MANILA: The Philippine Bureau of Customs has adjusted its rules requiring X-ray inspection of shipments after long queues of trucks hampered ports, according to Inquirer. New rules relaxing cargo security protocols were scheduled to go into effect from October 12, 2017. From then on, shipments bound for economic zones; perishables and reefers would not require mandatory X-ray examination. Importations by government agencies and multinational companies were also excluded from the X-ray inspections.
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña described the new rules in a statement, saying that the above cargo categories would only be flagged for document checking. Under the BOC’s selectivity system, imported products pass through four lanes, green for minimal inspection to red for maximum inspection. The new rules mean the above products will be in the yellow lane, expected to undergo document verification only. Green lane operations were suspended by Lapeña when he assumed the position of customs head, and a drug shipment from China was found to have passed through the green lane. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said: “Given time, we will come up with a more effective and efficient system that will balance border protection and trade facilitation.”
