Bureau of Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña has stripped a deputy commissioner and the agency’s Account Management Office of power to renew, cancel, suspend or revoke the accreditation of customs brokers and importers, putting it solely under his authority.
Lapeña said the move was to eradicate consignees-for-hire and fly-by-night importers and brokers. He did not identify the BoC officers affected by the move.
Previously, Customs Memorandum Order 04-2014 stated that the Chief of Account Management Office has the power to approve the accreditation of brokers and importers, while the Deputy Commissioner of the Revenue Collection Monitoring Group was in charge of the suspension, revocation, and cancellation of the BoC stakeholders’ accreditation.
In the new memorandum, application for accreditation, suspension, revocation, cancellation, and reactivation of importers’ and customs brokers’ accreditation are all subject to the approval of the Commissioner upon the recommendation of the Account Management Office.
Importers and customs brokers with disapproved applications can file a request for reconsideration with the AMO, Lapena said.
“We will check the validity of the documents submitted by the importers and brokers to ensure that only legitimate traders are transacting with the bureau,” the commissioner said.
Meanwhile, in a separate memorandum, the agency has limited the number of authorized representatives of a customs broker transacting with the bureau.
To safeguard the interest of the government and to ensure the accountability of customs brokers, the memo said customs brokers are required to submit to the AMO the names of their three authorized representatives assigned to each port.
Authorized representatives are “processors” who act on behalf of the customs broker to transact with the BOC.
The Bureau, upon the approval of the Commissioner, may allow additional authorized representatives depending on the customs brokers’ volume of transaction.
Lapeñas has repeatedly called on the importers and brokers to stop their illegal practices and abide by the law.
“We will revoke the accreditation of the erring importers and brokers if that’s the only way to stop them,” he said.
BOC records showed that as of December 2017, 14,795 importers and 1,888 customs brokers were actively transacting with the bureau. In 2017 alone, 204 importers and 94 customs brokers were suspended after violating various customs and tariff laws.