DAVAO CITY —- The Bureau of Customs stationed at the Port of Manila on Wednesday, September 11, confiscated some P53-million worth of assorted agricultural products earlier declared as fishballs on Wednesday, September 11.
 Customs personnel seized 16 containers of misdeclared agricultural products estimated worth P53 million.
Customs District Collector Arsenia C. Ilagan said , the seized goods which arrived at the port on 8 August 2019 from China, was consigned to Shinerise Trading Service and was processed by Customs Broker Johnna Philipian Cristobal Aceveda.
Based on the initial report, the consignee declared the shipment as fishball with total declared duties and taxes of P2,542,882.00.
But, Upon inspection of the subject shipment, Customs examiners found out an estimated P20.080 million worth of carrots, P20.080 million worth of onions, P10.040 million worth of broccoli and P2.510 worth of potatoes.
The goods were alerted on 14 August 2019 for violation of Section 1400 “Misdeclaration, Misclassification and Undervaluation in Goods Declaration,” in relation to Section 1113 “Property Subject to Seizure and Forfeiture,” of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
A Warrant of Seizure and Detention (WSD) was issued on September 4 by Collector Ilagan against the shipment in violation of Section 1400, in relation to Section 1113 of the CMTA.
Ilagan reported that she has already ordered the cancelation of the consignee’s accreditation, while the customs broker is under investigation.
Last August 19, the Bureau of Customs also seized P665,000 worth of smuggled rice in the Port of Zamboanga and P24 million worth of misdeclared shipments of carrots, onions and potatoes last August 8 at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
The Bureau of Customs recently concluded the 2019 Assessment Summit at the Diamond Hotel, Manila, in its aim to refresh and educate our BOC assessment officers on various assessment methods in order to verify the truthfulness or accuracy of the customs declaration, in line with its drive to collect appropriate duties and taxes on imported goods.-NewsLine.ph
