Philexport welcomes suspension of BOC’s stuffing policy

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) welcomes the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) decision to suspend the implementation of the stuffing policy, citing that the suspension would be beneficial to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

According to the Philexport, the temporary suspension of the implementation of the stuffing policy nationwide was announced in an exporters forum on Tuesday by BOC commissioner John Phillip Sevilla.

The stuffing policy requires BOC personnel to monitor the stuffing or loading of containers in factories or warehouses to ascertain the legitimacy of  exporters as part of the risk management system being developed for exports.

In Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 4-2015 dated Jan. 21, the BOC said the stuffing policy is repealed in its entirety.

According to the CMO, the repeal “means that there is no longer any requirement for exporters or their brokers to submit a Notice of Stuffing, nor any requirement for a Stuffing Inspector to be present during the stuffing of a container.”

It added that the Authority to Load issued by the Export Division would be sufficient basis for any export container to be loaded.

“This (suspension) is a big relief to exporters; a welcome development and positive response to our position,” Philexport president Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said.

“He (Sevilla) showed open-mindedness on this issue.  We likewise appreciated the fact that he (Sevilla) took time to listen to exporters,” Ortiz-Luis said.

The Philexport earlier called on the BOC to defer the implementation of the stuffing policy, citing that such opens opportunities for graft and corruption given the limited BOC resources and manpower.

Concerns were also raised on the policy as it could bring about further shipment delays and increase  costs to exporters.

Exporters, the group said, have already suffered delays and incurred costs as an effect of the congestion at Manila’s ports.

The country’s largest business group the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier also sought for a repeal of the stuffing policy, citing that such move increases the cost of doing business.