REVENUES collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for the first five months of the year plunged by 16.5 percent year-on-year to P210.18 billion from P251.71 billion in 2019 as collections on nearly all major imported commodities suffered a bloodbath due to the pandemic.
Based on preliminary data obtained by the BusinessMirror, the bureau also missed its P213.51-billion collection target for the January to May period by 1.6 percent or P3.33 billion.
Total revenues collected by BOC on imports dropped by 17.6 percent to P204.38 billion as of end-May this year from P248.06 billion last year.
On the other hand, total import volume slipped by 16.8 percent to 40.058 billion kilograms from 48.132 billion kg across all commodities for the same period.
Customs Assistant Commissioner and spokesperson Vincent Philip Maronilla attributed the decline in revenue collections to the imposition of lockdowns in the Philippines and the country’s trading partners to slow the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s the effect of the pandemic on trade. March to May were periods of various quarantine arrangements not just in our country but also those with our trading partners,” Maronilla told the BusinessMirror.
In terms of top 10 country source, revenues on shipments from China for the five-month period dropped by P15.197 billion or 24 percent to P48.194 billion this year from P63.39 billion a year ago.
During the period, only the revenues from the shipments from the United States increased, with collections going up by 1.5 percent to P10.277 billion this year from P10.122 billion in 2019.
Despite the decline in the BOC’s revenue take for the period, Maronilla said they are still on track to hit the revised target of P520.4 billion this year.
He also expressed optimism that they would see a rebound in the bureau’s revenue collection by third quarter.
“As quarantine restrictions start to ease and the new normal sets in, we are looking forward to a better trade environment, hence better collections,” he said.
Of the top 10 commodities, the BOC lost the biggest amount of revenues on imported motor vehicles as its collection for such commodity fell by 23.5 percent (P8.796 billion) to P28.685 billion from P37.481 billion in 2019.
The next biggest decline in revenues was from oil products as revenues slid by 13.3 percent (P6.985 billion) to P45.584 billion from P52.569 billion a year ago.
Of the top 10 commodities, it was only the revenue collection on rice that showed an uptick year-on-year.
Despite the rice import volume for the period plummeting by 32.2 percent to 1.25 billion kg from 1.847 billion kg in 2019, the bureau’s rice tariff collection ended on a positive territory.
Rice tariff collection of the government for the period was slightly up by 0.8 percent to P7.978 billion from P7.91 billion a year ago.
Maronilla said the rice import volume dropped due to the “decisions of supplying countries to control the volume of their exports because of the health crisis.”
Nonetheless, he said they are confident of hitting the P10-billion target for rice tariff collection to fund the allocation for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund under the Rice Tariffication Law.
For May alone, BOC’s collection nosedived by 48.4 percent to P30 billion from P58.17 billion in the same month in 2019.
With this, the bureau also missed its P33.33-billion target for the month by 10 percent.
Revenue collection for the month for the imported commodities sank by 49 percent to P29.674 billion from P58.188 billion in 2019.
Except for rice, the bureau’s collection for all commodities was lower compared to last year.
The bureau suffered the biggest blow in revenue collection from oil products, with BOC’s take settling at only P5.041 billion from P16.984 billion in May 2019. This was a double-digit drop of 70.3 percent.
Meanwhile, rice tariff collection for the month surged by 20.5 percent to P2.508 billion from P2.081 billion in 2019. Rice import volume jumped by 6.9 percent to 366.552 million kg from 342.773 million kg in the same month last year.
By top country source, the BOC recorded a revenue loss of P8.325 billion from shipments from China alone in May this year. This represented a decline of 55.3 percent to P6.727 billion from P15.052 billion in the same month in 2019.
Aside from revenues from imports, Maronilla said they also collected P480 million from post-clearance audit and some revenues from auction this year.
Image credits: Klodien | Dreamstime.com
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