Customs tightens import rules

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has issued an administrative order mandating the proper description of imported goods.

The Customs Administrative Order (CAO) on The Description of Imported Articles prescribes new rules on the proper description and labeling of imported goods.

Issued last Sept. 10, the order aims to address the problem of misdeclaration and raise more revenues for the cash-strapped government.

The order shall be implemented by the customs broker, together with the chief of the entry, processing and division unit of customs.

Furthermore, the order said that BOC Commissioner Napoleon Morales shall issue a list of products on the proper description of goods.

According to the regulation, the description of articles must be in sufficient detail to enable the articles to be identified for tariff classification, valuation and other statistical purposes.

General description, for instance, pertains to the generic name or general name of the product while a specific description pertains to the particular quality of the product. In the case of motor vehicle engine, for instance, this should be specified as either diesel or gasoline.

There are other requirements such as brand, model, style, capacity, quality, grade, process and other technical specifications of the imported goods.

Under the order, Morales shall issue a list of generally described products which shall be subjected to 100 percent examination to determine if it is in accordance with the provisions of this order.

Goods that generally avoid proper classification or valuation shall be subjected to 100 percent examination and shall be under alert status.

Morales said the administration order is one of the measures put in place by the BOC to help it meet its collection goal for the year of P228 billion and next’s year target of P254 billion.

The National Government, for its part, hopes to contain the budget deficit at P63 billion this year and totally wipe this out by the end of next year.