In a bid to eradicate consignees-for-hire and fly-by-night importers and brokers, the Bureau of Customs chief has now the sole authority to approve or disapprove the accreditation of importers and brokers.
In the new memorandum dated January 11, application for accreditation, suspension, revocation, cancellation, and reactivation of importers’ and customs brokers’ accreditation are all subject to the approval of the Commissioner upon the recommendation of the Account Management Office.
Importers and customs brokers with disapproved application can file a request for reconsideration to the Chief of AMO, CMO 02-2018 stated.
Previously, Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 04-2014 states the Chief of Account Management Office has the power to approve the accreditation while the Deputy Commissioner of the Revenue Collection Monitoring Group is in charge of the suspension, revocation, and cancellation of the BOC stakeholders’ accreditation.
“We will check the validity of the documents submitted by the importers and brokers to ensure that only legitimate traders are transacting with the bureau,” the Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, in a separate memorandum, the Bureau of Customs has limited the number of authorized representatives of a customs broker transacting with the Bureau of Customs.
“To safeguard the interest of the government and to ensure the accountability of customs brokers”, customs brokers are required to submit to AMO the names of the three authorized representatives assigned to each port.
Authorized representatives are processors who act in behalf of the customs broker to transact with the BOC.
The Bureau, upon the approval of the Commissioner, may allow additional authorized representatives depending on the customs brokers’ volume of transaction.
This is in line with the implementation of CMO 11-2014 or the Guidelines for Registration of Importers and Customs Brokers with the Bureau of Customs.
Lapena, since his assumption as Customs chief, repeatedly called on the importers and brokers to stop their illegal practices and abide the law.
“We will revoke the accreditation of the erring importers and brokers if that’s the only way to stop them,” Commissioner Lapena said.
As of December 2017, 14,795 importers and 1,888 customs brokers are actively transacting with the bureau. In 2017 alone, 204 importers and 94 customs brokers were suspended after violating various customs and tariff laws. (BOC-PR)
