WHEREAS, there is a need to promote global competitiveness of the Philippines in order to gain higher and more sustained level of confidence from local and foreign investors;

WHEREAS, it is imperative that Philippine trade systems and processes be made adaptable to, and utilize advances in modern technology;

WHEREAS, inherent in transparency and good governance is the need to enhance law enforcement;

WHEREAS, the volume of Philippine importations compared to the manpower complement of the Bureau of Customs necessitates the needs for additional tool to facilitate the movement of shipments/cargoes requiring physical examination or inspection, especially for detecting anti-social goods such as guns and prohibited substances;

WHEREAS, in the pursuit of trade facilitation and law enforcement, and to provide optimum service for the transacting public in the Bureau of Customs, to effectively reduce the number of shipments that may be subjected to actual physical inspection with a higher degree of positive results and pinpointing with accuracy the shipments that need to be subjected to physical examination;

The Bureau of Customs, by virtue of its mandate and powers, shall provide for the use of Container X-ray Machine as an alternative to actual physical examination to further speed up the examination of shipments and movement of cargoes.

SECTION 1. Specifications. - To ensure optimum service, the Container X-ray machine shall have the following features:

(1) LOW PRICE, as it will affect the economic viability of operations as well as schedule of fees to be charged on the transacting public;

(2) FULL MAINTENANCE SERVICE to ensure continuous, uninterrupted operations;

(3) TRAINING FOR OPERATIONS OF THE X-RAY MACHINE for more efficient use and service;

(4) CARGO SCANNING SYSTEM most complementary to BOC's existing Selectivity System;

(5) REMOTE MONITORING AND AUDIT CAPABILITY for purposes of (i) profiling future importations of the same commodity/importer and (ii) review in case of seizure proceedings;

(6) FASTER THROUGHPUT SPEED to clear port traffic at the soonest possible time;

(7) VERY LOW RADIATION LEVELS to safeguard the health of the X-ray operators and examiners;

(8) LOWER BUILD COST, OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS AND POWER CONSUMPTION, for cost-efficiency and to provide optimum benefits for the transacting public, thus serving the national interest;

SECTION 2. Operating Arrangements and Responsibilities. - To fully maximize the use of the Container X-Ray Machines as a tool for trade facilitation and law enforcement, the following shall be strictly observed:

(1) Shipments subject to Alert/Hold Order issued by competent authorities shall continue to be required to undergo actual physical examination.

(2) Container X-ray examination may now be used as an alternative to actual physical examination for shipments presently required to undergo actual physical examination under the BOC Selectivity Scheme.

(3) The Philippine Ports Authority shall be solely responsible for fixing the fees for the use of said X-Ray Machine.

(4) The Bureau of Customs shall be responsible for the operation/control of the X-Ray machine for examination and inspection purposes.

SECTION 3. The use of Container X-Ray Machine shall be used to enhance the physical examination of shipments and facilitate movement of cargoes. The use of the Container X-Ray Machine shall be an alternative to actual physical examination. Therefore, existing laws, policies, rules and guidelines of the Bureau of Customs in the examination and inspection of shipments shall remain in force and effect.

SECTION 4. This Order shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

Recommending Approval: