Philippines, Indonesia improve cooperation vs smuggling

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Indonesia have agreed to strengthen their cooperation against smuggling, a move seen to pave the way toward improved regional efforts against illicit cross-border trade, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

In a letter, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said they are both open to work with their countries’ respective customs agencies to improve their partnership against illicit trade.

Indrawati, in her letter to Dominguez, said she was “impressed” by the Philippines’ continuing efforts against smuggling, and took note of the reforms made by the government related to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

She said both her and Dominguez share the same view that fighting illicit trade should be priority as this would not only impact economic stability, but also public health and safety.

“I note in particular your view that it is not possible to tackle illicit trade without synergy. Therefore, Indonesia is open to work together with the Philippines in enhancing cooperation on combating illicit trade,” Indrawati said.

“In this regard, I suggest your Bureau of Customs to directly liaise with DGCE (Directorate General of Customs and Excise) to further explore the possibility to enhance the cooperation,” she added.

Dominguez, for his part, told Indrawati that the Philippines’ customs bureau is willing to further discuss with its Indonesian counterpart the country’s experience in fighting illicit trade, as well as a possible joint anti-smuggling program.

Dominguez said this cooperation would be beneficial for both countries as it would boost customs collections and prevent the entry of illegal goods in their borders.

He said that the strengthened cooperation could also pave the way toward increasing regional efforts against smuggling among the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“From the recent AFMM (ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting), we note much progress has been achieved in our regional initiatives to support trade, such as in the various Protocols under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit (AFAFGit) and the ASEAN Single Window,” Dominguez said.

However, the secretary said “more effort needs to be done in terms of regional cooperation in countering illicit cross-border trade.”

Aside from Indonesia, the Philippines is also strengthening its partnership with other countries, such as China, US and South Korea to aid in its anti-smuggling efforts.

The BOC earlier forged a partnership with the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to establish a system that would allow them to facilitate the timely exchange of trade information.

The bureau is also exploring ways of improving coordination with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration on preventing illegal entry of drugs and the Korea Customs Service on customs clearances and processes.