Customs looks into importation of garbage from Canada

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs is investigating a Valenzuela City trading firm, the consignee of 50 40-foot container vans of garbage from Canada, for alleged violation of the Tariff and Customs Code and Republic Act  6969, also known as the “Toxic Substances and Hazardous Wastes Control Act of 1990.”

The bureau identified the company as Chronic Plastics, which had declared the shipment as “scrap plastic materials for recycling.” It identified Chronic, Inc., which is based in the city of Ontario, as the shipper.

In a press statement on Tuesday, the BOC said the container vans arrived at the Manila International Container Port in August and September.

Alerts were promptly issued on the shipment “because the consignee had submitted incorrect documents for the importation, which has a declared value of over $220,000,” the statement said, adding that a spot check last Jan. 21 showed the contents were garbage.

Ariel Nepomuceno, customs deputy commissioner for enforcement, warned “this junk dumped in the Philippines could pose biohazard risks to our people.”

“While we will investigate further, it is clear that the importer violated the country’s tariff and environmental laws,” he said.

Nepomuceno pointed out that “under the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal, the exporting country must take back the waste materials if the receiving country refuses to accept them.”

The Philippines and Canada are both signatories to the international treaty, which went into force on May 5, 1992. More than 180 countries are parties to the agreement.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs confiscated on Monday over P70 million worth of counterfeit goods found in three warehouses in Tambo, Parañaque City.

Nepomuceno said the agency was “investigating how these fake goods entered the country.”

“We have a two-pronged approach to going after fake goods. That is, at the port of entry and the warehouses in coordination with other agencies. We want to send a clear message to unscrupulous traders that we will no longer tolerate smuggling, especially of products that create harm to our economy, dampen the competitiveness of our industries and contribute to loss of jobs,” he said.

The seized goods “will be destroyed after forfeiture proceedings,” he added.

On Monday, BOC personnel seized a rice shipment from China, misdeclared as assorted dry goods and footwear. The shipment, which arrived at the Port of Manila on Friday, had an estimated value of P1.5 million.

“The shipment, its consignee and broker, will be subjected to further investigation,” a press statement said.