The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is temporarily allowing claims for preference under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) while awaiting an updated 2015 list of specimen seals and signatures from China.
In Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG) Memorandum No. 009-2015, BOC deputy commissioner Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero said BOC has noticed that under the ACFTA China has been issuing Certificates of Origin (Form E) containing signatures of supposed authorized signatories which have not been officially circulated in the Philippines.
The same situation had been observed by Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of International Trade Relations (DTI-BITR). DTI-BITR and BOC, through AOCG, have relayed the matter to China and “are closely monitoring developments on the same.”
In order to “avoid unnecessary delay and additional burden to our importers claiming preference under the ACFTA using Form Es (bearing new signatories whose specimen signatures are yet to be circulated),” BOC directed its officials to allow claims for such preference following the rule on Tentative Liquidation under Section 1602 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, as amended.
Furthermore, all Form Es will be endorsed to the AOCG for verification, the memo said.
A certificate of origin (CO) is a document completed by the exporter and certified by a recognized issuing body, attesting that the goods in a particular export shipment have been produced, manufactured, or processed in a particular country. In the Philippines, BOC is the agency authorized to approve COs.
With the proliferation of trading blocs and free trade agreements, a multitude of different forms have emerged and are used as certificates of origin in today’s international trade. Form E is for ACFTA. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of suphakit73 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
