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The Philippine Chamber of Customs Brokers expects the Bureau of Customs to soon implement a policy extending customs brokers’ registration to three years from one year
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PCCBI national president Atty. Norberto Castillo said they are looking forward to the issuance of a memo that will implement Customs Administrative Order No. 05-2019, which extended the validity of brokers’ registration with the bureau to three years
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Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno recently announced that similar to importers’ accreditation, the validity of customs brokers’ registration will be extended to three years from one year
The Philippine Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc. (PCCBI) expects the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to soon implement a policy extending customs brokers’ registration to three years from one year.
PCCBI national president Atty. Norberto Castillo, in a Viber message to PortCalls, said they are looking forward to the issuance of a memo that contains the extension. This, after Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno announced during an event on March 19 that customs brokers’ registration will be made valid for three years, similar to the accreditation period for importers.
BOC recently issued Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 01-2026, which lengthened the validity of importers’ accreditation to three years from the previous one year.
READ: 3-year importer accreditation takes effect under new BOC rules
In order to operationalize the three-year extension of accreditation for customs brokers — contained in Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 05-2019 — the BOC must issue a customs memorandum order (CMO).
“We thank Commissioner Nepomuceno for his pronouncement during the CICAC (Customs Industry Consultative and Advisory Council) meeting held last March 19, 2026 that BOC will likewise extend the registration of customs brokers to three years. For us, it’s a highly laudable gesture from him and we take it as a commitment,” Castillo said.
“Considering that the three-year period was already set under CAO 5-2019, and all it needs is a CMO to implement, we anticipate that the good Commissioner will promulgate it as soon as possible. It will be an early Christmas gift and we very much welcome it,” Castillo added.
Atty Agaton Uvero, Customs deputy commissioner for Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group, confirmed to PortCalls that CAO 05-2019 has yet to be implemented but will soon be.
Issued in 2019, CAO No. 05-2019 provides guidelines on the registration of customs brokers and their representatives. It states that customs brokers desiring to lodge and process goods declaration at BOC should register and obtain a Certificate of Registration (COR) from the bureau.
The COR will be valid for three years from the year of issuance unless suspended or revoked for cause. Every year in between the three-year period, the customs broker must submit the annual reportorial requirements to update his/her profile and submit an Affidavit of Change of Circumstances if there are any material change/s on his original application form, or Affidavit of No Change if there are no changes.
Renewal of application must be filed within one month prior to the expiration of the COR. However, no application for renewal shall be accepted or entertained if filed within five working days prior to the date of COR expiration. Any application filed after the registration has expired shall be considered as a new application.— Roumina Pablo
