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PRESIDENT Arroyo slashed fees for scanning metal
containers through an order which amended an earlier
issuance that established the nonintrusive container
inspection system (NCIS) currently under the Bureau of
Customs.
Dated
July 16, 2007, Executive Order (EO) 635 reduced
container security fees on all export and import cargo
by 80 percent, from $50 to $10 for 40-footer containers,
and from $25 to $5 for 20-foot metal boxes. The
President said the reduced fees were necessary to
“lessen the financial burden on importers and exporters
of goods.”
The new
order also amends Section 3 of EO 592, altering how the
proceeds from the fees will be used.
Under
the amendatory EO, scanning fees will be used by the
Customs bureau “as an administrative support system for
the sustainability of the NCIS project.” This covers the
maintenance and improvement of the operation of the NCIS,
including upgrading, institutionalization of postaudit
procedures and prosecutions, fraud and fraud-related
investigations and prosecutions, training and related
programs to enhance the capability and competence of
personnel tasked to operate and maintain the system, and
other activities and programs.
In the
previous order, three-fourths of the container security
fee was to be remitted to the National Treasury and
allotted for the repayment of the concessional loan to
China,
including interest, fees and other charges. Upon loan
settlement, the 75-percent allotment was to be deposited
in a trust fund.
Under
the same arrangement, one-fourth of the proceeds were to
be retained by the bureau and maintained as an
administrative support system to be deposited in a trust
fund for the project’s sustainability.
Earlier,
the Philippine Exporters Confederation opposed the
container security fee, which is charged every time
containers pass through their x-ray machines as it
contradicts another order.
EO 554
eliminates all fees and charges on “export clearances,
inspections, permits, certificates and other
documentation requirements” to help the sector become
globally competitive.
The
group also complained that additional export fees do not
help exporters cope with the impact of a strong peso.
In
reaction, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales had
suspended the fee collection on exporters, pending the
reconciliation of EOs 592 and 554. EO 635, which revokes
all executive issuances, rules or regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with the latest EO, is seen as a
reconciliation of the two earlier EOs.
The BOC
has deemed the NCIS project as the “most reliable means
of container content identification” which would improve
the accuracy of its assessment and collection of duties
and taxes, and help in its campaign against smuggling
and the entry of illegal drugs and hazardous materials. |
