A member of the ways and means committee of the house of representatives said Huagong Tech has offered to provide its hologram-aided stamp tax technology that could not be counterfeited to make sure that correct taxes on cigarettes are paid and at the same time prevent rampant smuggling in the country.
Tom Apacible, representative of the province of Batangas, said the Chinese firm based in Wuhan province promised to provide its technology at a price much lower than the PHP 0.62 (EUR 0.011) per pack proposal of Swiss firm Sicpa and also that of PMFTC’s "Codentify" technology.Apacible, a former commissioner of the bureau of customs (BOC), said officials of the Chinese firm flew into the country late last month and met with bureau of internal revenue commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares.He pointed out that the proposal of Huagong could help solve the country’s smuggling problems.
"I hope the government would consider this," Apacible said referring to the proposal of the Chinese firm that is now pending before the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Apacible said efforts to implement an efficient excise tax system whether multi-tiered or single uniform rate would be useless if unabated smuggling of tobacco and alcohol products continues.
PMFTC has announced its readiness to offer government a cheaper technology that uses a numeric bar-code system, which costs only less than PHP 0.10 (EUR 0.0017) per pack against Sicpa’s PHP 0.62 per pack offer.The Aquino government has junked Sicpa’s unsolicited proposal for being costly and not suited to the needs of the government. (sra)