BOC mulls changes in transshipment rules

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is mulling changes in transshipment rules to prevent abuse and misuse of the procedures, Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said yesterday.

Alvarez said the agency’s Legal Service is now determining if there is “legal basis” to require that transshipment cargoes be processed, assessed and paid for at their port of discharge.

Alvarez said the proposed changes would cover cargoes declared “under consumption entries.”

He said that while transshipment is one of the trade facilitation practices being implemented by the BOC, it has a lot of disadvantages.

Under the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, transshipment is allowed. The process refers to the movement of imported cargoes from their original port of discharge to their final port of destination.

As has been the practice, Alvarez said, “the port of discharge allows the transshipment of containers to the port of destination where the consumption entry will be filed and assessment of duties and taxes will be made.”

Changes in transshipment rules may help prevent incidents of missing cargoes as what happened in the case of the cargoes that were supposed to be brought to the Port of Batangas.

Customs officials could not account for nearly two thousand containers covered by transshipment permits from the Port of Manila (POM) and the Manila International Container Port (MICP) to the Port of Batangas. The incident happened between January and May.

Congress is currently investigating the matter.

Alvarez said the revenue loss of Customs from the missing containers is roughly P240 million or an average loss of P120,000 per container. He said he has already ordered the BOC’s Post-Entry Audit Group (PEAG) to conduct a nationwide audit on all transshipments covering prior years.

“Transshipment transaction has become a marketing tool for customs collection districts who are forced by circumstances to attract the patronage of as many customers as they could get because of their district’s need to meet high collection targets,” he said.