BOC waives e-manifest penalty for 7 days

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Ags_e_forumThe Bureau of Customs (BOC) will not impose penalties related to the implementation of the electronic submission of airfreight manifests, which begins on May 11, for seven calendar days.

During BOC’s command conference on May 8, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina approved the seven-day waiver of penalty for late submission of air manifests, according to Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero, Deputy Commissioner for Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group, who was keynote speaker at the “Forum on E-Manifest”, also on May 8, jointly organized by the Federation of Forwarders Associations in the Philippines and PortCalls.

Uvero said that during the seven-day period, BOC will monitor glitches in the implementation of Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 10-2015. He said BOC may then issue an amended CMO within the monitoring period.

CMO 10-2015, issued April 10 and signed by then Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla, provides guidelines for the electronic submission of the airfreight manifest for all air cargo in all airports through value-added service providers (VASPs) starting May 11.

Under the CMO, late submission of the electronic inward foreign manifest or e-IFM  comes with a P10,000 penalty per violation.

For late submission of the electronic cargo consolidated manifest or e-CCM, there is no provision on the amount of penalty. Uvero said this may change with a fee of P500 per house airway bill.

During the forum, Uvero and Nomie Gonzales, director of the BOC Management Information System and Technology Group, took turns answering queries from forum participants.

Among those discussed were:

  • The declared value of goods and freight charges is optional for now as agreed upon during a meeting with former Commissioner Sevilla and stakeholders at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport;
  • The manifest is on a switch-off mode for the meantime which means that lodgment of entry can be done even if the airwaybill (AWB) is not yet existing in the electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system. The cargo will not be released though until availability of the AWB in e2m;
  • Back-door processing may be affected due to non-availability of AWB in e2m system;
  • Discharge shall be done manually if the single administrative document (SAD) and e-AWB tallies and payment are completed;
  • Amendment of gross weight 10% and below shall be accomplished by the Deputy Collector for Operations without going through the process of amendment procedures;
  • Amendment of quantity shall be accomplished by the Deputy Collector for Operations without going through the process of amendment if the discrepancy of quantity between master AWB and HAWB is due to the type of packaging;
  • Amendment of nature of bill of lading from 24 to 23 shall be accomplished by the Deputy Collector for Operations without going through the amendment process;
  • Only the airlines’ and air express operators’ e-IFM shall contain unit load device information;
  • The Airport Operations Division will provide the list of created registry numbers to the VASPs and publish the same on the customs website;
  • The hard copy of the manifest shall no longer be submitted by airlines to different composite warehouses. Access to the e2m manifest system shall be given to entry processing unit/manifest clerk so they can view the manifest;
  • The BOC will honor printout of the AWB, as long as it is certified as a true copy by the airlines/forwarders.

There was no clear answer as to cost and timeliness of amendment of the AWB since only NAIA staff can determine how fast they can process the amendment.

An evaluation meeting shall be called by Uvero to assess the progress of the policy and to tackle issues that may further arise.

Uvero said BOC’s goal remains the same as it was under the leadership of then commissioner Sevilla — achieving “less documents, less processes for the transacting public.”

Reducing processing time to four hours is still the target under the new leadership of Lina, hopefully realized “before the end of PNoy’s (President Benigno Aquino III) term,” said Uvero.

BOC is also looking at revising rules governing submission of the sea freight manifest to align charges with the airfreight sector’s. In addition, the agency is starting to update the 14-year-old rates for off-dock container yard and container freight stations. – Roumina Pablo