Bureau of Customs exceeds 2001 target

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) reported yesterday that the agency surpassed its collection goal for last year by some P159 million.

Initial reports indicate that while the whole world was suffering from an economic recession last year, the BOC managed to register a modest collection increase of .14 percent above its target of P105 billion.

Customs Commissioner Titus B. Villanueva said the official P105-billion target assigned to his agency was never adjusted despite the fact that this was set before the World Trade Center tragedy occurred on Sept. 11.

He also said their collection performance was also affected by the decrease in the price of oil last year. It may be recalled that the price of oil dropped from $31 per barrel down to $17 per barrel. According to Villanueva oil importation comprises 30 percent of the country’s total import.

He said the BOC’s total collection performance for 2001 exceeded the 2000 collection performance by some P10 billion or 10.8 percent.

Villanueva also said that his agency would be embarking on "M-Commerce" or mobile commerce, wherein traders and the business community can use cell phones in transacting with the BOC. He said the bureau will upgrade their services to sustain its continuing program of trade facilitation to boost the country’s economy.