MANILA -- In its bid to continue protecting the interest of the general public and the government, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) reiterates the existing guidelines on the importation and exportation of currencies, monetary instruments, money order, checks, and other bills of exchange.
Under the existing laws, no person may import or export, or bring with him into or take out of the country, or electronically transfer, legal Philippine notes and coins, checks, money order and other bills of exchange drawn in pesos against banks in the Philippines in an amount exceeding PHP50,000 without prior authorization from the BSP, based on BSP Circular No. 922, Series of 2016, The Amendments of the Rules on Cross-Border Transfer of Local Currency.
On the other hand, any person bringing into or taking out foreign currency, as well as other foreign currency-denominated bearer monetary instruments such as checks, drafts, notes, money orders, bonds, deposit certificates, securities, commercial papers, trust certificates, custodial receipts, deposit substitute instruments, trading orders, transaction tickets, and confirmation of sale/investment, in excess of USD10,000 or its equivalent must declare the same through accomplishing a Foreign Currency Declaration Form (FCDF), based on BSP Circular No. 308, Series of 2001, as amended by Circular No. 507, Series of 2006. The FCDF may be obtained from a Customs Officer at the Arrival or Departure Areas, or be downloaded directly from the BSP website.
Failure to comply with the foregoing laws shall subject the violator to sanctions under the RA 10365 otherwise known as “An Act Further Strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering Law” and RA 10863 or the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act”, including confiscation of the foreign currency, or monetary instrument involved.
The BOC reminds the travelers, importers, and exporters to declare the amount in excess of the threshold as provided by law, and pledges to persistently heighten its efforts to prevent the smuggling of currencies, and maintain reinforced coordination with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), other national law enforcement agencies. (BOC)
