A monitoring unit has been created at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to check compliance of the agency’s various divisions with customs laws, regulations and issuances.
The Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU) was created under Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 05-2014, signed September 5 by Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla. It took effect on October 1.
To be supervised and controlled by the Office of the BOC Commissioner, the CMU will perform tasks to be assigned by the Customs chief, who is also empowered to further prescribe procedures and processes to enable the unit to effectively exercise its functions.
The CMU, upon request, will also assist the commissioner, deputy commissioners, and other Customs officials in drafting, reviewing, and revising Customs regulations and issuances.
It must likewise advise the Customs commissioner of any procedural changes made to enhance compliance levels with Customs laws and orders.
Officers posted to CPRO return to BOC
Meanwhile, the Department of Finance (DOF), BOC’s mother agency, has approved the return of BOC officials detailed since last year at the DOF Customs Policy and Research Office (CPRO).
Under Department Order (DO) No. 69-2014, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima cleared the return to BOC of Tomas Alcid, Priscila Bauzon, Maritess Martin, Adelina Molina, Talek Pablo, Maria Liza Sebastian, Carmelita Talusan, Sonia Irinea Togonan, and Rogelio Villagracia. Purisima explained that the order detailing the officials to the CPRO last year had expired.
DO 69-2014, which took effect September 29, instructed the returning officials to submit a comprehensive report on actions taken and work accomplished during their posting at the CPRO.
CPRO, whose main function is to identify and evaluate internally accepted customs administration and processes, is a DOF unit created under Executive Order No. 140 in September 2013.
About 27 BOC district and deputy collectors were detailed to CPRO, described by certain sectors as a “freezer,” in a government move to shake up the customs agency’s bureaucracy. Ten more BOC officials were transferred to CPRO early this year. Some of the officials have since resigned from the BOC.
There are unconfirmed reports that BOC officials returning from the CPRO will be detailed to the newly formed CMU. – Roumina Pablo
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