Customs adopts tougher accreditation rules

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is clamping down on delinquent surety companies with new stringent rules on transacting business with the bureau, in a bid to compel them to settle their back accounts amounting to billions of pesos.

In an order issued yesterday by Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo, only surety companies in good standing shall be authorized to underwrite bonds to cover the obligations of importers to ensure that the interests of the government are protected with the bonds issued by the said companies.

Affected are more than 100 surety companies dealing with the district ports nationwide whose accreditation with the bureau to underwrite bonds as guarantee for the performance of obligations of the importers face cancelation due to their long standing back accounts.

He said accreditation by the bureau of a surety company must have authority from the Office of the President to engage in surety business and a similar authority from the Insurance Commission which must be valid and effective at the time of application or renewal.

Renewal of accreditation will now be done on a quarterly basis with a statement under oath by an officer of a surety company that it has no outstanding obligations with the bureau. If it has, the remaining unsettled obligations should fall within the 30 percent threshold as of the first day of the immediately preceding quarter.

Moreover, Bernardo added that the accreditation of the surety company shall be good and effective for a period of one quarter and renewable every quarter thereafter.

At the Port of Manila alone, about 90 surety companies have delinquent accounts with the bureau amounting to some P4.5 billion which have accumulated through the years. Despite repeated demands for them to pay, the surety companies have been ignoring the demand letters of the bureau prompting Bernardo to impose the stringent measures.

Some of the surety companies were also found to have closed shop after raking a lot of money at the expense of the bureau and thereafter put up a new company with the same names of officers to evade payment of their outstanding back accounts with the bureau.