-
The Bureau of Customs and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas signed an agreement to provide overseas Filipino workers and their families better access to information and assistance on balikbayan boxes and other shipment concerns
-
The two agencies will work together to help Filipinos overseas better understand customs rules and requirements
-
BOC and CFO will also strengthen efforts to educate the public on proper documentation, prohibited and restricted goods, and ways to avoid fraudulent shipping schemes
-
A key component of the partnership is the enhancement of coordination on concerns such as shipments that are missing, delayed, damaged, tampered with, or not delivered
-
Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said BOC is also finally preparing to issue rules on the registration of deconsolidators, which handle balikbayan boxes
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) have signed an agreement to provide overseas Filipinos (OFWs) and their families better access to information and assistance on balikbayan boxes and other shipment concerns.
Through the a memorandum of agreement signed on September 8 by Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno and CFO chairperson Dante Francis Ang II, the two agencies will work together to help Filipinos abroad better understand customs rules and requirements when sending balikbayan boxes and other shipments to the Philippines.
BOC and CFO will also strengthen efforts to educate the public on proper documentation, prohibited and restricted goods, and ways to avoid fraudulent shipping schemes, BOC said in a statement.
“There are many OFWs who regularly send balikbayan boxes for their family. Through this partnership, we want to ensure that they have access to reliable information on customs requirements, proper shipping practices, and available government assistance whenever concerns arise,” Nepomuceno said partly in Filipino.
A key component of the partnership is the enhancement of coordination with clearer referral procedures on concerns involving balikbayan boxes, including shipments that are missing, delayed, damaged, tampered with, or not delivered.
To help reach more Filipinos overseas, BOC and CFO will also conduct joint information campaigns, share customs advisories and updates, and participate in stakeholder engagements, and conduct capacity-building initiatives on customs-related processes and concerns.
The two agencies will likewise establish a joint technical working group to develop implementing guidelines, coordination procedures, referral mechanisms, and other measures necessary to carry out the objectives of the agreement.
READ: 5 more forwarders face raps over abandoned balikbayan boxes
BOC said the partnership will further strengthen efforts to help overseas Filipinos make informed decisions when sending shipments to the Philippines by promoting awareness of customs regulations, responsible shipping practices, and available government services.
Registration of deconsolidators
At the sidelines of the signing, Nepomuceno said they will also finally issue rules on the registration of deconsolidators, which handles balikbayan boxes.
Earlier, BOC through Customs Memorandum Order No. 13-2026 also created the Balikbayan and OFW Action Center, which will serve as a policy-making and coordinating body to ensure accountability, transparency, and protection of the interests of overseas Filipino workers and balikbayan.
Last year, a joint administrative order reinforcing BOC protocols on balikbayan boxes and aims to guarantee the safe and timely delivery of every box to OFWs families has been signed.—Roumina Pablo
