Fourteen priority provisions under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) have been selected by the Philippine Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agency, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), to be the subjects of weekly public consultations until December.
Feedback from the hearings will be used as a guide in drafting the new law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
The provisions were selected based on what the two agencies think are topics that require urgent implementation, DOF assistant secretary Denise Marie Riesa-Culangin said in a public consultation on the CMTA IRR last August 17.
Culangin explained, however, this does not mean other provisions under the new law will not undergo public review.
Priority provisions are those pertaining to de minimis; advance ruling system; alert orders and risk management in customs control; customs bonded warehousing system; post clearance audit; balikbayan boxes; conditionally tax and duty-exempt importation by balikbayans, returning residents, and overseas Filipino workers; duty drawback, refund and abatement; treatment of different types of stores, clearance of postal items, travelers, and baggage processing; entry lodgment and cargo clearance process; abandonment kinds and effects; Authorized Economic Operator scheme; dispute settlement and process; and export cargo clearance and issuance of rules of origin.
BOC also created groups to handle each topic or provision and designated the chairperson for each group.
Publication of a draft Customs administrative order (CAO) per topic or provision will be every Thursday starting August 25, and the deadline for submission of position papers and holding public consultations will be every seventh calendar day after the posting of the draft CAO.
The final CAO for every topic or provision will be posted 21 calendar days after public hearing for administrative orders without substantive changes, and 30 calendar days after public hearing for administrative orders with substantive changes.
Culangin said a dedicated CMTA page on DOF’s website will be the primary mode of communication between DOF, BOC, and stakeholders regarding the drafting of the CAOs operationalizing the CMTA.
All invites, notices, public consultation materials, guidelines and templates, legal references, drafts, as well as final CAOs will be posted on the page.
DOF and BOC are asking all stakeholders to participate and submit position papers as this, as well as inputs during the public consultation, will assist them in finalizing the CAOs.
Republic Act (RA) No. 10863, otherwise known as CMTA, was signed into law on May 30, 2016.
READ: PH Customs modernization act signed into law
It amends the outdated Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines with the aim of modernizing Customs rules and procedures for faster trade, reduced opportunities for corruption, enhanced Customs service delivery, and improved supply chain.
It also complies with the country’s legal commitment to submit to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures, or the Revised Kyoto Convention, which the Philippines acceded to in 2010. – Roumina Pablo
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