BOC streamlines release of relief goods

CITING issues surrounding the delay in the release of relief goods sent from abroad that were earmarked for victims of supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has released a revised guidelines and procedures for the clearance of relief goods that are availing of duty and tax exemptions.

“We also understand about what happened during Yolanda especially at the port of Cebu since it became the relief hub and almost all the donations were there,” she told Cebu Daily News.

According to Charo Logarta Lagamon, information officer of BOC Customs Commissioner John Sevilla added that the guidelines and procedures are already provided by existing laws, but their were confusions in applying the procedures. What the BOC did was codify the guidelines and procedures.

“It’s been in the law. What we did was we just place it into one document as one reference for the consignees and donors,” Lagamon told CDN.

As a general rule, importations in the Philippines are subject to customs duties and taxes unless there is a specific legal basis for exemption from duties or taxes.

Importation of goods donated from abroad are only exempt from duties under certain circumstances.

Consignees of the imported goods must fall into one of the categories. The procedures to be followed depend on the category it belongs.

The Bill of Lading (B/L) or Airway Bill (AWB) of any import transaction identifies the consignee on the shipment.

Those that do not meet the criteria explained by the guidelines are not exempt from its duties and must follow the normal Customs law, regulations, and procedures for processing of imports.

The guidelines clearly state that only duties and taxes can be waived and that all other charges such as storage, demurrage, arrastre, wharfage, trucking, warehousing, and stripping must be settled by the consignees for goods to be released.

It is also included in the guidelines that donated imported goods must not be prohibited imports.
Agencies involved

The Tariff Customs Code of the Philippines, Section 101, other laws and other regulations issued by the different government agencies define certain goods whose importations into the Philippines is prohibited.

These include adulterated or misbranded food, drugs, and used clothing.

For regulated imports such as medicine, food items, and telecommunication equipment require and import permit to be obtained by the consignees from the relevant Philippine government agency which regulates these goods.

Medicines, devices, toys, processed food and equipment needs permit from Food and Drug Administration (FDA); National Food Authority (NFA) for rice; and the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) for Telecommunications Equipment.

It will also institutionalize the inter-agency One-Stop Shop (OSS) to make the processing and release of donated foreign relief goods and equipment faster, simpler, and easier.

After the consignee has been identified into its category as well as its receiver, the documents can be processed under One-Stop Shop (OSS).

The OSS is activated with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) as the lead agency.

The following documents needed for the OSS Are Consularized Deed of Donation, Deed of Acceptance, Bill of Lading or Airway Bill, itemized packing list, invoice, import permit or clearance, filled-up informal import declaration entry, and filled-up permit to deliver the imported goods.

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