The Philippine Cement Importers Association emphasized that its members do not condone smuggling as it extended the offer to work with cement manufacturers/importers and the Department of Trade and Industry to put an end to, or at least, curb smuggling of the commodity.
“If there is truth to the claims of Cemap [Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines] President Ernie Ordoñez, the PCIA shall join hands with them in filing the necessary criminal and administrative cases against the alleged smugglers,” PCIA executive director Col. Dani Enriquez said.
“I will request Dr. Ordoñez to provide the documents he submitted to the BOC [Bureau of Customs] so that I can help assess the violations committed by the importers if there is really proof that they smuggled cement,” Enriquez pointed out.
“I believe the solution to any cement smuggling, if there is any, is to work together to prevent these illegal activities which rob the government of the needed revenues and eventually destroy the legitimate industry players. And I agree with the belief that if an importer can cheat on taxes, he can also cheat in quality or standards,” he added.
But Enriquez said the PCIA wants to see the documents first before jumping to conclusions.
“The importers have reputations to protect in the cement industry and it is not fair to make unsubstantiated accusations. I don't think an importer will smuggle a zero-tariff and zero-duty product,” Enriquez said.
“Nonetheless, this is exactly why the PCIA is proposing to the DTI to strengthen their monitoring and enforcement of compliance with their policies and national laws to ensure consumer welfare and protection,” Enriquez said.
“As to the complaint of a certain consumer group concerning alleged ‘expired’ cement being sold in the market, I believe the PNS 7:2005 actually states that after more than six months from initial testing, cement shall be retested and rejected if it fails conformance to standards. Hence, there is no such thing as ‘expire’ cement in reference to the said Philippine National Standard,” Enriquez said.
