RESIN importers — under certain conditions — may bring in the commodity through customs bonded warehouses (CBWs) beginning today.
“The BOC (Bureau of Customs) acknowledges the interest of legitimate business as far as the importation of resin though the customs bonded warehouse system is concerned,” Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales said in Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 4-2008-A.
“Considering that the government is bent on promoting legitimate business which account for the country’s economic stability and global competitiveness, we are making several changes in our system for legitimate importers and exporters,” Morales added.
CAO 4-2008-A amends CAO 4-2008 which banned the importation of resin through CBWs. Local plastic products manufacturers eschewed the latter policy because it forced them to pay in advance taxes and duties for their resin imports.
The following may now import resin through CBWs: 1) Board of Investments (BOI)-registered manufacturing companies; or 2) industry-specific CBWs directly supplying the resin requirements of their clients involved in the semiconductor/electronic/automotive industry; or 3) manufacturing CBWs or members of CBWs registered as exporters by the Export Development Council (EDC); or 4) such other CBWs established to be legitimate exporters after due consultation with the BOI, EDC, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Freeport authorities, and other relevant agencies and stakeholders.
Importers must, however, submit a “prior disclosure statement” signed under oath containing the following: 1) maximum cubic space of applicant CBW’s raw materials and finished product compartments at any given time for manufacturing including all members for CBW and all accredited clients/end users for ICBW; 2) no Sub-contracting of the subject resin; 3) number of equipment indicating their rated and actual capacities; 3) number of factory workers directly involved in the production; 4) percentage of outright and constructive exports, indicating buyers, and respective volume and value; and 5) monthly resin requirements, indicating types, grades, volume, value, as well as names of local suppliers if sourced through bonded to bonded transfer or constructive exports.
