Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9280 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 27. Acts Constituting the Practice of Customs Broker Profession. — Any single act or transaction embraced within the provision of Section 6 hereof shall constitute an act engaging in the practice of customs broker and the consignee/owner/importer under oath based on the covering documents submitted by the importers: Provided, That export declaration shall be signed by the exporter or, at his option, delegate the signing and processing of the document to his designated customs broker or authorized representative."

SEC. 2. Section 29 of Republic Act No. 9280 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 29. Admission to Professional Practice. — The practice of customs broker is a professional service, admission to which shall be determined upon the basis of individual and personal qualifications. However, nothing in this Act shall prevent a corporation from being registered for the purpose of engaging in the business of customs brokerage as long as the corporation shall engage or hire the services of at least one (1) customs broker."

"For purposes of this Act, the phrase 'engaging in the business of customs brokerage' shall mean making representations in behalf of importer-clients in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and other government agencies: Provided, That such corporations engaged in the business of customs brokering shall have a minimum paid-up capital of One million pesos (Php1,000,000.00) before they are accredited by the BOC."

SEC. 3. Repealing Clause. — All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, memorandum orders and other administrative orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 4. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,

(Sgd.) JUAN PONCE ENRILE	(Sgd.) PROSPERO C. NOGRALES
President of Senate	Speaker of the House of Representatives

This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 3396 and House Bill No. 3274 was finally passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on September 28, 2009 and October 8, 2009, respectively.

(Sgd.) EMMA LIRIO-REYES	(Sgd.) MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP
Secretary of Senate	Secretary General House of Representatives

Approved: DEC 15 2009

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL - ARROYO
President of the Philippines