The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on April 8, 2020 issued a memo providing guidelines on manual release of import shipments to ensure continuous port operation while the Electronic-to-Mobile (e2m) system is down.
Under the memo, goods declaration for all imports made through all ports must be filed in the BOC’s Customer Care Portal System (CCPS) at client.customs.gov.ph.
To do so, the stakeholder must register with the CCPS, an online facility with support ticketing system that will be used for the online filing of goods declaration.
To implement the April 8 memorandum, BOC will require Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and port operators to register and enroll with the CCPS.
For Goods Declaration already lodged in the BOC-accredited Value-Added Service Provider (VASP) prior to the e2m system technical problem:
- An Order of Payment Form shall be uploaded by the assigned examiner or appraiser in the ticket created through the CCPS once goods declaration has been reviewed and evaluated. A ticket is the electronic means utilized in the CCPS to identify issues of stakeholders.
- The stakeholder shall indicate whether the payment of duties and taxes will be made through the LBP or the Collection Division of the concerned Collection District.
- The trigger officers or assigned appraisers will create a task in the CCPS for LBP or the Cash Division, and the ticket will then be forwarded to the concerned Office of the Collector for monitoring of payment of duties and taxes.
- In order to pay the duties and taxes, the stakeholder needs to download the Order of Payment and proceed to the LBP or Collection Division.
- Once payment is accepted and confirmed, the Collection District shall coordinate with the Port Operator through the CCPS for the Manual Release of the shipment.
For Goods Declaration already paid through the bank but with rejected status sent to the customs bureau prior to the validated e2m System technical problem:
- The Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC) shall submit to BOC a list of all paid entries confirmed by the Authorized Agent Bank (AAB).
- The BOC Management Information System and Technology Group (MISTG) shall distribute the list to the concerned Collection District who shall authorize the Manual Release upon coordination with the Port Operator.
For Goods Declaration not yet lodged in the VASP prior to the e2m System technical problem:
- The stakeholder shall first lodge the goods declaration in the VASP and file the same through CCPS.
- The VASP will send electronically details of the goods declaration lodged by the stakeholder in PDF form to MISTG, which in turn will cascade it to the collection districts.
- The examiners, following existing procedures for evaluating online submission of goods declaration, will also validate the documents submitted online by the stakeholder and the details of goods declaration as forwarded by the VASP as additional function and responsibilities.
- Thereafter, procedures followed for goods declaration already lodged with the VASP system will be followed.
In its advisory released today April 8, the BOC apologized to stakeholders for the inconvenience caused by the e2m System’s technical problem and gave assurances it is continuously working to restore the functionality and stability of the system at the soonest possible.
The e2m system began having technical problems from April 4 and was shut down on April 7.
BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla on April 7 said the manual process, or what he had called “semi-manual” process, is the easiest even if not the most convenient, given the current situation.
READ: BOC resorts to semi-manual processing of shipments as e2m remains impaired
He said he hoped e2m operations would be back to normal by April 11.
Maronilla said BOC will still deploy a skeletal workforce even during the Holy Week to accommodate the release of all shipments. – Roumina Pablo
