Customs Bureau relies on surge in Dec. imports to boost revenues

The Bureau of Customs on Friday said it expects the cyclical surge in imports during December to boost revenues as traders take advantage of the holiday spending spree.   Higher import volume in December should help the bureau meet its collection goal of P347 billion, said Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, who, at the same time, noted the target is difficult to achieve.   The bureau is now preparing for a spike in the volume of imported goods by clearing ports and removing thousands of uncollected container vans to accommodate the influx of new shipments and prevent any downtime in business operations, according to the Customs chief.   “We will move to satellite depots thousands of containers with merchandise, manufacturing raw materials, and rice that are uncollected at the ports for various reasons, including legal and the long All Saints Day weekend. We need the space so we can release these imports on time,” Biazon said.   Biazon ordered longer work and banking hours at the different Customs ports six days a week, according to a bureau advisory.   “We must keep in step with business,” the Customs chief noted. “We must not be a reason for businesses to slow down or even stop operations because their raw materials had been held up for no justifiable reason at the ports,” he added.   Bureau collections totaled P26.807 billion in October, up 17.4 percent from P22.842 billion a year earlier, which was 9.5 percent short of the collection goal for the month, according to latest government data. — VS, GMA News