The Bureau of Customs (BOC) again reiterated several orders for importers and customs brokers to describe imported goods properly, warning that shipments with imprecise descriptions will go through 100% examination.
In a memorandum dated October 6, Import Assessment Service (IAS) officer-in-charge Jeoffrey Tacio enjoined customs officials, importers, and customs brokers to “revisit and observe” the provisions of Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 08-2007 and Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 28-2007.
CAO 08-2007 established the rules for describing imported articles properly in tariff terms, while CMO 28-2007 implemented the CAO.
Tacio said entries that don’t comply will be monitored, and habitual violations will be meted with penalties including those provided under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
He added that, as the customs commissioner directed in an Office of the Commissioner Memorandum dated June 26, 2015 about implementing the two memos, IAS will “not hesitate to command a 100% examination of the generally described articles.”
BOC in early 2014 revived the two orders, which had previously gone unenforced for seven years, and in March 2015, suspended 70 traders and 45 customs brokers for describing imported articles in general terms in violation of these orders. The suspension was lifted more than a week after.
READ: BOC suspends 70 traders, 45 brokers for import description violation
In 2015, BOC again reiterated compliance with the two memos after verifying reports that numerous imported goods “were declared in general manner to avoid proper classification and valuation or that description of articles in the import declarations [was] not sufficient in detail to enable the article to be identified for tariff classification, valuation and other statistical purposes.”
READ: BOC to strictly enforce penalties on use of generic import description
CMO 28-2007 required importers to make detailed descriptions of imported articles in tariff terms, or have their shipments go through 100% examination. The order aims to foil attempts by importers to evade paying the right tariff by simply giving generic descriptions.
Under the CMO, the description of articles must be “in sufficient detail to enable the article to be identified for tariff classification, valuation and other statistical purposes.”
Description should be specific, such as centrifugal for pumps, diesel for engines, skimmed for milk, and shoulder for bags. The brand and model or style of the articles, capacity, quality, grade, process, and retail packaging must also be indicated.
The CMO is the basis for encoding Box 31 of the Import Entry and Internal Revenue Declaration (IEIRD); preparing the packing list, commercial invoices, entry declaration, and Value Reference Information System (VRIS) and Classification Rulings; accomplishing the IEIRD returns by the Customs Operations Office (COO) IIIs and COO Vs; and describing items for establishing or publishing values and for statistical purposes.
For motor vehicles, meanwhile, members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc., participants in the Motor Vehicle Development Program, and other importers who are authorized distributors of specific car brands should indicate on the packing or list the chassis and engine number.
BOC has listed 120 items that are declared by importers in general terms and are now to undergo 100% examination to determine if they conform to the provisions of CAO 8-2007.
Failure to describe the shipment in detail will be the full responsibility of the importer or broker, CMO 28-2007 stated.
“Good faith is not a defense. Both importers and customs brokers shall exercise utmost diligence in declaring goods for purposes of customs clearance,” the order added.
Violators will be given a warning on their first offense, get their accreditation suspended for six months on second offense, and have their accreditation cancelled and their name blacklisted on third offense. – Roumina Pablo
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