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Viewing cable 06MANILA1367, UNPRECEDENTED CUSTOMS RAID HAS SMUGGLERS SCRAMBLING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06MANILA1367 2006-03-24 07:34 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Manila
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001367 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR BWEISEL AND DKATZ 
BANGKOK FOR DOJ CHRIS SONDERBY 
USDOC FOR 4430/ITA/MAC/DBISBEE AND SBERLINGUETTE 
USDOC PASS TO USPTO FOR PETER FOWLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON KIPR EINV RP
SUBJECT: UNPRECEDENTED CUSTOMS RAID HAS SMUGGLERS SCRAMBLING 
 
REF: MANILA 1223 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION - 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales launched an 
unprecedented, 500-agent raid on March 16 against a Manila 
mall notorious for hosting hundreds of sellers of pirated 
and counterfeit goods.  Closely guarded plans and a 
professional approach caught stall owners by surprise. 
Rather than pursuing arrests under Intellectual Property 
(IP) law, Customs acted under the Tariffs and Customs Code, 
which allows agents to demand proof of payment of customs 
duties and taxes, without warrants.  Agents investigated 700- 
800 stores and seized goods worth over 700 million pesos 
($1.4 million dollars).  President Arroyo, at the Asia 
Pacific Council of American Chambers (APCAC) on March 16, 
mentioned the raid in public remarks as part of her tough 
campaign against corruption and smuggling.  Arrests appear 
unlikely, but this large-scale Customs action sends an 
increasingly strong message to IPR pirates that they can no 
longer operate with impunity.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------- 
BIGGEST RAID IN HISTORY 
----------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  In a March 17 meeting with ICE Attache, 
Commissioner Morales detailed the raid's implementation. 
The raid had been planned for several weeks but only a 
handful of key officials knew the specifics.  On the day of 
the raid, Morales called in 500 Customs agents and informed 
them of what was going to happen.  All logistical 
arrangements had already been made and vehicles were waiting 
to take them to Divisoria Mall number 168, a place known for 
its sale of smuggled and counterfeit goods.  Following the 
briefing, the agents moved on the mall and sealed the 
premises, which included two buildings, with two floors 
each, and between 700 and 800 retail stalls.  In her APCAC 
address, President Arroyo described the operation as the 
biggest raid against smugglers in the history of the 
Philippines. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Attorney Willie Sarmiento, the new Chief of the 
Customs IP Unit, told Econoff in a follow-on conversation, 
that agents had seized over 700 million pesos ($1.4 million 
dollars) worth of goods.  There were at least five stores 
with pirated compact discs, but they were closed when 
Customs agents arrived.  Most seized goods were primarily 
trademark infringing such as counterfeit garments, shoes, 
and accessories.  Inventory is expected to be completed by 
the end of this week. 
 
------------------------ 
GET THEM FOR TAX EVASION 
------------------------ 
 
4.  (SBU) Sarmiento said that Commissioner Morales acted 
under Section 2536 of the Tariffs and Customs Code, which 
allows Customs to demand evidence of payment of customs 
duties, without benefit of a warrant.  In a separate 
conversation, Attorney Jun Rodriguez, a local IP lawyer and 
member of the Philippines Intellectual Property Coalition, 
clarified that this is a kind of "visitorial power."  The IP 
Coalition has long been advocating the use of this power by 
Customs, and Rodriguez is glad to finally see it in action, 
especially on such a large-scale.  Rodriguez added that 
under this Section of the law, Customs cannot make any 
arrests since non-payment of customs duties is not 
criminalized in the Philippines.  However, IP rights holders 
could file individual cases against smugglers.  The legal 
result is likely to be forfeiture of all goods, which will 
be turned over to Customs.  Rodriguez cautioned however, 
that IP rights holders would need to be particularly 
vigilant since Customs is entitled to auction off any 
forfeited goods, in order to generate revenue.  Commissioner 
Morales told ICE Attache that the goods are contraband and 
cannot be auctioned, which means that Customs will have to 
deal with the troublesome issue of destroying the 
counterfeited goods. 
 
------------------------------------ 
RAID HAS SMUGGLERS RUNNING FOR COVER 
------------------------------------ 
 
5.  (SBU) Sarmiento said that surrounding malls in Divisoria 
actually closed on March 17 because they "were afraid of 
possible raids" against them.  Rodriguez of the IP Coalition 
said that he very much welcomed this major raid by Customs. 
"The more this is done, the more people will believe that 
there is some law and order being followed."  He said that 
sustained raids such as this one will hopefully result in 
much needed changes of attitudes. 
 
6.  (SBU) According to Sarmiento, the raid was prompted by 
numerous complaints from legitimate businesses and rights 
holders as well as pressure for action from President 
Arroyo.  Sarmiento said that the raid was completely 
Commissioner Morales' initiative.  In a separate 
conversation, Rodriguez echoed Sarmiento's claim of 
complaints from businesses, but also said that he thought 
the raid was partially motivated by USG pressure to improve 
intellectual property protection. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  The raid was one of the most well-coordinated, 
well-planned, successful operations we have seen from the 
Bureau of Customs.  Previously, Customs IP enforcement has 
been limited to small searches and seizures at points of 
entry, which are conducted by a handful of officers.  Using 
the Tariffs and Customs Code for such a large-scale 
operation shows creativity and stepped-up attention to IP. 
The recent decision to move the Philippines from USTR's 
Special 301 Priority Watch List to the Watch List has 
generated much high-level attention to the issue.  President 
Arroyo has vowed to improve the Philippines' intellectual 
property protection regime and has directed senior level 
officials to take action.  While the raid is unlikely to 
result in any arrests or high-profile cases, it does hurt 
smugglers and vendors of IP infringing goods.  If this is an 
isolated raid, the net benefit will be negligible.  However, 
if Customs can effectively carry out regular raids, 
regardless of whether they result in arrests or not, they 
could serve as a significant deterrent to smugglers. 
 
KENNEY