The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has clarified timelines—specifically for customs personnel—for the processing of the consumption goods declaration (cGD) beginning from declaration lodgement to the issuance of final assessment notice.
Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 52-2019, signed by Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero on November 29, amends CMO 39-2019, which was signed last August 7, and provides guidelines covering lodgment of the declaration to release of the assessment notice.
CMO 39-2019 was issued because there was “no uniformity among the various ports as to the period for the Formal Entry Division (FED) or its equivalent units to process a lodged consumption goods declaration (cGD) inasmuch as there is no rule or regulation setting the timeline/s for such.”
Under CMO 52-2019, the cGD should still be filed within 48 hours of its lodgment, except when the 48th hour falls on a nonworking day, when the deadline will be at the same time of the next working day.
The new order adds that the entry processing unit (EPU) or its equivalent unit should submit to the district collector a daily report of all cGDs entered into the Goods Declaration Verification System (GDVS) that were filed with the EPU beyond 48 hours from lodgement.
The district collector will then forward the report to the Account Management Office (AMO) for evaluation and, if applicable, imposition of sanction on the importer or customs broker.
As with CMO 39-2019, the assessment process under the new CMO must still be completed within 24 hours after the examiner receives the filed cGD.
But CMO 52-2019 adds that the section chief or equivalent unit must then submit to the district collector, through the FED chief or equivalent unit and deputy collector for assessment, a report of all cGDs not completely processed within the prescribed period.
The district collector will also require the examiner and appraiser concerned to explain in writing within 72 hours the reasons for the delay in processing and why no administrative charges should be pursued against them for not complying with CMO 52-2019, in accordance with existing civil service law, rules and regulations.
CMO 52-2019 also clarifies that the assessment notice serves as payment instruction to the authorized accredited bank to debit the amount of duties, taxes, and other charges from the account of the importer or consignee.
CMO 39-2019 covers the process at the FED or its equivalent units including lodgment of cGD selected green or yellow; filing of the cGD; assignment of the cGD to the appropriate examiner; review of the cGD wherein the assigned examiner may agree to the self-assessment made or recommend additional duties and taxes; and adoption by the appraiser of the examiner’s recommendations and input of these in the electronic-to-mobile (E2M) system to produce the assessment notice.
CMO 39-2019 does not apply to cGD that has been selected red or is covered by an alert order.
The timelines in CMO 39-2019 were issued in line with Republic Act (RA) No. 11032 (Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018). RA 11032 requires government agencies to comply with the following processing times: three working days for simple transactions, seven working days for complex transactions, and 20 working days for highly technical transactions.