USMEF Board Of Directors Meeting & International Buyers Conference, May 2...

New Requirements For Importers

USMEF exporting members should note that the Philippine Department of Agriculture (PDA) has established additional requirements for the issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Clearances (VQCs) to importers who are using private or public customs-bonded warehouses and/or any other Bureau of Customs warehousing facilities.

The PDA has adopted the following additional requirements for the issuance of VQCs to importers, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), using these warehousing facilities:

a. Report of utilization/liquidation of their importation from the Bureau of Customs;

b. Certified True Copy of Customs Import Entry Revenue Declarations (IERDs); and

c. Official Receipt (original copy) of payment of previous importation duties and taxes.

Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo, Jr. has directed all Veterinary Quarantine Officers at the ports of entry to immediately stop issuing Veterinary Quarantine Inspection certificates (VQICs) to all imported meat, meat products and by-products with VQCs issued prior to the effective date of this order, for release through private and public customs-bonded warehouses, pending the submission of the above mentioned documents to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI). A VQIC is one of several requirements needed by an importer before final release of any meat shipment.

Local traders told FAS that the additional requirements for importers using bonded warehouses are not expected to impede the legitimate meat trade and may help curb the worsening problem of illegal importation.