(Eagle News) – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has ordered Bureau of Customs officials (BoC) to “set up data arrangements” with three more of the country’s top trading partners in a bid to curb smuggling.
In a statement on Monday, the Department of Finance said Dominguez made the directive for the BoC to establish the system with South Korea, Japan, and the United States during a recent executive meeting.
The Finance chief said that in particular, he wanted the BoC and its counterparts in those countries to check discrepancies in trade data.
He said the data include the volume and value of goods exported by these countries to the Philippines, and the import volumes from these countries as reported by local revenue authorities.
“You have to be able to pick up the phone and call (your counterparts there) personally,” Dominguez said.
Earlier, Customs Chief Isidro Lapeña and his Chinese counterpart agreed to set up a similar data exchange system to curb smuggling and tax evasion.
A cooperative arrangement between the BoC and the General Administration of Customs of China is scheduled to be signed during what could be a visit of the Chinese officials to Manila next month.