BOC issues operating guidelines for ICTSI dry port in Laguna

0
915

The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) has issued interim operational guidelines for running the Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal (LGICT) while a customs administrative order (CAO) on accredited customs facilities and warehouses is awaiting approval.

Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on June 14 signed Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 12-2017, which covers clearance procedures for incoming or outgoing shipments at LGICT. The terminal is the dry port container-handling facility in Calamba City, Laguna of port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI).

BOC last March certified LGICT as an authorized off-dock customs facility (OCF), which allows the agency to hold its functions and activities inside the dry port.

READ: ICTSI’s Laguna dry port gets accreditation as off-dock customs facility

As an OCF, LGICT becomes an official extension of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT). This means that clients whose shipments were unloaded in the Manila port can clear them at LGICT, to the benefit of consignees with warehouses or plants located in Laguna or nearby areas.

Under CMO 12-2017, LGICT is considered a customs facility under customs supervision and control, and classified and operated as a container terminal.

The order states that goods for transfer to LGICT should be declared on any of the following shipping documents—master bill of lading, house bill of lading, or inward foreign manifest—and include details such as place of delivery and destination.

LGICT should also ensure its clients are registered as importers and exporters on BOC’s Client Profile Registration System. This is to comply with customs rules and conform with general conditions that the user should have a good track record and business reputation; be located in the Southern Luzon area; and have a contribution to the national economy.

For consumption entries, before goods are transferred to LGICT, the goods declaration should be electronically lodged with the accredited information provider, formerly called value-added service provider.

“LGICT shall use its own and/or hired trucks and trains as soon as they become available at the port for the transfer of cargoes to LGICT,” CMO 12-2017 states.

ICTSI has partnered with MRail, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Manila Electric Co., in reviving its railway system that connects MICT to its Laguna depot.

Trucks that will transfer cargoes from MICT to LGICT must be accredited and registered carriers, and/or be equipped with a vehicle tracking system (VTS) that is linked to the onsite computer system of the customs personnel assigned by the deputy collector for operations. If there is no VTS, LGICT must apply for a transfer note for every container to be transferred to the Laguna dry port.

BCO will also establish a customs clearance unit to take charge of inbound and outbound clearance of shipments at LGICT. The unit is to be composed of representatives from the enforcement and intelligence groups, piers and inspection division, port operation service, and other concerned offices.

A special stop/hold order will be issued for shipments tagged as “red,” which is when the user is not accredited by the district collector; the subject shipment is not manifested; or there is an alert or hold order.

LGICT has an annual capacity of 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units and will be able to serve trade activity in economic zones within a 30-kilometer radius.

With a terminal area of 21 hectares, of which 10 hectares are allotted to the container yard, the dry port acts as a conduit that enhances the supply chain activities of direct cargo owners, logistics service providers, and other support services.

Since March, it has been offering laden container storage, empty depot, reefer container plugs, dedicated loading and stripping area, and select areas for subleasing. LGICT is equipped with a container weighbridge and state-of-the-art container-handling equipment, and when fully built, will have rubber-tired gantries. – Roumina Pablo