WHILE the customs brokerage community is up in arms over Customs Administrative Order No (CAO) 3-2006-A, the new order drew praises from the logistics sector.
Customs brokerage houses and freight forwarders are happy over the development.
Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association (PISFA) president Rico Brizuela has lauded the BOC move to allow freight forwarders to lodge import and export shipments before the bureau.
"Generally, the new CAO is now acceptable to the sea freight forwarding industry. With the revised rules, we see no more problems with its implementation barring any opposition from the other side," Brizuela said.
He added PISFA, the national association of seafreight forwarding firms which handle the bulk of the country’s import and export shipments, is just waiting for the implementing rules and regulations of the new CAO before taking any more action.
"Overall, we see very minimal problems, little details," Brizuela added.
The Port Users Confederation (PUC) said it is satisfied with the wording of the amended CAO. PUC spokesperson Atty. Romeo Sto. Tomas told PortCalls the revised CAO not only distinguishes the business from the profession but also conforms to the Revised Kyoto Convention and the ASEAN Single-Window initiative.
"The new CAO has been the advocacy of the PUC ever since for trade facilitation," Sto. Tomas said, adding that the new CAO also saved the jobs of thousands of persons employed in customs brokerage houses.
