Philippines preps for fuel-marking scheme roll-out

The Bureau of Customs in the Philippines has set up a task force to oversee a fuel-marking scheme agreed earlier this year.

The fuel marking system, which involves the addition of a chemical marker, was piloted in April and is scheduled to become mandatory by the end of the year for all petroleum products that are refined, manufactured, or imported into the Philippines that are subject to the payment of duties and taxes.

Two groups – Authentix and SICPA/SGS Philippines – were pre-qualified to supply the marker technology in June but according to local news outlet BusinessMirror.com.ph only the latter submitted a proposal during tender process.

The new task force will be run by the BOC Enforcement and Intelligence groups and will supervise the implementation of the fuel-marking programme. It’s estimated that it could boost revenue collection for the Philippine government by P20bn to P40bn (approximately $375m-750m).

The Department of Finance estimates that lost revenue due to fuel smuggling and misdeclaration reached almost P27bn in 2016, almost half of the P53bn collected by the BOC and BIR that year.

Meanwhile, in addition to helping prevent smuggling, fuel marking can also ensure that petroleum products sold in the market are of high quality, safe, highly regulated and comply with environmental laws.