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THE
Bureau of Customs (BOC) is changing the way importers
liquidate materials meant for export, aiming at
simplifying the government’s warehousing procedures and
preventing the accumulation of unliquidated entries.
BOC
Deputy Commissioner Reynaldo Nicolas said on Wednesday
they are crafting a new Customs administrative order
that is meant to supersede the previous circulars that
industry sources said sometimes conflict with each
other.
According to the draft order, which had already
undergone its first public hearing late last month,
importers of raw materials meant for re-exportation will
have at least 60 calendar days from the date of full
exportation to submit all documents for the liquidation
of entry.
Since
these materials are meant for re-exporting and not for
local use, these will not be subjected to duties.
Importers, however, will have put up a surety bond to
make sure these products are not used for the local
market.
Nicolas
explained that in previous orders, importers have had to
do the liquidation procedure every time they re-exported
the products, even if these are just part of the entire
entry.
This
means that for every partial exportation of the entry,
importers will have to submit the necessary liquidation
documents.
In
previous months, such rules—deemed by the industry as
too cumbersome and entails a lot of paper- work for both
the government and the importers—were relaxed.
Nicolas,
however, said many of the importers took their time and
did their liquidation some 10 months after the full
import entry was exported.
“I made
some compromise in the liquidation procedures and will
give an incentive to those who will liquidate within 60
days,” Nicolas said.
He
stressed that the new arrangement is more favorable to
the parties because “they will prepare [liquidation]
documents only once.”
He
clarified, though, that the rule is still a proposal and
may be changed during the next public hearings.
The
revised rules are meant to discourage late
re-exportation as well as late submission of liquidation
documents, the draft order said.
Penalties include payment of the full duties and taxes
depending on the entry for those products exported
outside the prescribed period. For those materials
exported during the prescribed period but where the
importers and surety companies failed to liquidate on
time, penalties range from 2 percent to 12 percent of
the collectible duties and taxes.
These
rules on full liquidation of warehousing entries,
according to Nicolas, will be in place while the
automated liquidation system is not yet in place.
The
BOC’s value-added service providers, all of which are
still in the initial phases of the automation system,
may include the warehousing systems by the end of the
year. |
