BOC earns P837M from auction of forfeited imported goods in 2014

The Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) Collection Districts have earned a combined P837 million from the public auctions of forfeited imported goods, according to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The figure made up for around 95 percent of the bureau’s total auction revenue of P885 million last year.

The BOC, in a statement, said the MICP District Office generated a total of P580 million from the 17 public auctions it conducted.

“This is 346 percent in excess of its full-year 2014 auction revenue target of P130 million. One of the factors that contributed to the significant increase in the MICP’s auction proceeds resulted from its sale of over 300 container vans of rice last September 2014 which earned over P393 million,” the BOC said.

On the other hand, the Port of Manila’s six public auctions generated sales amounting to P257 million or 150 percent over its revenue target of P103 million. Contributing to the revenue was the auction of about 109,500 sacks of rice last October which earned P161 million for the collection district.

Other collection districts which contributed to the bureau’s 2014 auction revenue included the Ports of Cebu with P48 million, Subic with P636,679 and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport with P43,000.

“Aside from raising revenues for the government, the public auctions of forfeited goods has also helped in decongesting the ports,” said Customs Commissioner John Sevilla.

“We will continue to expedite the disposition of forfeited shipments in the coming months. In fact the BOC-Port of Cagayan de Oro is slated to auction off over 33,000 sacks of seized smuggled rice, the majority of which was seized from the two CDO traders we’ve recently charged with smuggling cases in the DOJ,” he added.