From X-Ray requirement, BoC to spare reputable exporters

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu export players welcome the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) decision to exempt Cebu-based exporters in “good standing” from the required X-ray inspection.

“Coming to the rescue of the crisis-embattled exporters, we take this as a huge help from the BoC,” said Jun Abines, advocacy officer of the Confederation of Philippine Exporters in Cebu (Philexport-Cebu).

In her letter to Philexport-Cebu, Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang, head of the BoC inspection project, said she has made her sixth endorsement to BoC Commissioner Napoleon Morales for the exemption.

Pending the approval from Morales, Mangaoang has already directed her field officers to start implementing the exemption of Philexport members, including those from Cebu with no derogatory records with BoC from the 100 percent X-ray inspection.

The X-ray machines were installed in all ports of exit and entry of the Philippines in compliance with the 9/11 Commission Act, a law passed by the United States requiring all products exported to that country to pass X-ray checks at their ports of origin.

The law, to be implemented in 2012, was passed as part of the US program to prevent terrorist attacks in the US mainland.

However, Abines said the X-ray exemption for exports to the United States may be waived once the US starts implementing the 9/11 Act in 2012. Otherwise, Philippine exports to this country will not be accepted.

The exemption may also be lifted if certain other markets require the scanning as part of its security requirements for imports.

Mangaoang’s letter to the exporter also revealed that from the list of members that Philexport submitted, eight were excluded from the exemption, as these firms had “derogatory information in the records of the Bureau.”

“Any Philexport member who gets a red mark in the future will likewise lose the exemption privilege,” Abines added.