The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has unveiled uniform guidelines for the lodging and processing of consumption goods declaration at all ports.
Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 39-2019, signed August 7 and effective immediately, provides guidelines from lodgement of the declaration to the release of the assessment notice. It notes that there is “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.”
The order adds there is “a need to define the period to consummate such process” in line with Republic Act (RA) 11032 (Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018). RA 11032 requires government agencies to comply with these processing times: three working days for simple transactions, seven working days for complex transactions, and 20 working days for highly technical transactions.
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 producing the assessment notice.
CMO 39-2019 does not apply to cGD selected red or is covered by an alert order.
Filing the cGD shall be within 48 hours from lodgment of the cGD, except when the 48th hour falls on a non-working day. In such a case, the deadline is the next working day.
“Any failure to comply shall be immediately reported in writing by the examiner, concurred upon by his/her appraiser, to the district collector for appropriate action,” the order declares.
The assessment process shall be completed within 24 hours from filing of the cGD. In case of failure to comply, the district collector shall require the examiner and appraiser to explain in writing why no administrative charges should be pursued against them. – Roumina Pablo
