Government can earn P700 million annually from ukay-ukay - BOC

MANILA, Philippines - Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said Congress should legalize the importation of used clothes or ukay-ukay to help boost the country’s revenue by P700 million a year.

“It can be roughly estimated that there are 1,000 container vans of ukay-ukay that enter the country every year, so this means that we could collect P700 million of duties and taxes from ukay-ukay alone in just one year,” Alvarez said.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) hopes to collect P280 billion this year. The BOC is the government’s second biggest income-generating agency next to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Some of the country’s major ports have been identified as drop off points for smuggled used clothes. These are the ports of Manila, Cebu, and Zamboanga, and the Manila International Container Port.

He admitted that some Customs employees might be conniving with smugglers of used clothes.

With the government’s need to up its revenue, Alvarez said it might now be time for lawmakers to review or revoke Republic Act 4653 or “An act to safeguard the health of the people and maintain the dignity of the nation by declaring it a national policy to prohibit the commercial importation of textile articles commonly known as used clothing and rags.”

The law was passed in 1966 during the Marcos regime. Violators face fines ranging from P200 to P20,000 or imprisonment.

Alvarez said he is meeting tomorrow with Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali, Leyte Rep. Andres Salvacion, Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo, and Batangas Rep. Tomas Apacible to discuss possible amendments to RA 4653.

Alvarez said that despite the import ban, the BOC usually receives requests from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the release of seized used clothes for distribution to victims of calamities.

He said ukay-ukay clothes nowadays are sanitized and in better condition than in the past, and pose less hazards to users.