BOC seizes P4.5M worth of 'ukay-ukay'

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs seized P4.5 million worth of used clothing or 'ukay-ukay,' suspected to be illegally imported from the United States.

Operatives of the Bureau of Customs caught three 20-foot container vans for violating Section 2530 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines and Republic Act 4653 which bans the importation of used clothing.

“Under RA 4653, the importation of “ukay-ukay” is banned to protect the health of the Filipinos and to preserve the Filipino dignity. This is the reason why the BOC is vigilant against smuggled used clothing in our ports, if only to secure the Filipino consumers from the risk of catching contagious diseases from contaminated smuggled used clothing smuggled from abroad.” Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said upon inspecting the items on Wednesday.

He added that the three container vans were consigned to Isidro Enterprises of Iloilo City and were intercepted at the Manila North Harbor last July 19 and were misdeclared as fishing supplies.