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The Bureau of Customs will start implementing the automated inventory management system for off-dock and off-terminal customs facilities and warehouses (CFW)
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The development follows accreditation of IMS service provider, E-Science Corp.
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Implementation is in accordance with Customs Memorandum Order 20-2021 on the mandatory use of an automated IMS for off-dock and off-terminal CFWs
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will start implementing the automated inventory management system (IMS) for off-dock and off-terminal customs facilities and warehouses (CFW).
Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG) deputy commissioner Edward James Dy Buco in AOCG Memo No. 438-2021 dated August 5 said that with the accreditation of E-Science Corp as service provider by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, the implementation of IMS can begin.
As a result, Dy Buco said the use of the IMS by off-dock CFWs will start immediately as mandated by Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 21-2021.
READ: BOC rolls out rules on CFW use of automated inventory system
He told customs officers—particularly those from the collection districts of Port of Manila, Manila International Container Terminal, and Cebu; chiefs of the Piers and Inspection Division and Port Utilization Section; and all warehousemen, account officers, and customs guards—as well as CFS operators and others concerned to coordinate with the service provider on actions needed to ensure the IMS is implemented smoothly.
CMO 21-2021, which took effect on July 1, provides guidelines for the mandatory use of an automated IMS for off-dock and off-terminal CFWs. It aims to implement an automated inventory system to enable BOC to strictly monitor and generate accurate, real-time information on the status of goods received, stored, and withdrawn from off-dock and off-terminal accredited CFWs.
CMO 21-2021 covers goods entered, stored, and withdrawn from off-dock and off-terminal accredited CFWs for release under consumption, warehousing, transit, transshipment, or export.
All off-dock and off-terminal CFWs granted a license to operate by BOC will be required to implement the automated IMS to be provided by a bureau-accredited service provider.
CFWs, which are facilities for the temporary storage of goods, are established and authorized to operate by BOC pursuant to Title VIII (Tax and Duty Deferment, Preference and Exemption), Chapter 2 (Customs Warehouses) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
These facilities include container yards (CY), container freight stations (CFS), seaport temporary storage warehouses, airport temporary storage warehouses, and other premises for customs purposes. Other types of CFWs are terminal facilities, off-dock CFWs, off-terminal CFWs, and inland container depots.
CFWs also extend to examination areas, cold storages, wharves, infrastructure and other premises where goods subject to customs clearance may be stored, examined, or disposed of. The regulation is intended to protect government revenues, prevent the entry of contraband, and curtail customs fraud.
Under CMO 21-2021, containers to be transferred from the port of discharge to an off-dock/of-terminal CFW must be covered by a transit permit single administrative document (P-SAD) together with other documentary requirements. The P-SAD will replace the current manual hard copy Permit to Transfer to off-doc/off-terminal CFW.
Each container must be enrolled in BOC’s Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) System before the final assessment of the P-SAD.
Containers transferred from the port of discharge to an off-dock/off-terminal CFW without a secured E-TRACC seal cannot be opened by any customs officer without the approval of the district collector of the port of discharge.
The IMS service provider will collect a fee of P225, inclusive of value-added tax, for the use of the web and device applications, cloud database, and support services for every released house bill of lading.
The IMS service provider will have to pay the BOC a monitoring and supervision fee equivalent to 10% of fees collected exclusive of VAT.
BOC’s value-added service provider accreditation committee will review annually the fees to be collected by the IMS service provider and may recommend changes or adjustments, which will have to be approved by the Customs commissioner.
Any CFW that obstructs or violates any provisions of CMO 21-2021 will face penalties under Customs Administrative Order 09-2019 (guidelines on the establishment, operation, supervision, and control of CFWs). – Roumina Pablo