Effective October 31, all vessels and aircraft that arrived at Philippine ports and airports from October 1 must be tagged as “arrived” in the Bureau of Customs’ electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system as part of the transitory provisions of BOC’s new guidelines for tagging.
Under Customs Memorandum Order No. 22-2014, responsible officers should also verify whether the date of the last discharge of all vessels and aircraft in the e2m from October 1 is correct. If it is not, they must update the system.
Leo Morada, chief executive officer of BOC-accredited value-added service provider Cargo Data Exchange Corp., told PortCalls in a text message that the policy “already exists, and the new CMO further strengthens this.”
He added that in his assessment, this is “part of efforts to identify and monitor abandoned and overstaying cargoes.”
Starting November 4, every port and sub-port must have an officer who will be responsible for tagging the arrivals and discharges of vessels and aircraft listed in the e2m.
If a Piers Inspection Division (PID) is present in a port and sub-port, then its head will be the responsible tagging officer. If there is no PID, then the head of the Port Operations Division, Bay Service Division, Aircraft Service Division, or other analogous units will be the responsible officer. If no such units are present, the district collector or sub-port collector will have the duty of tagging and must designate the tagging officer.
Under the new order, within three hours of a vessel or aircraft arrival, the responsible officer must label the registry number of that vessel in the e2m as having “arrived.”
Within three hours of completion of discharge of shipments, the responsible officer must update that vessel or aircraft’s “date of last discharge” in the e2m.
Failure of any officer to comply with CMO 22-2014 will be deemed an Incidence of Simple Neglect under CMO 25-2010 that is punishable with dismissal on second offense.
Entering a wrong date of last discharge will be regarded as an Incidence of Grave Offense under the same CMO, punishable with dismissal on first offense. – Roumina Pablo
