Gov’t cracks down on illegal cigarette machines

The government has been working to stop the importation of this type of equipment.

Inspectors check the cigarettes lined up in trays at the Qiu Tobacco Industrial Co. Ltd. Corp. during a surprise inspection by the SBMA and the BIR on six cigarette manufacturers in Subic Bay Freeport on Friday. The company was closed due to tax evasion after failing to put excise tax stamps on their packs. JREYES

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III disclosed on Wednesday that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has seized and destroyed goods seized from illicit manufacturing operations based in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban and Ormoc.

The BIR in its report to the secretary said the goods, which included raw materials and packaging supplies for cigarette manufacturing, were destroyed in a disposal facility in Cagayan de Oro.

The finance chief said the government has been working to stop the importation of this type of equipment, which he said are shipped from China.

He noted that it was during President Rodrigo Duterte’s 5th official visit to China when an Intergovernmental Implementation Agreement was signed by Bureau of Customs (BoC) Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero and Minister Ni Yuefeng of the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).

The agreement defined the scope and guidelines that aim to strengthen the cooperation and mutual assistance on customs matters between the two countries. This covers GACC’s commitment to assist BoC in monitoring and apprehending the entry of illegal cigarette-making machines from China to Philippines.

Furthermore, Guerrero and Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan inked a separate agreement on Beijing’s donation of four mobile x-ray container vehicle inspections systems and two luggage inspections systems to the Philippines.

The finance chief has directed both the BoC and BIR to work closely with their respective counterparts in China to intensify their efforts against such activities.

In a related development, a cigarette manufacturer’s operations were shut down for tax evasion by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority as part of the agency’s thrust to clamp down on wayward companies who fail to pay taxes properly.

The company was identified as Qiu Tobacco Industrial Co. Ltd. Corp., which is engaged in the transhipment, packaging and repacking of tobacco products.