The Bureau of Customs initially suspended but on Wednesday finally repealed the implementation of a policy that requires the presence of Customs personnel during the stuffing of export containers.
Commissioner John Phillip P. Sevilla signed Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 4-2015 dated January 21, 2015 (copy attached) repealing Section 16.B.1.1 in its entirety.
The revocation of section 16.B.1.1 means that there is no longer any requirement for exporters or their brokers to submit a Notice of Stuffing form, nor any requirement for a stuffing inspector to be present during the stuffing of a container. The issuance of an Authority to Load by the agency’s Export Division shall be sufficient basis for an export container to be loaded.
CMO 4-2015 also canceled the requirement that export documents be filed prior to the entry of containers into any port.
However, no cargo—whether in container—can be loaded into a vessel without an Authority to Load.
Exporters welcomed the temporary suspension of the implementation of the stuffing policy nationwide, announced in an exporters forum on Tuesday by Sevilla after acknowledging the difficulties this policy will bring to both Customs and exporters. The repeal came a day after, to the relief of exporters especially to the micro, small and medium enterprises.
“This is a big relief to exporters; a welcome development and positive response to our position,” said Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr.
Ortiz-Luis said they are thankful that Sevilla recognized that the agency cannot implement such rule properly at this time.
“He showed open-mindedness on this issue. We, likewise, appreciated the fact that he took time to listen to exporters,” he said.
In a position paper submitted earlier to the BOC, Philexport argued that the inspection of container stuffing presents opportunities for graft and corruption due to the limited BOC resources to handle this policy.
This is aside from bringing further shipment delays and costs on exporters as a result of the lingering port congestion.
Meanwhile, the lifting of the requirement to file export documents prior to entry into any port also addressed the same issues of costs and delays raised in the same exporters’ forum.