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The Bureau of Customs directed its district collectors to monitor strict compliance with the 90-day dwell time for foreign containers
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BOC district collectors were ordered to ensure strict monitoring in order to initiate proper abandonment proceedings and/or collect duties and taxes in cases of overstaying containers
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Under BOC rules, containers arriving, whether loaded or empty, should be re-exported within 90 days from the date of discharge of the last package
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) ordered its district collectors to monitor strict compliance with the 90-day dwell time for foreign containers.
In Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG) Memo No. 69-2026 dated April 29, BOC district collectors were directed to ensure the strict monitoring of the movement of all incoming and outgoing containers, including compliance with prescribed dwell time, in order to initiate proper abandonment proceedings and/or collect duties and taxes in cases of overstaying containers.
This is pursuant to Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 08-2019, which provides the guidelines and procedures for the monitoring and control of the movement of all containers, whether loaded or empty, at seaports in the Philippines.
In particular, AOCG Memo No. 69-2026 noted Section 6 of CAO No. 08-2019, which states that containers arriving, whether loaded or empty, should be re-exported within 90 days from the date of discharge of the last package. The period shall be based on the Inspector’s Certificate of Last Cargo Discharge on file with the bureau.
Containers may be re-exported through a customs office other than that through which they were imported.
Fifteen days prior to the expiration of the 90-day period, BOC will notify the shipping line concerned, or the lessor or shipper when accountability has been clearly acknowledged, through its registered electronic mail address, to either re-export the container, or to pay the duties and taxes due thereon. Such notice will be deemed notice to lodge or file the goods declaration.
Beyond 90 days, foreign containers will be considered overstaying and issued an assessment notice.
BOC last February said it will strictly implement the 90-day foreign container dwell time policy as part of measures to address congestion at the reefer yard at Manila ports as well as in empty container depots during that time.
Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno also sent a letter to the Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL), calling their attention to the dwell time policy. AISL said their member carriers are complying with the policy.
READ: Foreign shipping lines complying with BOC order on container dwell time – AISL
Relatedly, BOC earlier said it aims to deploy and integrate electronic systems to ensure real-time monitoring and visibility of container movements.
Systems currently under review by BOC include the Automated Container Movement Monitoring System (ACMMS), Customs Container Management System, and In-Transit Asset Management and Supervision System (ITAMSS).
READ: BOC eyes comprehensive strategy to address port congestion
BOC and AISL in 2023 signed a memorandum of agreement for the ACMMS, an end-to-end solution that seeks to implement the provision of CAO No. 08-2019.
ITAMSS, meanwhile, is a proposed system that will allow BOC and truck operators to track, monitor, and audit the location and condition of empty containers. ITAMSS will be a component subset of the import monitoring program of BOC and also implements – particularly for empty containers – CAO No. 08-2019.— Roumina Pablo
