BOC urges big importer firms to go for 'super green lane'

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña is urging big companies to apply for “super green lane” (SGL) accreditation for faster processing of imported cargoes. 

“I would say that the top 1,000 importers doing business in the Philippines can qualify,” Lapeña said in a press conference on Wednesday. “If you are qualified, please do so.”

“Malalaking kompanya ‘yun na pwede namang ma-exempt sa yellow and red,” the commissioner added.

The inspection-exempted accreditation will accelerate processing and allow Customs personnel to concentrate on firms whose papers need to be examined, the commissioner said.

Only 169 companies, including Del Monte Philippines and car manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Columbia Motors, are currently on the SGL list, one of three color-coded shipment classifications implemented by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The red lane requires physical inspection of shipments, X-ray screening, and documentary inspection, while the yellow lane requires only documentary assessment.

Companies that qualify for SGL status are those with “exceptional credibility” and “no adverse records,” Lapeña.

A committee will vet all companies applying for SGL accreditation.

SGL-accredited firms do not need to undergo documentary and x-ray inspection for each shipment, the same privileges under the regular green lane before it was suspended.

The green lane is not always problem-free.

The 602.279 kgs of shabu, valued at P6.4 billion, that was seized by BOC in Valenzuela City in May passed through the now-suspended “express” lane.

EMT Trading, the consignee of the shipment misdeclared as kitchenware, transacted majority of its importations between March 31 and May 29 through the green lane, Senator Panfilo Lacson said during a Senate hearing on how the shabu from China entered the Philippines via the BOC green land.

“What happened last time was a problem in RMO selectivity,” Lapeña said.

Risk Management Office (RMO) chief Larribert Hilario supposedly failed “to encode information that would have classified EMT Trading as a red land importer.

However, Lapeña claimed the system functioned just as well when only the relatively more elaborate processes of the red and yellow lanes were in place.

After the green lane was suspended, “I was expecting congestion but it did not happen,” he said.

Container vans going through the red lane remain under close scrutiny, with physical inspection and X-ray screening, the commissioner said, noting he also likewise authorized the manual tagging of container vans and “intensified” the X-Ray Inspection Project.

A result of more stringent inspection is the apprehension of misdeclared glutinous rice from Hong Kong, valued at P2 million, the commissioner said. — VDS, GMA News