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Thursday, December 23, 2004
Brokers protest Customs chief’s move to stall law
PROFESSIONAL brokers in Cebu are protesting an order to hold in abeyance the implementation of a law that would have aimed to professionalize customs brokerage.
Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner George Jereos made the directive in Customs Memorandum Order 39-2004, which he issued last week.
“Please be informed that the implementing guidelines for Republic Act 9280 otherwise known as the Customs Brokers Act of 2004 has been submitted to the Department of Finance for review and approval, by virtue of which the Secretary of Finance has ordered that the implementation of the said law be held in abeyance,” Jereos said.
RA 9280 was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 2, 2005.
Because of this, Jereos ordered all concerned groups, ports, services, divisions, and units of the BOC to maintain status quo pending the review of RA 9280 by the finance department.
Dismayed
Jereos’ order dismayed almost all customs brokers and personeros who attended a seminar on the latest customs laws, procedures and practices at Sacred Heart Center.
Alfredo Lanticse, president of the Chamber of Customs Brokers Inc. (CCBI) Cebu chapter said the law, which was approved by President Arroyo last March 23, was aimed to professionalize customs brokerage and place the profession under the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC). This would have prevented big companies from cheating the government of duties and taxes.
Lanticse recalled how Jereos told them during their induction last Nov. 12 that Jereos wanted to immediately implement RA 9280 to get rid of unscrupulous brokerage firms and cargo forwarders.
CCBI national president Diosdado Santiago said that under the present system, unscrupulous firms engaging in smuggling of all sorts disappear once their shipments are caught, hence only the goods are placed under seizure proceedings.
Lobby money
The new law establishes accountability because a professional broker can be criminally charged if the shipment he is brokering is smuggled.
Ferdinand Nague, president of CCBI Subic chapter, alleged that about P10 million in lobby money was put up by big-time cargo forwarders and exporters to stop the implementation of the law.
Nague said that because this is about professionalizing brokerage, the PRC and not the Department of Finance has the power to review the IRR.
The IRR was already signed by Jereos and officials of the Professional Regulatory Board and PRC. (EOB)
(December 23, 2004 issue)
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