Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III ordered the Bureau of Customs to be on alert for possible sugar smuggling, following reports that certain traders were exporting the commodity and replacing them with import volumes much bigger than what they had been shipping overseas.
“The sugar price domestically is much higher than the world market price. So, there is going to be an incentive for people to smuggle in sugar,” Dominguez said during a recent Department of Finance executive committee meeting.
Dominguez also told Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero that he received reports from officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Cebu about a company authorized to export sugar, but which shrewdly replaced its overseas shipments with volumes that were way higher than what it had exported. “Please keep an eye on those gaps,” Dominguez told Guerrero.
Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa said he was coordinating with the Sugar Regulatory Administration to ensure that traders secure prior clearance from the BIR to be able to import sugar, in compliance with Dominguez’s earlier directive.