BoC vows to address exporters' concerns

CEBU, Philippines - Newly appointed Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu district collector Ronnie Silvestre vowed to solve issues concerning exporters to help them amid the challenging times.

 Silvestre recently met with members of PhilExport-Cebu to start its much closer relationship saying “we will try to come up with practical solutions immediately.”

The new Port of Cebu BOC district collector identified some solutions of the current concerns of exporters with the BOC.

Silvestre dished out initial solutions of some problems, such as the application of inclusion of additional and increase raw material importation; submission of liquidation of entry and its processing; delay in payment of wastages/penalties and other surcharges, among others.

He said his office has already formulated solutions of these concerns so that exporters will be establish smooth way in processing papers in the office, minimizing bureaucratic red tape.

“Sometimes it is very hard for you to reach out or approach BOC officials. There is a need for a much closer relationship, so that we can listen to you,” Silvestre told Cebuano exporters in his first encounter with them.

Silvestre promised to delegate people that will specifically attend to the exporters’ processing needs.

Within his leadership in the BOC port of Cebu, he assured exporters that his office is open for and reachable for exporters.

With the closer mutual relationship, concerns shall be easily addressed, urging PhilExport-Cebu members and officials to talk to him directly whenever there is a concern.

He urged exporters to more pro-active in formulating advocacies that concerns the BOC rules and regulations, especially those they think that will not help the industry.

Recently, Silvestre urged PhilExport-Cebu to immediately submit a position paper to BOC commission Napoleon Morales on the new (Customs Memorandum Order) CMO-2-2010, which believed to have a lot of loopholes and some regulations could hamper the growth of the export industry as a whole.

This controversial directive has created a major opposition from the Cebuano export players, saying most of the orders are aimed not to shorten the customs rules and export-import procedures, instead lengthen the already complicated bureaucratic red tape within the agency.

In its one-page position paper, signed by PhilExport-Cebu president Venus C. Genson, and presidents of different sub-sectors in the export industry, the group pleads BoC to conduct a thorough review of CMO-2-20-10.

“In the interest of trade facilitation and efficiency and the spirit of the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), we exporters of Cebu, pray that the BOC conduct a thorough review of the directive; hold in abeyance the implementation of said CMO during the review period; decentralized the pre-evaluation of CO applications to the provincial district’s Export Services Divisions; tighten control measures in archiving exporters’ product data and right-size the personnel complement of it’s district offices,” reads the position paper.