Article 94p. 94

NATIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE CODE TAXATION, TARIFF and CUSTOMS LAWS

9280, as amended, otherwise known as the "Customs

Brokers Act of 2004";

(o)

Customs

Office

refers

to

any

customs

administrative unit that is competent and authorized to

perform all or any of the functions enumerated under

customs and tariff laws;

(p) Customs Officer , as distinguished from a clerk or

employee, refers to a person whose duty, not being

clerical or manual in nature, involves the exercise of

discretion in performing the function of the Bureau. It

may also refer to an employee authorized to perform a

specific function of the Bureau as provided in this Act;

(q) Customs Territory refers to areas in the Philippines

where customs and tariff laws may be enforced;

(r) Entry refers to the act, documentation and process

of bringing imported goods into the customs territory,

including goods coming from free zones;

(s) Exportation refers to the act, documentation, and

process of bringing goods out of Philippine territory;

(t) Export Declaration refers to a statement made in

the

manner

prescribed

by

the

Bureau

and

other

appropriate agencies, by which the persons concerned

indicate the procedure to be observed for taking out or

causing to be taken out any exported goods and the

particulars of which the customs administration shall

require;

(u) Flexible Clause refer to the power of the President

upon recommendation of the National Economic and

Development Authority (NEDA): (1) to increase, reduce or

remove existing protective tariff rates of import duty, but

in no case shall be higher than one hundred percent

(100%) ad valorem ; (2) to establish import quota or to ban

importation of any commodity as may be necessary; and

(3) to impose additional duty on all import not exceeding

ten percent (10%) ad valorem , whenever necessary;

(v)

Foreign

Exporter

refers

to one whose name

appears on documentation attesting to the export of the

product

to

the

Philippines

regardless

of

the

manufacturer's name in the invoice;

(w)

Free

Zone refers to special economic zones

registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority

(PEZA) under Republic Act No. 7916 , as amended, duly

chartered

or

legislated

special

economic zones and

freeports

such

as

Clark

Freeport

Zone;

Poro

Point

Freeport Zone; John Hay Special Economic Zone and

Subic Bay Freeport Zone under Republic Act No. 7227 , as

amended by Republic Act No. 9400 ; the Aurora Special

Economic

Zone

under

Republic

Act

No.

9490 ,

as

amended;

the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and

Freeport under Republic Act No. 7922 ; the Zamboanga

City Special Economic Zone under Republic Act No. 7903 ;

the Freeport Area of Bataan under Republic Act No. 9728 ;

and such other freeports as established or may be

created by law;

(x) Goods refer to articles, wares, merchandise and

any other items which are subject of importation or

exportation;

(y) Goods Declaration refers to a statement made in

the

manner

prescribed

by

the

Bureau

and

other

appropriate agencies, by which the persons concerned

indicate the procedure to be observed in the application

for the entry or admission of imported goods and the

particulars of which the customs administration shall

require;

(z) Importation refers to the act of bringing in of

goods from a foreign territory into Philippine territory,

whether for consumption, warehousing, or admission as

defined in this Act;

(aa) Freight Forwarder refers to a local entity that acts

as a cargo intermediary and facilitates transport of goods

on behalf of its client without assuming the role of a

carrier, which can also perform other forwarding services,

such as booking cargo space, negotiating freight rates,

preparing

documents,

advancing

freight

payments,

providing packing/crating, trucking and warehousing,

engaging

as

an

agent/representative

of

a

foreign

non-vessel

operating

as

a

common

carrier/cargo

consolidator

named

in

a

master

bill

of

lading

as

consignee of a consolidated shipment, and other related

undertakings;

(bb) International Freight Forwarder refers to persons

responsible

for

the

assembly

and

consolidation

of

shipments into single lot, and assuming, in most cases,

the full responsibility for the international transport of

such shipment from point of receipt to the point of

destination;

(cc) Jurisdictional Control refers to the power and

rights of the Bureau in exercising supervision and police

authority over all seas within the jurisdiction of the

Philippine territory and over all coasts, ports, airports,

harbors, bays, rivers and inland waters whether navigable

or not from the sea;

(dd) Lodgement refers to the registration of a goods

declaration with the Bureau;

(ee) Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC)

refers to an entity, which may or may not own or operate

a vessel that provides a point-to-point service which may

include several modes of transport and/or undertakes

group age of less container load (LCL) shipments and

issues the corresponding transport document;

(ff) Outright Smuggling refers to an act of importing

goods

into

the

country

without

complete

customs

prescribed importation documents, or without being

cleared

by customs or other regulatory government

agencies,

for

the

purpose

of

evading

payment

of

prescribed taxes, duties and other government charges;

(gg) Perishable Good refers to goods liable to perish

or goods that depreciate greatly in value while stored or

which cannot be kept without great disproportionate

expense, which may be proceeded to, advertised and sold

at auction upon notice if deemed reasonable;

(hh) Port of Entry refers to a domestic port open to

both

domestic

and

international

trade,

including

principal ports of entry and subports of entry. A principal

port of entry is the chief port of entry of the Customs

District wherein it is situated and is the permanent

station of the District Collector of such port. Subports of

entry are under the administrative jurisdiction of the

District Collector of the principal port of entry of the

Customs District. Port of entry as used in this Act shall

include airport of entry;

(ii) Port of Discharge , also called Port of Unloading ,

refers to a place where a vessel, ship, aircraft or train

unloads

its

shipments,

from

where

they

will

be

dispatched to their respective consignees;

(jj) Reexportation means exportation of goods which

have been imported;

(kk) Release of Goods refers to the action by the

Bureau to permit goods undergoing clearance to be

placed at the disposal of the party concerned;

(ll) Refund refers to the return, in whole or in part, of

duties and taxes paid on goods;

(mm) Security refers to any form of guaranty, such as

a surety bond, cash bond, standby letter of credit or

irrevocable letter of credit, which ensures the satisfaction

of an obligation to the Bureau;

(nn)

Smuggling

refers

to

the

fraudulent

act

of

importing any goods into the Philippines, or the act of

assisting

in

receiving,

concealing,

buying,

selling,

disposing

or

transporting

such

goods,

with

full

knowledge

that

the

same

has

been

fraudulently

imported, or the fraudulent exportation of goods. Goods

referred to under this definition shall be known as

smuggled goods;

(oo) Taxes refer to all taxes, fees and charges imposed

under this Act and the National Internal Revenue Code

(NIRC) of 1997 , as amended, and collected by the Bureau;

© Compiled by RGL

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