BOC’s Jan-Sept collection falls P3B short of target

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Sunday that its total collections for the first nine months of 2024 failed to reach its target, citing recent policy changes as a reason.

From January to September this year, the BOC said it collected P690.842 billion in revenue, based on preliminary data.

While this reflected a 4.61% growth or a P30.454 billion increase compared to the P660.388 billion collected during the same period last year, the BOC said that its latest revenue collection fell short by 0.44% from its target.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) set a P693.888 billion target from January to September 2024. This means that the P690.842 billion collection was P3.046 billion less than the goal.

According to the BOC, the implementation of Executive Order (EO) No. 62, which slashed the tariff rate for the grain to 15% from 35%, resulted in a revenue loss of P6.089 billion from rice imports.

The bureau also said that the EO 62 expanded the zero-import duties under EO 12 to include battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in HEVs, and specific parts and components, leading to an additional revenue loss of P2.901 billion.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued EO 62 in June to modify the import duty rates of various commodities to temper inflationary pressure and protect the purchasing power of Filipinos.

Under the executive order, several commodities such as animal products, plants, pharmaceutical needs, chemicals, etc. shall be subject to the Most Favored Nation (MFN) rates of duty, or what other countries vowed to impose on imports from other World Trade Organization members.

“Despite these challenges, the Bureau remains optimistic in achieving its revenue goal for the year,” the BOC said.

“The BOC will actively work and implement strategic measures to boost revenue collection, including the collection of non-traditional revenues such as post-entry audit and auction. These efforts are aimed at not only recovering lost revenues but also positioning the Bureau for sustainable financial growth in the future,” it added.  —Giselle Ombay/RF, GMA Integrated News