Customs donates abandoned shipment

CEBU, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs-Port of Cebu has donated to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-7) four 20-footer vans containing abandoned shipment of twine yarn, droppings and cuttings.

BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero ordered the immediate donation of the shipment after it was declared abandoned on January 8, 2020 because of the shipper’s failure to submit the necessary documents.

 The shipment arrived at the Port of Cebu on October 5, 2019 and remained unclaimed after a year. All unclaimed goods within the specified period will be subject to disposition and may be donated to another government agency as mandated by the Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

DSWD, an agency mandated to develop social protection and poverty reduction solutions, will use the donated fabrics to support the Sustainable Livelihood Program Associations (SLPAs) engaged in rag-making and other fabric-making livelihood activities.

 In fact, the DSWD-7 has started distributing the donated fabrics to the SLPAs in the towns of Aloguinsan, Consolacion, Barili, Toledo City, and Cebu City.

The SLPAs are supported by the DSWD through provision of seed capital fund to start their livelihood projects.

Meanwhile, the BOC-Port of Cebu has seized usedprinting machinery from Japan after it was found to have no pre-shipment importation clearance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The consignee was also not a registered importer of the said machinery.

BOC-Cebu Acting District Collector Charlito Martin Mendoza immediately issued a Warrant of Seizure and Detention against the shipment after finding probable cause for violation of Section 1113 (f) and (l-5) in relation to Section 117 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and DENR-EMB Department Administration Order (DAO) No. 2013-22.

Under DENR-EMB DAO No. 2013-22, importers of used printing machinery must be registered with the agency and the shipment must also be covered with pre-shipment importation clearance to be applied at least 30 working days prior to actual importation.— FPL (FREEMAN)