PRBCB may take over accreditation

By VG Cabuag
Reporter

The Professional Regulatory Board for Customs Brokers (PRBCB) said it may take over the accreditation of customs brokers that will deal with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after the Manila Regional Trial Court issued a ruling recently which bars the BOC from implementing changes in the way the practitioners undertake their duties.
           
PRBCB chairman Constantino Calica said the board should be the one to accredit the customs brokers since it is also tasked to regulate and give license to the said professionals.                  
Calica, however, clarified that the accreditation is not another license but just a registry of all brokers that would deal with the BOC.
           
“In view of the court’s ruling, we are planning to take over accreditation from the BOC. I think we will receive little opposition as it is within the powers of the board in regulating the practice of the customs broker profession,” Calica said.
           
He added that the move would also provide the PRBCB, a unit of the Professional Regulation Commission, the BOC and the shippers a uniform list of licensed and accredited customs brokers in line with the implementation of Republic Act 9280, or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.
           
Such accreditation was originally proposed by the BOC, which sparked uproar from the professionals, as part of the implementation of the law.
           
Calica, however, said the accreditation will not include corporations or customs brokerage houses, which effectively prohibit them from signing import and export entries, a responsibility exclusive to licensed customs brokers.
           
Based on Article II, Section 7 of Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act, PRBCB has the power to issue guidelines for the smooth implementation of the law.
           
Last September, at the Manila Regional Trial Court voided Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 3-2006 and directed the BOC to desist from implementing the said order.
           
The CAO 3-2006, issued last March and was amended last August, was the implementing order of the Customs Brokers Act.
           
The law was enacted last March 30, 2004, but was shelved for almost three years. It was only this year that the BOC started to implement the law, but was heavily opposed by stakeholders and other government agencies as well since they claim that  CAO 3-2006 contradicts the real intent of Republic Act 9280.
           
To date, the PRBCB is still considering all options in order to please several parties, including the corporations, the one that will be directly hit when the accreditation measure is introduced.