CTA Case No. 3908 (Decision)

- QEf'ORLIC Ow:'. fM P~ltli'Ptl'tf� ~OU T OF TAX J;.Pf�AU QUf.Z l'f Cl......, QUIRINO U. ORDONEZ, doing business under the name and ~tyle of "DECIHAL MERC H.L\NDISING" Petitioner , - versus - C.T.A. CASE NO, 390 8 THE HONOrlAGLE Cot�11HSSIONER OF CUSTOMS, Respondent. X --------------- - ----------- - - X DECISION Petitioner seeks to vocate res~ onden t Commissioner of Cus to n1 s 1 rl e cis ion d ismissing an a r p A a l from a n 0 r de r of t he Coll ect or o f Customs of the Port of Manil ~ for- feiting in fAvor of the QOvernme nt thP ent i re shipment in four (4) ro ntainer vans of woodfibcr a ccoustic al boards as well as 210 cartons of Jock sets as violative of Sect ion 2530 ( f) and (1) - 3, 4 and 5 in relation with Ser tion 2503, both of the Tariff 8nd Cu s toms Code , r esper tiv e Jy q u 0 t e cl as r u ll!l v! s : SEf' . 2530 . P,operty StJbjert to Forfeiture Under T;1ri ff and Custorns Law.- .i\ny vehicle, vessel, :1r a ircraft, cargo , article ond o the r o bjec t s shal l, under the Po Jlo wi ng conditions be sub_jccted to f orfeilure: X X X X (i ") Any article the importation or ex por t a tio n of v<h i ch i s effected or at tempted con tr ary 128

DECISION - CTA CASE NO . 3908 - 2- to law, or any artic le of pro hib ited importation or exportation , and all other articles which, in the opinion of the Coll ector , have bee n used , are or were en~e red to be used a s instru- me nts i n the i mpo r tat io n or exportation of th e former . X X X X ( l ) Any article sought to be im por ted or exported: X X X X 3 ) On the strength of a false decla1a ti on or aff idavi t executed by the owner , im por ter, ex p o rt e r o r consignee con - cern ing the i mportatio n o f s uc h nrticle; 4) On the s tr e ng t h ~f a false invoice or o ther docum ent executed by the o vm e r , i mp o r t e r , e x p o r t e r o r c o ,1!'" .i. g n e e concerninr, t.t--e imp ortatio n or exp o rt - at i on of s uch art i cles ; and 5) Throu gh any other prnctice o r dovi re c o n t r a r y t o 1 a vJ 8 y mc ;:1 n s o f VJ h i c h s u r� h art icl es v1as entered through a custo:ns- house to th e prejudice of the go ernment . S [ C � 2 5 0 3 � Un de r v a 1 u at i on , th s c li:J s s i f i c 8 t i o n and Misdcclaratio n in Entry. - x x x Prov ided, Th at 1 an un derval u ation, misdeclaration in we i ~ht , measu r eme nt or quanti ty of mere thon 50% be tween the value, weight, m e~ surement or q u a 1; t i t y rl e c 1 a r e d i n t h e e il t r y , n n d t h e c o r r e r: t. v a l u e , \v e i g h t , q u a n t i t y o r me as u r em en t , s h a 1 l t' on s - titute a pr i ma evid en ce o f fra u d penal i zed und e r Section 2530 of this Code . The materia l f ac t s arc relativel y simple . 0 n A p r i l 7 , 1 9 8 3 , t h e SS 11 II 0 NGI< 0 r~ G /\ CE 11 a r r i v e d <J t th e Port o f 11nnilA from Japan, con v ey in~~ and rJ i sch;HrJi nq, among others, four (4) con t ainer vAns said to cont<Jin 130

DECISION - CTA CASE NO. 3908 - 3- 2 , 400 carton boxes o f Wo odf i be r Accoustical Boards under t h e "Shofuku Steamsh ip Co . , L trl . " 13 / L No . KHZ - 0 3!~41 , consigned to t h e p eti tione r, do in g busi n ess in the n~:Jme "DECIM AL I~ EI1CHAND IS IN G" , a n d so declared in Cust o ms In- fo r mal En t ry No . 233 4 6-83 va lu ed at US$6 , 247 . 80 . Upon i nspec t i on o f the f ou r (4) co n ta i ners "v~h e reon t he i mporterl Woodf i ber Acco u stica l Boards were pack ed and l oaded 11 , th e Cu s t o ms aut\; , :_Ltics stumbled upon an undec l ared f:hipme n t o f 240 car t ons o f d o or knobs or 1n c k sets c;:nryjrHJ !. he b r an d of " Straight" which 11 were found l ocated d e ep inside t h e c o n tai n ers, h idden a n d c o vered by the cartons rons i sting of acco u stiral boards" anJ " equally distrih11t.ed in the four co ntaine r s ", appr3ised ot US$8,3L>3.1 3 , v1hirh percenta g e differen ce iJetv1een the d e c 1 a r e d D n c1 u n cJ e c 1 a r e d i t e ms i s mo r e t h a n 5 0 ;~ � Accorrl- ingly , the Bureau of Customs instituted seizure pro ceedi ng s against th e e n tire shipmen t for violati o>l of Section 2530(f) and (1)-3 , 4 and 5 of the Toriff and Customs Code, After due lwar i nq t h e Co l le c tor o f Cust o ms decreer! the forfeiture r I' " t he entire s h i p ment i n th e four (4) con t ainers said l.o contain 'vlnodflber Accoustical Bo ards ns v18ll as the " s L ,, c' i g h t" lock s c t s f o 1m c1 r h c rein , cover n rl by Seizure Jrlcn t jfication Nr. 425 - B3." n11 0ppeal , rc s po J;ci ent 13 1

DECISION - CTA CASE NO . 3908 - 4- Commissioner of Customs, "finding no cogent reason to disturb th e decision of the Collector." affirmed the same. Hence this pe tition . In assailing the validity of th e Order, petitioner seeks a limit to the applic a ble coverage of the forfeiture os to e xclude the legally imp o rted shipment of acc oust icol b 0 0 r d s ' h 3 v i n fl d i s c 1 a i me d r � ; , , rl 0 'v~ ] 8 d ~J e ' i n t e n t mu c h 1e s s participation in the importation of the undecl a red 250 boxe s (quantity c e rti f i e d by th e exp orter-supplier) of door kn ohs or Jock se ts . Likewise uruing a flip-flo p to a simp 1 e c G ~3 c of "m i "' - shipment " a 1 .leg e d J y cons e q :_; r ;: c e d by the er r o r , neg ligenc e and inadve r t enc e of the foreign supplie r . ln af Fi_r ming the d ec ree of forfeitur e , the Commi ss ion e r of Cus tom s wp n~ by the Collector's f indings that - ~~'I h e u n d e c 1 a r e d 2 1 0 ( s i c ) b o x e s o f 1 o c k s e ts V>IPre f o und l o cat e d d ee p :i ns id e the con- tain e r s , h i dde n and cov e red by th e cart ons c o r1s i s !- i r1q o f a c c o u s t i c a 1 b o o r ds , ~-1 o r e i n- tl'iqu i rllJ i s the fact th a t th ese 210 bo x es oF l nc k sets WP re almo s t equ a lly distributed in t he f ou r co ntainer s . l o gi ve a vivid pic t ure - C onta in ~r No. SKLU - 223198 9 has ~8 c artons of und er:- 1 ;1�r rJ loc ks, Cont a iner No. SK LU-2211 59 7 , 5 ') t � il r t- u t 1'~ , Co n t a i n e r No � SKL Ll - 2 2 1 1 2 2 0 , 4 8 c u ri- o rts :JncJ SKLU-22 30 806, 49 ca rtr1n s ." Conclude d a s thus - 1'l h .i s Office beLi. Pve s thnt f i 8 Ud in th is cas e i s se lf-evident. Th e a rr a ng e wn nt and the manner o f di s tribution of th P un dec lared lock 13 2

DECISI ON - CTA CASE NO . 3908 -- 5 - set s in each container cannot countenance alle~ntion c f mis-shipment . Fr oud here is patent and it has undoubtedly shown 1 in pure logical sense , the connivanc ~ of both the shippe r and herei n claimant in the effort to prejud ice the in terest of the government . As what can be aptly stated, forfeiture must lie." We runch the same conclusion . Petitioner's finagling seems no more t h an a clumsy attempt to diffus e the delinquency . The apparent quibble on a " mis-shipment" can hardly be s re assu ring prospect that can easily be rec on ciJecl v1ith the statutory intendment . Far be it from a comedy of errors the cargo stuffing was neither slipshod nor unprofessional and which the parties concern just knew what there was to be known. Innoruous and innocent-. a:~ rn :J cl e to a p p e <J r , t h c s c hem c , no 1 e s s of furtive significance , brooks no instant e. culpation. Per h aps there is not hi ng wrong v1ith n "rniship :ne nt" but there is !lolhing ingratiatingly right either and th e fact is the law has been violated. Such specie of dodg ing of the mold a s th e case at bar was not propitious t h e n , i t r: a n n o t , n o v1 � Up o n t.h e r e c o r d s b e f o r� e U s t h e r e i s n o t h i n g t o t ::1 k P the case out 1 r� the operativ e effects of the sb:Jtutnr y proscription nu understood and applied. The circumstances ob tc1 j n in q h <l v c c 1 ear l y brought t h c rw U t io n e r ' s situ u l i o 11 13 3

--- DECI SION - CTA CASE NO , 3~08 - 6- wi th in the ravcat en joi ned in Section 2503 of the customs J a \'I , ~r a , that an under v u l u o t. ion of more than 50 % between the decl ared and und ecla red items constitutes a rri ma evidence of f ra ud, And a findin g of a 1 33~~ dis crepa nc y in the inst;:J nt t:nse unduly str aining the ull owable latitude o f 50% could be no mRre random quirk nnr niggling picay une to bor the forfeiture of th e quest i onnd shipments Lf C. he petitioner. Sectio n 2530( f ) and ( 1) - 3, 4 and 5 of the Ta riff a n d Custorns Code, supra, e xpl icitly directs the f o1�feiture nf ilJegally . imported go ods, as we ll as the goods or articles which vJ(~ r e u ~; n d n ~; .i 11:.~ l. r urn en t s i n the j mp n r t n t ion � ~J II r I~ U fH r , l he petit :i. on is v::i thou t rn e r it and the s <J me is heT' f'by rlisrn i ~~se d vvith cnsts nqn:inst the petit i oner. SU ORDLf\FD. Que zon City, Metro Moni la, June 30 , ]986. 13 4