EcoWaste Coalition Backs Inventory and Inspection of Overstaying Containers in BOC Ports as Recommended by COA
The environmental advocacy group EcoWaste Coalition has
expressed its support to a recommendation made by state auditors for an
inventory and inspection of all overstaying containers in Bureau of Customs
(BOC) ports nationwide.
The anti-waste dumping group also threw its weight behind
a proposal by Misamis Oriental District II Representative Juliette Uy to open
880 of the 6,985 overstaying containers that may contain imported garbage and
other illegal waste cargoes.
According to the 2018 Consolidated Annual Audit Report on
the BOC by the Commission on Audit (COA), “a total of 6,985 overstaying containers
carrying various articles remained undisposed in various BOC ports for a period
ranging from 30 days to more than 25 years.
The non-disposal of the overstaying shipments violates
Republic Act 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, particularly Section 1141 of Chapter 10 on
the “Disposition of Property in Customs Custody,” COA said.
In view of this, COA told BOC, among other
recommendations, to “conduct inventory and immediate inspection of all
overstaying containers to determine existence/condition and status of the
goods.”
Eight hundred and eighty of these overstaying containers
were without declared information, uninspected and could not be offered for
auction as their contents “may pose risk or hazard to the port.”
“These 880 containers could very well contain garbage or
hazardous materials illegally imported by their respective consignees.
Remember, the garbage shipments in Tagoloan Port were discovered after they
overstayed at the port,” stated Uy.
Uy suggested that the overstaying containers be inspected
by inter-agency teams, along with non-government experts.
For her part, Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of the
EcoWaste Coalition emphasized that “the public have the right to know what is
hidden in these abandoned container vans.”
“Like Rep. Uy, we are concerned that these containers may
contain contaminated wastes posing hazards to human health and the
environment. We therefore urge the BOC
to conduct speedy inventory and inspection of the overstaying containers as
recommended by COA and to make their findings as transparent as possible,” she
said.
“In the event that hazardous wastes and other proscribed
materials are found, we expect charges to be filed against responsible parties
and the re-export of the illegal shipments to their points of origin. Our country is not a dumping ground for other
countries‘ garbage,” she added.
Given the spate of illegal waste exports to the
Philippines, the EcoWaste Coalition and other environmental groups are
campaigning for a complete and permanent ban on all waste imports to protect
the country from turning into a global dumpsite, as well as to protect the
people's environmental rights.
-end-
Reference:
https://www.coa.gov.ph/index.php/national-government-agencies/2018/category/7486-department-of-finance#
http://laws.chanrobles.com/republicacts/109_republicacts.php?id=10648
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