The Bureau of Customs (BoC) suspended some of the penalties for stakeholders in time for the reimplementation of the Import Assessment System (IAS) next week as previously scheduled in two major ports in Manila.

In his recommendations to the Office of the Commissioner (OCOM), Customs deputy commissioner Alexander Arevalo said the suspension of penalties is part of a more “refined” procedure put in place as BoC will push through IAS by October 12.

Arevalo said the process is limited to submission of the advance inward foreign manifest (IFM) and penalties for late submission, a move instituted by BoC to encourage stakeholders to comply with IAS requirements.

These were the two aspects that concerned stakeholders when BoC initially implemented IAS at the Manila ports. Shipping lines are required by the bureau to submit the IFM at least 12 hours prior to vessel arrival.

On the other hand, cargo consolidators are given until zero hour or until vessel arrival to submit their own manifest instead of requiring both to submit their respective manifest 12 hours prior to vessel arrival at any Philippine port.

However, an insider from OCOM said Morales has yet to sign the proposed procedures involving IAS since BoC and IAS technical working group had reached an agreement last week about its scheduled implementation.

IAS, a major end-to-end process automated through the electronic-2-mobile (e2m) Customs Project. This is the fourth time that the bureau will implement IAS in the Port of Manila (PoM) and Manila International Container Port (MICP) after it has been suspended since August.

It was reported that that different stakeholders and custom brokers have been asked to start complying with IAS requirements and stop asking for a deferment.

To be eligible to transact in the new e2m system, importers and brokers must have valid and active Client Customs Number from the Client Profile Registration System, and hard copies of the documents such as permits to import from the various government agencies.