By Joann Villanueva/PNA
MANILA — About 15.2 billion liters of imported and locally-produced gasoline, diesel and kerosene will be subjected to fuel marking this year.
Of the total, the Bureau of the Customs (BOC) will mark some 6.8 billion liters of imported fuel while the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will be in charge for 8.4 billion liters of locally-produced oil products.
The government has been pushing for the implementation of fuel marking to address smuggling, which Finance officials said is costing the government at least PHP20 billion in revenues annually. This requirement is included under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
In a briefing Wednesday, Department of Finance (DOF) Director Nina Asuncion said they will start the fuel marking in March.
The government has awarded the fuel marking contract to Switzerland-based security ink technology provider Société Industrielle et Commerciale de Produits Alimentaires (SICPA).
Under the plan, the government will pay the PHP0.6884 per liter fuel marking fee for the first year of implementation, while for the second to fifth year, this will be shouldered by the oil companies.
This fee is on top of the duties and taxes to be collected by the BIR and the BOC.
The process will be done by teams from the BIR, BOC and SICPA in the depots before the imported oil will be distributed to the gas stations and in the refineries in Bataan and Batangas for locally-produced oil.
BOC Deputy Commissioner Teddy Raval, during the same briefing, said they are now finalizing the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for fuel marking.
He said they cannot yet issue the IRR unless the fuel markers have been approved by the BOC and the BIR.
DOF Revenues Operations Group Director Emee Macabales said they are done testing the marker, adding there is no recognizable pattern that affects the marker.
Finance officials said the fees that would be collected from the oil companies will be placed in a fuel marketing trust fund, which will then be used for the implementation of the program.
