Customs Commissioner orders creation of alert order clearing house

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero has ordered the creation of a clearing house desk which will oversee the processing of all alert orders in the country.

"The alert order clearing house is necessary to ensure that alert orders are properly implemented in accordance with the law," Guerrero said in an emailed statement.

Alert orders are issued by BOC offices — the Customs Commissioner, his authorized representative, and district collectors — to scrutinize identified shipments suspected to be non-compliant of customs regulations.

Dubbed as the Alert Order Clearing House Desk, the body will be tasked to address delays and ease the processing of alert orders through active monitoring of alerted shipments.

"However, the clearing house has no authority to issue alert orders. Only the Commissioner and the District Collectors can issue such," said the BOC.

The latest development is in line with the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) signed into law by former President Benigno Aquino III in May 2016. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/KG, GMA News