Exporters wary of BoC service fee hikes

THE Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) said Customs service fees could increase significantly with the introduction of a new processing system.

In a statement over the weekend, the group said that “while it supports the streamlining and digitalization of government processes, it opposes the proposed fee hike relating to the use of the new customs processing system.”

“We understand that the fee involved is about P300, information that we cannot validate at the moment because we were not provided a copy of this proposal,” it said.

“Based on this initial information, may we register our strong opposition to the said proposal because of the huge jump in fees,” it added.

The current fee schedule involves a P45 per entry charge for cargo data exchange center e-trade lodgement, a P40 per container charge on the Go Fast platform for managing container returns, and a P55 E-Konek import permit and lodgement fee.

Exporters also pay a P18 fee for an e-trade manifest via sea and a P23 fee for an e-trade manifest via air.

“Fee increases such as this will directly impact the costs of products and services and will negatively impact the competitiveness of our exports and importers,” the group said.

The proposed new system, Philexport said, should first undergo a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) by the Anti-Red Tape Authority.

“The result of the RIA should help guide the Bureau of Customs (BoC) in assessing the viability of implementing the customs processing system in the context of trade and economic development,” it said.

“Further, the BoC should bear or subsidize the cost of developing and deploying the new system since modernization initiatives are public investments intended to benefit the trading community and enhance national competitiveness,” it added.

Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. also called for another public consultation once the service provider has been determined and to get a breakdown of the cost components of the fee to determine any duplicate or unnecessary charges.

The BoC organized a consultation last month, which Philexport participated in.

Set to replace the BoC’s E2M (electronic-to-mobile) system, the proposed customs processing system seeks to address a number of issues raised by stakeholders.

These include delays in system response, failure to receive notifications, encoding and format errors, integration gaps with other systems, and system limitations in supporting document attachments. — Justine Irish D. Tabile