The latest Bureau of Customs (BOC) draft ruling covering submission of the electronic air manifest through value-added service providers (VASP) has raised concern among some stakeholders.
The draft customs memorandum order (CMO) regulates submission of the electronic inward foreign manifest (e-IFM) by all airlines and air express operators, and of the electronic consolidated cargo manifest (e-CCM) by all airlines, air express operators, air freight forwarders and de-consolidators to the BOC’s electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system via a VASP.
Among others, it requires that the sum of the declared gross weight of all house airway bills (HAWB) matches the gross weight of the master airway bill (MAWB) before the e-CCM is accepted.
But feedback by some stakeholders forwarded to Leo Morada, chief executive officer of BOC-accredited VASP Cargo Data Exchange Center, pointed to concerns over the provision. (Go to Morada’s column, ITinerary.).
Due to the nature of the airfreight cargo businesses, there is a difference in the reckoning of weight in the individual HAWB and the MAWB. The weight captured on the individual HAWB is chargeable weight while airlines use gross weight on the MAWB, Morada explained to PortCalls.
Under Section 4 of the draft guidelines, complete information on certain items such as the nature of the bill of lading (Code 23 for consumption Code 24 for transshipment) is also required.
“Thousands of non-document shipments daily are processed by air express operators and assigning specific codes to the manifest will create inefficiencies that are not in line with trade facilitation,” Morada said.
He added that mandatory information on freight charges, also required under the draft rules, cannot be provided.
Another issue is the need to submit a hard copy of the manifest. “This defeats the purpose of implementing an automated system and the BOC’s move towards a paperless system,” Morada noted.
Late submissions
Under the draft CMO, cut-off time for submission of e-IFM is upon aircraft arrival if the port of loading is in Asia, and four hours before aircraft arrival if the port of loading is other than Asia.
The cut-off time for e-CCM submission, on the other hand, is one hour after the aircraft’s actual arrival.
If the e-IFM is submitted late, the e-CCM will be accepted without penalty if submission in the e2m does not exceed one hour of e-IFM registration with the Office of the Deputy Collector for Operations.
If the e-IFM or e-CCM is submitted late, it will still be accepted without penalty if the aircraft arrives outside of government working hours, whether regular days, weekends or holidays; and if the e-IFM and e-CCM are submitted after arrival of the aircraft but prior to the first working hour of the next working day.
Meanwhile, cargoes not listed on the IFM must be covered by a supplemental e-IFM to be submitted to the BOC through the VASP not later than four working hours from the actual date and time of discharge of the last package from the aircraft.
The supplemental e-IFM is considered a late submission.
Penalties and payments
Failure to submit the required e-IFM and e-CCM within the period prescribed will incur payment of fines as provided under Section 2521 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended. For a late submission, P10,000 per e-IFM will be collected while non-compliant submission is subject to a P20,000 fine per e-IFM.
The draft CMO noted that non-compliance applies only to e-IFM submission where the aircraft arrived already but no e-IFM was submitted to e2m.
Moreover, late submission of e-CCM per e-IFM is P2,000. Late submission of the e-IFM and e-CCM will not be subject to penalties if due to the following: a technical problem in the BOC E2M System/Network, technical problem of the VASP System/Network, fortuitous events, or force majeure.
In cases of delayed or cancelled flights, the airlines or air express operators need to submit a formal notification to the AOD, Deputy Collector for Operations, and the District Collector.
Talks to implement the e-airfreight manifest have been ongoing since 2010, and several meetings among BOC, stakeholders and VASPs were held last year over this. – Roumina Pablo
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