Globe Telecom wants import accreditation from Customs Bureau restored 

Listed Globe Telecom Inc. on Friday said it asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to restore its accreditation as an importer, citing technical restrictions online that made it seem like the telco was violation the rules on giving out a detailed description of its shipments.

 

In a statement, Globe General Legal Counsel Froilan Castelo said they filed a motion for reconsideration, pointing out a misinterpretation of the BOC administrative order.

 

“The issue emanates from the limited number of characters (26 characters) provided in the online form that is supposed to describe the goods imported,” said Castelo, adding that this prompted the company to submit supporting documents for its shipments instead of filling out the form. 

 

Globe was among the 70 companies and 45 customs brokers whose accreditation was suspended by the BOC for failing to put detailed descriptions of their imports. 

 

Besides Globe other big companies that were suspended include IT firm Nexus Technologies Inc. and steel bar manufacturer Universal Steel Smelting Co. Inc.  

 

“The importers and brokers we suspended habitually failed to provide detailed information about the goods they imported,” Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla, who took over the Customs leadership just last December, said in a separate statement on Friday.  

 

Two BOC administrative orders in 2007 mandated a detailed description of imports for proper tariff evaluation. Last month, Customs released a memorandum order on its authority to suspend the accreditation of importers and brokers for violating the rules on import disclosure. 

 

According to BOC, importers and brokers must enumerate specific product description, make, model, variant and  brand, and retail packaging or stock-keeping unit in the import entries filed. 

 

“Let this be a warning to our stakeholders that we have zero tolerance for wrongdoing,” Sevilla noted. – Siegfrid Alegado/VS, GMA News