The Bureau of Customs has created a division which is tasked to monitor and control the entry of hazardous substances and other wastes into the country.
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero has issued Customs Memorandum Order 38-2019, which institutionalizes the Environmental Protection and Compliance Division to address the unlawful entry of wastes from other countries.
The CMO was issued after Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez ordered the BOC to establish a strike team which will guard the country against the entry of waste materials.
Under the CMO, the EPCD shall monitor the processing of shipments of hazardous substances, waste products, nuclear wastes, recyclable products, and all other chemicals, products or substances under the regulatory control of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
It shall recommend the issuance of alert orders and pre-lodgment control orders against shipments suspected of containing goods in violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and environmental laws.
The division is also directed to investigate cases and to make recommendation for prosecution of violations of the CMTA, in relation to environmental and other applicable laws, rules and regulations.
The BOC said it would prevent a repeat of dumping of hazardous wastes to country which was seized and ordered back to Canada and Hong Kong.
In June this year, several tons of mixed plastic wastes were dumped in the country returned to Hong Kong on June 3.
The BOC also shipped back over 50 tons of misdeclared shipments that contained recyclable plastic scrap materials to Canada.