Customs brokers stage strike

Customs brokers at two ports in Manila staged a strike yesterday to protest what they described as "lapses in the evaluation of shipments in the bureau."

For almost two hours, brokers refused to perform their task of filing import entries to show their grievance, prompting Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales to sit down with them to discuss their complaints.

The brokers, who are members of Samahan ng Personero sa Aduana (SPA) at the Port of Manila and Aksyon Agad at the Manila International Container Port, have been complaining about the seizure of shipments that have already gone through evaluation procedures of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Samson Gabison, spokesman of SPA, said the continuous confiscation of released shipments by the BOC "has been giving brokers headaches."

"Because of the lapses of the BOC in evaluation, we are the ones suffering as importers often pin the blame on us," he explained.

During the dialogue, Morales admitted that the BOC sometimes commits mistakes in evaluating shipments, specifically in determining the exact amount of taxes and duties to be paid by importers.

Gabison said they also appealed to Morales to store confiscated shipments at the respective ports and not at the Harbor Center.

"It’s not convenient for us to go to the Harbor Center to check on the seized shipments," he complained.

After Morales promised to look into their complaints, the brokers went back to work at around 4 p.m.