BY BETHEENA UNITE
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) through its Bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS) filed criminal cases before the Department of Justice (DoJ) against two importers of counterfeit cigarettes and used clothes.
YJC International Corporation was charged for alleged unlawful importation and misdeclaration of 79,950 reams of counterfeit cigarettes amounting to P76.8 million. The consignee only declared it as plastic frames and sheets. It was seized on Jan. 3, 2021 at the Manila International Container Port.
MBS Cargo Movers Co. was also charged for alleged illegal importation and misdeclaration of 344 boxes of ukay-ukay (used clothes).
The consignee declared its shipment as used personal effects. It was intercepted August 10, 2020 at the same port.
According to the bureau, the consignees and their brokers are charged for various violations of R.A. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, Republic Act No. 4653 (An Act to Safeguard the Health of the People and Maintain the Dignity of the Nation by Declaring it a National Policy to Prohibit the Commercial Importation of Textile Articles Commonly Known as Used Clothing and Rags), R.A. 10963 (TRAIN Law), R.A. 8293 (Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines), The Revised Penal Code, and National Tobacco Administration rules and regulations.
Administrative cases will also be filed against the erring licensed Customs brokers of the consignees.
“The filing of the cases reiterates the commitment of the bureau in 2021 and so on, to prevent any unlawful importation of goods into the country as well as to hold liable erring natural and judicial entities under the law,” Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said. (Betheena Unite)
