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NEWLY-elected officers of a local customs brokers group
favor the implementation of a law disallowing
corporations from facilitating imports and exports.
Instead
of waiting for congressional amendments, an official of
the Chamber of Customs Brokers Inc. (CCBI) said that the
Bureau of Customs (BOC) should already implement the
2004 Customs Brokers Act since there is very little
chance for the House to alter the law during its five
remaining days of session between June 4 to 8.
In an
interview last week, Rolando E. Quiambao, CCBI
president, said that the organization is against any
amendment, which will allow corporations to perform
customs transactions.
“Customs
brokerage is a profession and no corporations should be
allowed to practice it. Republic Act 9280 protects the
interest of the majority and any amendment that will
alter it will affect the interest of that majority,” he
said. “As the new president, it is my duty to protect
the interest of my members. I will just continue the
programs of my predecessor against any move to allow
corporations to sign import entries.”
According to Quiambao, if gover- nment allows
corporations to transact with the bureau regarding other
matters besides customs clearing, it should be limited
to licensed and accredited customs brokers.
The
group, the accredited professional organization of the
Pro- fessional Regulation Commission, echoed the
sentiments of the Professional Regulatory Board for
Customs Brokers (PRBCB), which earlier said it would
penalize corporations which clear cargo shipments. PRBCB
board members come from the CCBI. Earlier, the PRBCB
filed a case against a company alleging the law's
violation. It was later dismissed by a
Pasay court.
Currently, the customs bureau is still allowing
corporations to facilitate the entry of goods until
Congress amends the law.
Those
found guilt of violating the law will be fined up to
P500,000, face up to a dozen years of imprisonment, and
threatened with revocation of their licenses.
Both the
Senate and the House of Representatives are pushing to
allow brokerage houses and freight forwarders to
transact with the BOC.
Before
both houses went into recess in February, the two
legislative bodies passed separate versions of the
amendments focused on Section 29 of RA 9280.
The said
section of House Bill No. 6063 is now titled Admission
to Professional Practice from the origi- nal Prohibition
Against Corporate Prac tice, which provides that the
practice of customs broker is a professional service to
be be determined upon the basis of individual and
personal qualifications.
Under
Senate Bill 2597, it provides that corporations may hire
the services of in-house customs brokers for purposes of
accreditation by the BOC. Experts said the use of the
word ‘hire’ rather than ‘employ’ is seen as a way out of
the employer-employee relationship currently existing
among corporations and their brokers. |
