ALL requests for amendments – whether clerical or substantial in nature – to inward foreign manifests (IFM) in the Philippines will no longer require clearance from the Bureau of Customs Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) if it has already been approved by the concerned district collector, according to a recent Bureau of Customs directive.
Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla on Jan. 13 signed Customs Memorandum Order No. 03-2014 to “effectively rationalize the procedure on the amendment/s of IFM pursuant to Section 1005 (Manifest Required of Vessel from Foreign Port) of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines”.
The CMO orders all collection districts to maintain an official log of requests for amendments while all supporting documents should be available to all BOC enforcement agencies as well as other anti-smuggling offices of the government, upon official request.
Leo Morada, chief executive officer of BOC-accredited value-added service provider (VASP) Cargo Data Exchange Corp. (CDEC), the biggest VASP in the Philippines handling airfreight shipments, said this will substantially make processing of IFMs faster.
The BOC is also in the process of revising a draft memorandum on procedures on the submission of electronic air manifests through a VASP, which includes all airlines, airfreight forwarders and de-consolidators at all international airports. –– Roumina M. Pablo
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