BOC launches tracking website for balikbayan boxes

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ID-100277779The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has introduced a website to help overseas workers, other Filipinos based abroad, and their families in the Philippines to track and trace their balikbayan (personal effects) boxes.

Balikbayan Box Tracker (http://customs.gov.ph/balikbayan-box-tracker-101/), a microsite soft-launched by BOC last November 21, enables balikbayan box senders to track the status of their shipments in Philippine ports.

The website can provide details such as the port, country of origin, city of origin, bill of lading (B/L) number, foreign forwarder, local forwarder, date the entry was filed with the BOC, date the shipment was cleared of payment and released, and status of the balikbayan box.

Charo Logarta-Lagamon, chief of the BOC’s Public Information and Assistance Division, told PortCalls the idea for the tracker came from Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla himself.

Lagamon said BOC was getting reports about recipients of balikbayan boxes asking for the whereabouts or status of their shipments. She added that even though informal entries contribute only a small portion of the agency’s total revenue, balikbayan boxes are a “huge” concern for overseas workers.

The IT infrastructure of the website is run by both BOC and its mother agency, the Department of Finance, but its data and upkeep is handled by the Office of the Commissioner of BOC.

Users of the microsite will need the name of the foreign or local forwarder and the B/L number of the shipment which carried the balikbayan box to initiate tracking.

Previously, the status of a balikbayan box is usually monitored through the website of the forwarder or by calling them. The BOC tracker is useful when the sender wants to know the status of the shipment at the port or at the BOC.

A balikbayan box can come in four status: paid and released—the forwarder has paid duties and taxes and the shipment has been released from the custody of BOC; pending payment—Customs has computed duties and taxes and is awaiting payment from the forwarder; under investigation—BOC has received negative information regarding the shipment and boxes inside the container are subject to inspection; and no entry filed—the forwarder has not yet submitted the complete documents.

If the microsite is under maintenance or improvement, customers can call BOC for the status of the balikbayan boxes. The link to the Balikbayan Box Tracker can be found on the Bureau of Customs website.

Lagamon said BOC and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the current regulator of seafreight forwarders in the Philippines, are closely working on revising several Customs issuances to “make things easier” in resolving problems concerning balikbayan boxes.– Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net