MANILA, Philippines — To improve the system of accreditation, the Customs Intelligence Group has been given a new assignment of purging bogus companies from the master list of importers and brokers registered at the Bureau of Customs.

This developed after Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon tweaked a new organizational structure at the IG, with the Customs main accreditation arm as one of its many tasks starting this year.

He removed from the Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group its control over the renamed Interim Customs Accreditation and Registration Unit (ICARE).

It seeks to hasten procedural processes, remove bureaucratic roadblocks, and easily pinpoint who are the bogus companies.

“My instruction to Deputy Commissioner (Danny) Lim is proactive purging of the list unlike before we weren’t doing anything about it. When an importer was caught, that’s the only time he will be removed from the list,” Biazon said.

Under his term, ICARE was able to cleanse more than 20 misfits from the Customs’ master list of accredited importers and brokers.

ICARE used to function originally under the RCMG, along with other vital functions like the RATS (Run After the Smugglers) program which files and prosecutes smuggling cases, and the informants’ reward committee.

It was formed to replace the abolished Customs Accreditation Secretariat (CAS) whose main tasks are to purge bogus companies from the master list of accredited importers and brokers and ensure that the new registrants satisfy the fundamental requirements for accreditation.

“It is only the program (ICARE) that we transferred to the Intelligence Group because the RCMG has already a heavy workload,” said Biazon.

However, it was not clear who is the new chief of ICARE, which was previously headed by Deputy Commissioner Peter Manzano.

“He (Lim) can be the direct head (of ICARE). He can also delegate someone for the job,” said Biazon.

The Customs chief has been under pressure to stop the bleeding in revenue collections while curbing smuggling.

For the last three months under Biazon, the BoC has failed to hit its target revenues.

The BoC chief is hoping that the figures will improve next year, as reforms and programs introduced early in his term, yield results.