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A GROUP
of customs brokers has asked the government to stop the
implementation of the new rules on physical examination
of cargoes after it found that such may cause
unnecessary delays for port operators that do not have
proper facilities and manpower, and affect the
operations of the country’s economic zones.
In his
letter to the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Chamber of
Customs Brokers Inc. (CCBI) president Rolando Quiambao
said Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 17-2008 may cause
delays on the part of the consignees in case the release
of cargo will be subjected to physical examination.
Quiambao
focused on the order’s provision that changes the
selectivity parameter of what should be physically
examined and what should undergo x-ray. He said
operators such as Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), which has
poor facilities at its flagship Manila South Harbor, may
be hit the hardest.
“ATI’s
capacity is only five to 10 containers per day. It is
said the BOC will adjust the selectivity parameter to
ensure that the containers to be examined will be within
the capacity of ATI. However, arrastre operators must be
the one to adjust to the requirements of the government
and not vice-versa, especially [considering] the fact
that government revenue is at stake,” Quiambao said in
the letter of CCBI.
“Given
the circumstances, the CMO should be implemented only
when ATI has expanded its facilities to effectively
handle physical examination pursuant to the new CMO,”
Quiambao added.
He
criticized the move to physically examine shipments
going to the economic zones. This may technically not be
possible, he said, since no entry has been filed and it
is not known who will be responsible to conduct the
examination.
Instead,
Quiambao suggested that whenever certain containers are
suspect—or if there are image aberrations when
x-rayed—physical examination must be done at consignee’s
warehouse by the customs examiners assigned at the
economic zone and, as a precaution, a special type of
seal must be developed to protect the integrity of the
x-ray findings.
Earlier
this month, the BOC relaxed its cargo-examination
process by forgoing several physical inspection
procedures with the selectivity system in its bid to
facilitate clearance of imported goods.
Such was
also in line with the plan to further reduce the number
of scanned containers by issuing better risk-management
procedures aimed at facilitating trade in the
Philippines.
The rule
that already took effect early this month states that
truck-mounted examination of selected “red” cargo
onboard trucks has been discontinued, except for
shipments of agricultural products like meat, poultry,
fruits and vegetables that require quarantine clearance
prior to release.
The new
order amended a series of BOC orders in 1996 that called
for strict examination of cargoes.
“Physical examination of Peza [Philippine Economic Zone
Authority]-bound shipments is hereby discontinued,” the
order said, and added that all shipments will instead be
required to undergo mandatory x-ray inspection.
The new
process also now requires that high-risk shipments be
tagged by the selectivity system as either subject to
x-ray inspection or selected “red” and subject to
physical examination.
“Shipments found to be ‘suspect’ or have image
irregularities after x-ray inspection shall be directed
for 100-percent physical examination in a facility to be
provided by the arrastre operator. For Peza-bound
shipments, the customs examiner assigned at Peza shall
conduct the 100-percent physical examination at the
arrastre facilities,” the order said. |
