-
BOC sets May 6 consult for warehouse, transhipment draft orders
-
Position papers will be accepted from April 29 to May 6 in preparation for online public consultation on May 6
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has set a May 6 online public consultation for draft customs memorandum orders (CMO) on customs facilities and warehouses (CFW) and transhipment of goods.
In two invitations posted on April 28, BOC requested stakeholders to submit their position papers from April 29 until May 6 on the two draft orders. Copies of the draft CMOs and template for the position paper is on the BOC website.
The first draft CMO is on rules governing the establishment, supervision, operation and control of CFWs. When finalized, the draft CMO will implement Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 09-2019.
READ: BOC sets rules for operation of customs facilities
CFWs are facilities for temporary storage of goods established and authorized by BOC pursuant to Title VIII (Tax and Duty Deferment, Preference and Exemption), Chapter 2 (Customs Warehouses) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
These 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 CFW, off-terminal CFW, and inland container depots.
The proposed CMO, as with CAO 09-2019, states that when the business of the port and trade requires such facilities, the district collector, subject to the approval of the Customs commissioner, should designate and establish CFWs for the storage and/or clearance of imported goods or for other special purposes.
All CFWs, including their expansion, extensions, and additional facilities, should be considered part of customs premises subject to supervision and control of the collection district, which shall impose conditions and other regulations necessary to protect government revenue and goods stored therein.
Operators of terminal facilities with existing contracts granted by the Philippine Ports Authority and other port authorities will be authorized to operate as CFW, provided they comply with additional requirements as may be imposed by BOC for effective exercise of jurisdictional control over ports, airports and terminal facilities.
BOC will issue an Authority to Operate for CFWs, setting forth obligations of operators, and the penalties and sanctions for violation of these rules. Only authorized CFW operators will be allowed to handle and store imported goods that are immediately discharged from arriving aircraft, vessels or other means of operational transport.
Transhipment of goods
The second draft CMO is on rules implementing CAO 12-2019, which provides guidelines for the movement, transfer, and clearance of transhipment goods.
READ: BOC sets new transshipment rules effective early Nov
Transhipment is the customs procedure of transferring goods under customs control from the importing means of transport to the exporting means of transport within the area of one customs office, which is the office of both importation and exportation.
The proposed order will apply to all goods indicated in the transit foreign cargo manifest as bound for a foreign destination other than the port of discharge. Shipments with derogatory information or alert notice but not yet the subject of hold order or warrant of seizure and detention are also included, provided such information will be duly stamped/noted on the transhipment permit and relevant documents.
BOC will require all entities, natural or juridical, engaged in transhipment activities to apply for accreditation.
Air express cargo operators, cargo forwarders, consolidators, shipping lines, and other similar entities engaged in transhipment operations will also be required to apply for accreditation with BOC as transhippers.
Under the draft CMO, the request for issuance of transhipment permit should be made at the Office of the Deputy Collector for Operations or its equivalent office at the port where the goods for transhipment were discharged. Until such time that BOC’s computer system allows electronic lodging of the transhipment goods declaration, the transhipment permit or BOC Form No. 199 will continue to be in use.
Transhipped goods will be under continuous underguarding from the time of its discharge until its loading for exportation through the carrying vessel or aircraft.
Unless the subject of derogatory information or there is a clear violation of existing laws, or upon the written request of the agent, goods for transhipment should remain unopened in the original packing containers under the original shipper’s seal and should not be inspected or examined at the port or airport of discharge.
