BOC eyes end-March for submission of all draft CMTA orders

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The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) targets submission by end-March all draft implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) for final approval by the Department of Finance (DOF).

BOC’s Revenue Collection and Monitoring Group (RCMG) deputy commissioner Natalio Ecarma III told PortCalls in a chance interview on March 14 that they are now reviewing and finalizing the draft IRRs that will be submitted for approval and signing by the finance secretary.

The IRRs take the form of Customs Administrative Orders (CAOs) that implement the provisions of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10863, or CMTA, which was signed into law in May 2016.

DOF and BOC in 2016 decided to implement CMTA’s provisions by issuing several CAOs instead of one IRR, and thereafter held weekly public consultations on them from August 2016 until October 2017.

Ecarma explained that BOC had already submitted majority of the draft CAOs to DOF before August 2017, but took them back because then newly installed Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña wanted to be briefed first about the draft CAOs and make some needed changes.

Ecarma noted that there is no timeline as to when DOF will approve the CAOs.

He said that all in all, more than 40 draft CAOs have been either submitted or will be submitted to DOF for approval.

Currently, only seven have been signed and these are CAO 05-2017 (Establishment of Authorized Economic Operator [AEO] Program); CAO 03-2017 (Clearance of Postal Items); CAO 01-2017 (Customs Clearance of Accompanied and Unaccompanied Baggage of Travellers and Crew); CAO 02-2016 (Imported Goods with De Minimis Value not Subject to Duties and Taxes); CAO 03-2016 (Establishment of an Advance Ruling System for Valuation and Rules of Origin); CAO 05-2016 (Consolidated Shipment of Duty and Tax-Free Balikbayan Boxes); and CAO 06-2016 (Conditionally Tax and/or Duty-Exempt Importation of Returning Residents and Overseas Filipino Worker).

Last March 5, BOC conducted a public hearing on the draft CAO amending CAO 05-2016.

Topics of CAOs that underwent public consultation include the Registration of Other Third Parties Dealing with the Bureau; Clearance Process for Goods Entered Under Customs Bonded Warehousing System; Rules and Regulations for Customs Transit in the Customs Territory; Compulsory Acquisition; Outsourcing of Non-Sovereign Customs Function to Private Entities; and Reward to Persons Instrumental in the Actual Collection of Additional Revenues.

Others were Assignments and Re-assignments and Designations; Customs Container Control Division; Customs Facilities and Warehouses; Security to Guarantee Payment of Duties and Taxes; Temporary Storage of Goods; Marking Duty; Accredited Information Processors (formerly VASPs); Civil Remedies; Customs Service Fees; Request for Non-Confidential, Unpublished Information; On Board Courier; Registration of Importers; and Treatment of Stores.

Also consulted were Express Shipments; Conditionally Free (remaining paragraph of CMTA Sec. 800); Cargo Manifest; Seizure and Forfeiture Proceedings; Transshipment; Free Zones and Transit; Disposal of Cargoes; Relief Consignment; Customs Jurisdiction and Exercise of Police Authority (Deputization); Export Cargo Clearance Formalities and Issuance of Proof of Origin; Dispute Settlement and Appellate Remedies; Authorized Economic Operators; Entry Lodgement and Cargo Clearances; Abandonment: Kinds, Effects and Treatment of Traveler and Passenger Baggage Processing; and Duty Drawback, Refund and Abatement, and Return of Cash Deposits Held in Trust.

The rest included Conditionally Tax and/or Duty Free Exempt Importation of Returning Residents and Overseas Filipino Workers; Balikbayan Boxes; Customs Bonded Warehousing System; Post Clearance Audit; Alert Orders and Risk Management in Customs Control; Advance Ruling System; and De Minimis Importations. – Roumina Pablo

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net