By Rea Cu, February 5 2019; Business Mirror
https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/02/05/customs-breaches-january-p45-626-billion-collection-goal/
Image Credit to Business Mirror
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has surpassed its collection target for the first month of 2019 with a total of collection of P48.153 billion, breaching the bureau’s collection goal of P45.626 billion for January.
In a news statement issued on Monday, the BOC reported that its revenue collections for January had already reached P48.153 billion, expanding by 17.9 percent compared to the January 2018 collection of amounting to P40.831 billion.
According to the BOC, “it maintains its growth momentum seen since last year, on the back of continued process improvements being implemented by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero such as tighter watch over imports and import values of goods.”
Based on preliminary data of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), revenues generated by the BOC in January were derived mostly from cash collection, which refers to duties, taxes and fees collected from goods that entered through the Customs ports nationwide.
Guerrero earlier said that “aggressive reforms” will be implemented over the next months in the BOC which includes: automation to improve its processes; enhancement of cargo clearance and examination capabilities; and strengthening of institutional and individual capabilities in the area of intelligence and enforcement; which are part of his 10-point reform plan for 2019.
Last month Guerrero expressed confidence that the BOC will be able to hit its 2019 revenue collection target of P677 billion on the back of reforms that the agency will implement this year.
The bureau’s collection goal for this year was raised by 15.75 percent, or P677 billion, compared to last year’s goal of P584.881-billion ceiling.
Customs Spokesman Atty. Erastus Sandino B. Austria also reported during the conference that the BOC has recorded revenue collections amounting to P592.869 billion as of December 28, 2018, surpassing its P584.881-billion collection target for the year.