RP-US sign trade data exchange accord to fight cross-border crimes

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 22): RP-US sign trade data exchange accord to fight cross-border crimes

Without much fanfare but replete with subdued and dire warning to perpetrators of cross-border crimes, a landmark bilateral agreement on exchange of trade data was forged recently between the Philippines and the United States.

Signatories to the Trade Transparency Agreement held (June 20) at the US Embassy in Manila were Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, Deputy Director of the Office of Internal Affairs for ICE Homeland Security Investigations David A. Thompson and Deputy Assistant Director Joseph A. Gallion.

This accord in the continuing partnership of the two countries marks a milestone in combating the multi-faceted global menace of trade fraud, money laundering, contraband smuggling, tax evasion, international terrorist financing, and other transnational crime.

Under the agreement, which is part of the Mutual Assistance on Customs Administration pact between the US and the Philippines that was signed on July 27, 2000, the US will help the Philippine government develop a Trade Transparency Unit (TTU) at the BOC.

The TTU, which shall be manned by BOC personnel trained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), shall monitor 24/7 the movement of cargoes and transactions at the BOC to detect suspicious trade and financial transactions susceptible to exploitation by criminal and terrorist organizations.

Biazon said, “The cooperation between the Philippines and the US through the establishment of the TTU will mutually benefit our two countries in terms of helping enhance our fight against illicit trade, smuggling and money laundering, among others.”

“Moreover, with the new data sharing agreement between the US and the Philippines, coupled with the new technologies that would be infused in the TTU, ordinary Filipinos could just as well benefit from this agreement through the tighter control of our borders against the entry of anti-social goods and contrabands.”Biazon added.

As a backgrounder, the first TTU was created by the ICE in 2004 and, since 2005, it has partnered with other countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and now the Philippines, in its global war against the “the rise in complex and sophisticated financial and trade crimes around the world.”

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=537059