THE waiting time for customs brokers and importers in the Philippines securing certificates of origin (CO) will now be shortened to three days under amended rules governing two trade agreements.
Bureau of Customs Memorandum Order No. 16-2013 issued on Dec. 26, 2013 implemented amendments to Rules 10 and 25 of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) pertaining to the issuance of a CO form and free-on-board (FOB) price, respectively.
CMO 16-2013 also implements amendments on specific rules on FOB requirement, erroneous CO and issuance of its replacement, issuance of a CO, and submission of such a document under a trade agreement the ASEAN has entered into with South Korea.
Under the ATIGA, the amended Rule 10 or Issuance of the CO states that in submitting all documentary requirements, the CO (Form D) “shall be issued by the issuing authorities of the exporting member state prior to or at the time of shipment or soon thereafter but should not be more than three days from the declared shipment date”.
The amended rules are part of the so-called “Agreement on Trade in Goods Under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Among the Governments of the Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of Korea”.
BOC Import Assessment Service director Arnulfo Gambayan told PortCalls the issuance of COs would now only take three days instead of almost five days.
Traders need a CO (Form D) to enjoy preferential duties under the ATIGA and other trade agreements, Gambayan noted.
Under the amended Rule 25 or the FOB Price, the CO and the back-to-back CO “shall only reflect the FOB price in cases where the regional value content calculated using the formula set out in Article 29 is applied in determining origin”.
Gambayan said the prices of the articles alone, without the freight rate, insurance, duties or taxes, should be filed in the CO “so that the valuation would be done faster.”
The amendment to Rule 25 is also the same as that of Rule 5.3 under the trade pact with Korea. It states that a CO “shall bear a reference number separately given by each place or office of issuance.” It says the CO (Form AK) “should reflect the FOB value in box 9 only when the regional value content criterion is applied.”
RVC or the regional value content requires that a product include a certain percentage of originating content. Gambayan said that if the product is manufactured in Korea, the percentage of the Korean content of the finished good should be determined to find out the value of the product.
Meanwhile, the Rule 6 amendment indicates that an erroneous CO can now be altered provided it “should be approved by an official authorized to sign a CO and certified by the issuing authority,” as opposed to the previous rule that totally disallows alterations.
“Alternatively, a new CO may be issued to replace the erroneous CO,” the amended rule said.
Rule 7.1, is the same as the amendment in Rule 10 of ATIGA. Amended Rule 10 requires that, in accordance with domestic laws and regulations, COs should be submitted to the Customs authority of the importing party within 12 months after the date they were issued. ––Roumina M. Pablo
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