The Bureau of Customs has destroyed 24.6 tons of smuggled products and hazardous items previously seized at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Among those were vape products, expired medicines and supplements and imported food that were declared unsafe for human consumption.
Customs-NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan said the smuggled items worth P10 million were destroyed at Thermal Decomposer Facility of Integrated Waste Management Inc. in Trece Martires, Cavite, on Oct. 17 and 19.
She said the contrabands were imported without permits.
She said the destruction was made in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Optical Media Board and the National Telecommunications Commission.
She also said the condemnation proceedings were in line with the directive of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero “to address perennial congestion problems of Customs facilities on abandoned and illegally shipped items in order to further facilitate business and trade within the port.”
Meanwhile, the Customs-NAIA called up a meeting with partner government agencies to discuss updates on the rules and regulations on importations and exportations.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, DENR Wildlife Traffic Monitoring Unit and Customs-Environmental Protection Compliance Division.
Among the topics discussed were the following: permits and clearances needed to import meat, meat products, aquatic animals, plants, chemicals and other regulated goods.
Talusan says all the guidelines will be “cascaded and be part of the Learning Management System of NAIA, which aims to properly guide Customs airport personnel, passengers and stakeholders of all the needed requirements in importing goods.”