BOC asked to enforce decision vs. Taiwan firm

The Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (Philcemcor) has asked the Bureau of Customs to enforce its decisions earlier this year finding the Taiwanese cement importer TCC Cement Corp. (TCC) guilty of tax evasion through schemes that included multiple use of invoice and bill of lading.

In a letter to Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo, Philcemcor general manager Lupo Feliciano wondered why the BOC has not acted decisively on the case despite conclusive findings by customs investigators of the acts committed by the TCC in its import shipments. TCC is a 100-percent subsidiary of the Taiwan Cement Corp., the largest cement manufacturer in Taiwan.

TCC was caught by customs agents using tampered documents to avoid payment of duties for several of its import shipments last year. As a result, the BOC legal and investigation officials recommended the revocation of TCC’s license to import and that it pays more than P4 million in duties for the undervalued shipments. Two customs representatives of TCC were also barred from transacting with the BOC.

But it seems that the sanctions against the company have not been implemented.

"It is bad enough that the cement importers have been allowed by the Tariff Commission to dump imported cement into the country to the detriment of the local cement industry and its workers. To allow them to cheat even on the very minimal duties and taxes required of them and engage in smuggling is too much," Edcel Lagman, spokesperson of Philcemcor, said.

Lagman, however, lamented that TCC only got a light slap on the wrist since the company was not actually charged for various violations of customs laws and regulations. He said that if the BOC also looked into the previous shipments of the company, TCC would owe the government over P20 million on duties. "This is not the time to go soft on such offenders who rob the government of badly needed funds, who are also trying to destroy our economy," he added.

He said penalizing the TCC would serve as a warning to other importers who resort to anomalous practices in their shipments.

Lagman said that while TCC has been dumping Taiwanese cement into the market, its mother company has recently successfully blocked the entry of Philippine cement into Taiwan. Acting on a motion by the Taiwan Cement Corp., the Taiwanese government imposed last week a 45-percent tariff on all cement imports coming from the Philippines, despite the fact that only two Philippine companies export to Taiwan and have only gotten four percent of the market.