THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has received a commitment from its counterpart agency in China for help in its efforts to stop Chinese exports of unauthorized cigarette-making machines as the Philippine government steps up the campaign against illicit tobacco trade.
In his report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero said he reiterated to the Chinese vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) the Philippines’s concern over the export of unauthorized cigarette-making machines.
The message was conveyed during the 28th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) Customs Directors General Meeting held in Lao PDR last June 11-13, 2019.
“I asked them if they could stop such exportations on their part because this is creating problems as far as we’re concerned,” Guerrero said. Guerrero said the Chinese customs officials agreed “to look into the matter.”
Last year, Dominguez directed the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to work with their respective counterparts in China to stop the illicit entry of cigarette-making machines that are being used to manufacture counterfeit tobacco products in the country.
The finance chief issued the order after confirming with BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay that the illegal tobacco trade has shifted from smuggling cigarettes to locally producing counterfeit brands using undocumented cigarette-making machines acquired from China.