” Dominguez told
Guerrero during the latest executive
committee meeting of the Department
of Finance.
The 30,000 bags of rice for
donation to the DSWD are on top of the
16,000 bags earlier turned over by the
Customs under former commissioner
Isidro Lapeña on Dominguez’s orders
to augment disaster relief efforts for
typhoon victims.
About 9,000 bags of rice seized in
the Port of Cebu were turned over by
the Customs to the DSWD on Sept.
14.
Another 6,921 bags in the Port
of Zamboanga and 748 bags in the
custody of the bureau’s Enforcement
and Security Service were also
donated to the DSWD on Sept. 19
and 24, respectively.
The Customs said it donated to
the DSWD 5,040 pieces of canned
goods, 109 packages of emergency
survival blankets, 350 boxes of bed
sheets, blankets and towels, 1,332
boxes of brand new clothes, and 153
packages of face masks from the
Manila International Container Port
on Sept. 21.
According to a Customs report to
Dominguez, the bureau will donate
used clothing of various volumes
seized from the ports of San Fernando
in La Union, Manila, MICP, Legazpi
City, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao
and Subic.
Earlier, Dominguez directed the
Customs to immediately release
smuggled rice and other food items
seized by the agency to the DSWD
to augment ongoing government
preparations
before
typhoon
“Ompong” struck Northern Luzon.
Dominguez said “government-to-
government transfers in emergency
situations can be legally fast-tracked”
as in the case of the Customs’ release
of the seized food stocks to the DSWD
for disaster relief.(J. G. Rada, MT)
**********
Balikbayan boxes for the yule season
Balikbayan
boxes
(literally
“repatriate boxes”) containing their
“pasalubongs or padala” are normally
sent, through freight forwarders either
by sea or air, to their families and
relatives in the Philippines to make
the season even merrier. They contain
goods the sender thinks the recipient
would like, regardless of whether these
goods can be bought inexpensively in
the Philippines.
Rules on balikbayan boxes
The Customs Modernization
and Tariff Act (CMTA) and the Tax
Reform Acceleration and Inclusion
(TRAIN ) law exempt the importation
of balikbayan boxes containing
personal and household effects from
the payment of customs duty and
taxes. The threshold value of such
importation should, however, not
exceed a total Free Carrier (FCA) value
of P150,000 in any calendar year. Any
amount in excess shall be subject to
the applicable duties and taxes.
Customs Memorandum Order
(CMO) No. 18-2018 (issued last
October 2018) implements Customs
Administrative Order (CAO) No. 1-
2018 (issued last August 2018) and
provides the guidelines relating to the
consolidated shipment of balikbayan
boxes.
Under CAO 01-2018, only qualified
Filipinos while abroad (qualified
Filipinos or sender) are allowed to
send to their families or relatives
(i.e., relatives up to the fourth civil
degree of consanguinity or affinity)
in the Philippines balikbayan boxes
containing personal and household
effects.
Qualified Filipinos include non-
resident Filipinos (i.e., those who
have established permanent residency
abroad but have retained Filipino
citizenship), Overseas Filipino Workers
(OFWs) and resident Filipinos (i.e.,
Filipinos who temporarily stay abroad
holding student, investor, tourist and
similar visas).
For purposes of duty and tax
exemption, the balikbayan box should
contain only “personal and household
effects” that shall neither be in
commercial quantities nor intended
for barter, sale or for hire. The term
“commercial quantity” has been the
subject of diverse interpretations
but would generally refer to the
quantity for a given kind or class of
articles which are in excess of what is
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
compatible with and commensurate
to the person’s normal requirements
for personal use.
For a single sender with multiple
ultimate consignees, commercial
quantity of a given class shall be
determined based on the total quantity
sent by the sender to all consignees.
“Personal effects” include new
or used articles for personal use
or consumption, such as wearing
apparels,
personal
adornments,
electronic gadgets, toys, toiletries
or similar items. It does not include
motor vehicles. (M.A.Tamayo, MT)
***********