Ortiz-Luis led the private sector trustees of Philexport who signed a manifesto addressed and sent to the President early this week asking her to hold back the implementation of a BOC order issued early this month withdrawing from exporters the right to sign their own export documents.

In the latest order that took effect March 22, the export leaders said that the BoC disregarded several provisions of the law, particularly section 6 of its implementing guidelines that allows proprietors of export enterprises and companies recognized by the Export Development Council (EDC) to sign their own export entries.

Its memorandum order of March 5, authorized only people that ship non-commercial cargoes to sign for their papers.

Philexport officials further said that the new law is bound to undermine the automated export development systems (AEDS), the pioneering computerized processing of export documents first adopted by the electronics industry in Southern Tagalog and Cebu regions and the one-stop-export-processing centers operated by Philexport in Manila and its field chapters in Clark, Subic, Cebu, Davao, Gen. Santos City and Cagayan de Oro.

Under the new law, each export or import transaction is slapped with at least P500 in brokers’ fee or one sixteenth of one percent of the value of imported or exported goods.

The law is seen to be another burden on the necks of exporters as it will cost them billions of pesos a year in brokers ‘ fee paid to only a few hundred licensed customs brokers.