A total of 12,810 Philippine importers and customs brokers are listed as active with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as of February 5, or 4% higher than the 12,317 listed as active as of December 11 last year.
The latest figure also represents 85.4% of the 14,995 importers and customs brokers in BOC’s list as of February 2014. The list is a mix of provisional and regular accreditations.
Of the total, 11,478 are importers, including Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)-accredited consignees, bringing the total up 4%, or 438 more than the 11,040 as of December 11, 2014. Customs brokers, on the other hand, increased 4.3% in number to 1,332, or 55 more from the 1,277 listed as of October 28 last year.
For a list of accredited customs brokers, click here and for importers, here.
Based on a Department of Finance ruling in February last year, all importers and customs brokers wanting to transact with BOC must undergo a two-tier accreditation process. They must first secure an Importer’s Clearance Certificate (ICC) or Broker’s Clearance Certificate (BCC) from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before securing accreditation with the customs agency.
Recently, DOF issued an order that grants PEZA locators eligibility for accreditation as importers with BOC. However, PEZA locators still need to submit documentary requirements to BOC.
BIR, for its part, recently amended and reduced its documentary requirements. The revenue-generating agency also plans to automate the accreditation of importers and customs brokers.
The latest count from BIR recorded 14,820 applications received by its Accounts Receivable Management Division since October 2014. Of this, 9,000 have been processed, and 2,000 of those processed were given regular ICCs and BCCs, and the rest handed with provisional accreditation. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
