P2-M cash bond for forwarders nears approval

THE Department of Finance is close to approving a proposal that would require freight forwarders to post a P2-million cash bond upon accreditation, the Bureau of Customs said on Wednesday.

Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno said the cash bond is intended to cover costs from delays caused by erring deconsolidators handling balikbayan boxes.

“We also need to establish procedures, with exact parameters, standards, and accountability, in case they still commit errors,” he said in an event on Wednesday.

“We already proposed it; our customs administrative order request is close to being approved by the Department of Finance,” he added.

In response to mounting complaints from overseas Filipino workers and their families over missing or undelivered packages, the bureau said it has taken the initiative to personally deliver balikbayan boxes door‑to‑door.

For the first wave last year, the bureau processed 68 containers holding 20,944 boxes, of which 14,305 have already been released and delivered.

The final wave covers 72 containers with an estimated 24,536 boxes, it said.

There are 14 containers that have been released from the Manila International Container Port, while 58 remain under processing pending clearances and waiver of port charges, the bureau said. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante