[ BOC Customs Memorandum Order No. 04-2015, January 21, 2015 ]

REVISIONS TO PORT OPERATIONS MANUAL REGARDING EXPORTS CARGO IN CONTAINERS



Adopted: 21 January 2015
Date Filed: 23 January 2015

  1. The Port Operations Manual referred to in CMO 22-2010 is revised as follows:

    1. Section 16.B.1.1 is repealed in its entirety
    2. Section 38.1 (a) (3) is revised as follows: For withdrawal of shut-out containerized export cargo:

      1. A copy of an export declaration/permit/inquiry is no longer required
      2. Instead, either of the following is required:
        1. A copy of the pre-advance notice issued by the shipping line to the port operator showing the date of booking and container number(s) for the relevant container(s).
        2. A certification from the port operator showing the date the container arrived and certifying to the fact that the container arrived from within the Philippine customs territory and not from abroad or as a transshipment from another port

  2. The repeal of Section 16.B.1.1 means that there is no longer any requirement for exporters or their brokers to submit a Notice of Stuffing, nor any requirement for a Stuffing Inspector to be present during the stuffing of a container. The Authority to Load issued by the Export Division shall be sufficient basis for an export container to be loaded.

  3. To facilitate the smooth implementation of the Port Operations Manual, Section 16.B.1.4 (b), the Export Division shall provide the Customs Container Control Division (CCCD) with a running list of all containers for which it has issued an Authority to Load. This list must be kept current at all times. It shall be the responsibility of the Loading Inspector to ensure that no loaded containers for which an Authority to Load has not been issued are allowed to be loaded into any vessel.

  4. It shall be the responsibility of the Export Division to ensure that an Authority to Load is issued for the containers forming part of an export declaration only after compliance with all requirements for the issuance of such an Authority to Load, including the requirement to subject any containers or entries which are tagged œred  by the Risk Management Office, and any containers or entries which are the subject of an alert order, to either x-ray or physical inspection, and even then, only if there are no derogatory findings after such inspection.

  5. The Bureau of Customs shall not require that export entries be filed prior to the entry of containers into any port. However, no cargo- whether in containers or not- can be loaded into a vessel without an Authority to Load.

(SGD) JOHN P. SEVILLA
Commissioner