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Ascent Solutions Philippines personnel have been deputized to disarm electronic customs seals if no Bureau of Customs personnel is available during the removal process
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This development follows complaints of delays encountered during ECS disarming under the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo System
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The authority of Ascent Solutions on-duty field marshals and port area supervisors does not extend to opening and unloading contents of containers
Ascent Solutions Philippines, Inc. personnel have been deputized to disarm electronic customs seals (ECS) if no Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel is available during the removal process.
In Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) Memo No. 47-2024 dated September 4, Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said the order is meant to expedite ECS disarming amid widespread complaints of delays under the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) System.
The memo said designated on-duty field marshals and port area supervisors of E-TRACC provider Ascent Solutions are authorized to remove the ECS if customs personnel are unavailable during physical disarming. Their authority does not extend to opening and unloading of contents of containers.
Under Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 04-2020, which established the E-TRACC System, an ECS is required during the transfer of cargo to a container yard/container freight station or other customs facilities and warehouses (CFWs); transit of cargo bound for Free Zones, inland customs office, depots, or terminals; transit to customs bonded warehouses (CBWs); export of cargo from Free Zones, inland customs office, depots or terminals, and CBWs to port of loading; and transfer of shipments subject to further verification and/or monitoring.
All container vans covered by CMO 04-2020 should be affixed with an ECS before being cleared to depart from the starting point or point of discharge for the voyage to the end point or point of destination.
“Despite the automatic disarming of the ECS of the E-TRACC System for shipments bound for CBWs [customs bonded warehouses] and Freezones, delays are still being encountered during the physical disarming process. These delays are also encountered for export shipments armed with ECS to be disarmed at Customs Facilities and Warehouses (CFWs),” OCOM Memo No. 47-2024 said.
Upon disarming, the concerned personnel should within five hours from disarming report the same to the BOC office concerned.
E-TRACC is a web-based system launched in 2020 that tracks the inland movement of containerized cargoes during transit and transfer to other customs territories and facilities. It allows BOC to track, monitor and audit the location and condition of cargoes as well as obtain real-time alarms on diversion and tampering of cargoes. – Roumina Pablo
READ: BOC expands E-TRACC coverage to barges, domestic vessels
