Sepublic of Tak Fhiliprner Court of Tax Appeals‘ Manrle Serree Investment Company vs. «= I Case No. 723 “ Commissioner of Customs, Respondente Xe EE EEE EE EE EE X

DECISION

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C. T . A.

CASE NO. 723 / The petitioner has appealed from a decision of the respondent affirming a decree of forfeiture render- ed by the Collector of Customs of Manila concerning sevent~en {17) cases of candies. The facts of the case are stated in the stipulation of facts dated February 17 , 1961 submitted by the parties , pertinent portions of which are quoted bel ow:

1. That petitioner is the consignee of seventeen (17) cases of candies which arrived in the Port of Manila from Hong- kong on board the S/S •Themes• on December 14, 1954, under Reg. No. __ , covered by Seizure Identification No. 2309 , and declared in Entry No. 99948 , Series of 1954;

2. That said shipment is duly covered with the Bill of Lading , Commercial In - voice , and the official receipt evidencing payment of estimated duUes and estimated sales tax in the amount of 277.54 , and another official receipt for the payment of surcharge in the amount of ¥·20.00;

3. That the merchandise in question did not have any Central Bank Release Certi- ficate submitted for which reason , it was ordered seized by the Appraisers' Division of the Bureau of Customs for alleged viola- tion of Central Bank Circulars Nos. 44 and 45 in relation to Section 1363{f) and Sec- tion 1250 of the Revised Administrative Code;

4. That to rele~se the said shipment,

DECISION -

C.I.A. CASE NO. 723 - 2 - petitioner filed Surety Bond No. 7625 of the Malayan Insurance Company (MIOJ) , dated December 24 , 1954 for the sum of Seven Hun- dred Forty-Five Pesos (~745.00), pending the seizure proceedings ;

5. That ruling on the seizure identi- fication proceeding, the Collector of Cus- toms ordered the payment of the bond, from which ruling appeal was taken to respondent Commissioner of Customs;

6. That respondent Commissioner of Customs , in its decision of November 6 , 1959, ordered the confiscation of the bond and payment by petitioner and the surety company jointly and severally of the sum of . 745.00.

(See PP• 28-29 , c. T .A. records. ) The sole issue presented in this appeal relates to the legality of Circulars Nos. 44 and 45 of the Cen- tral Bank which regulate importations involving no- dollar remittance. It has been held that said circu- lars were legally issued , so that any importation not covered by a release certificate issued by the Central Bank , although involving no immediate remittance of for- eign exchange, is subject to forfeiture under Customs Law. (See Francisco Pascual v. Com. of Customs , G. R. No. L-12219, April 25 , 1962, and cases cited therein.)

WHEREFORE , the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed , with costs against petitioner.

Associate Judge