THE Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc (CCBI) said its position as the Accredited Professional Organization (APO) is secure until December 2009.
In a letter to Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, the CCBI said its contention is based on a ruling by the Philippine Association of Professional Regulatory Board Members, Inc. (PAPRB), the body deputized by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to receive and evaluate documents submitted by various APOs in the renewal of their PRC accreditation.
According to PAPRB policies and procedures by virtue of PRC Resolution 2006-356 series of 2006, the next cycle of re-accreditationshall be 2010-2012, and every three years thereafter while the next renewal cycle shall commence September 1, 2009 until December 31, 2009 and every three years thereafter.
“Re-accreditation of newly accredited APOs shall follow the next calendarized cycle. Hence, there is automatic re-accreditation for those APOs whose date of accreditation falls below the three-year period at the time of the calendarized renewal cycle unless there is cause to suspend accreditation,” the resolution said.
In its letter to Commissioner Morales the CCBI said that based on the PAPRB ruling, it is not required to renew accreditation for the calendarized three-year cycle covering 2007-2010 as it has been automatically re-accredited for the period.
“This means that the automatic re-accreditation of CCBI expires on December 31, 2009 as renewal is covered by the next renewal cycle September 1, 2009 until December 31, 2009,” the chamber said.
Last December, the Professional Customs Brokers Association of the Philippines, Inc (PCBAPI), National Customs Brokerage Association of the Philippines, and Visayas-Mindanao Customs Brokers Association requested the PRC to accredit their group as APO since the accreditation of CCBI as such has supposedly expired on December 5, 2007 and no PRC renewal has been forthcoming.
“Since December, there has been no accredited APO under RA 9280 (Customs Brokers Act of 2004) as the PRC has yet to approve the application filed by CCBI. With this, we are pushing for our accreditation as the next APO,” PCBAPI chair Honorato Colico said.
CCBI said the groups filed a petition for cancellation/revocation of CCBI’s accreditation granted under Administrative Case No. 29 and scheduled a pre-trial conference last January 29, 2008.
“…that PRC scheduled a pre-trial conference recognizes the fact the CCBI is still the National Accredited Professional Organization for Customs Brokers,” CCBI emphasized in the letter.
Since the passage of RA 9280, several customs broker association have been questioning the legal personality of CCBI as the APO of brokers.”
