Customs to issue memo on used-vehicles import ban
Michelle V. Remo
Inquirer
THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS IS SET TO ISSUE a memorandum banning the entry of imported used motor vehicles into the country, a move that will favor domestic car manufacturers who have complained of stiff competition brought by cheap second-hand and imported cars.
The issuance of the Customs memorandum order, to be addressed to customs officials at the various ports nationwide, will be in observance of a recent Supreme Court decision upholding the power of the government to control the entry of imports into the country.
The Supreme Court last week said in a decision that it was not unconstitutional for Malacañang to have issued in December 2002 EO 156, which banned the importation of used vehicles.
The executive order was placed on injunction following an earlier Court of Appeals' decision that said it was unconstitutional.
Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., undersecretary of the Department of Finance, which has oversight functions over the BOC, said Finance and Customs officials would meet today to discuss the details of the memorandum order.
"That should put the judicial ruling in correct perspective," he told reporters in an interview.
A memorandum order addressed to concerned government officials was necessary to implement executive orders and court decisions.
Mendoza said the memorandum order would clarify to customs officials that the ban on the importation of used vehicles, as also stated by the Supreme Court, would not cover Subic and other freeports because these are considered outside the Philippines' customs territory.
However, he explained that used vehicle imports may be brought to freeports, but they could not be sold domestically and that they could only be re-exported.
Freeports, especially the one in Subic, was used as a point of entry of used second-hand vehicles, many of which were right-hand drives converted to left-hand and then sold locally.
The entry of cheap, second-hand vehicles into the country had been cited as one of the major problems adversely affecting the competitiveness of vehicle manufacturers operating here.
Inquirer
THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS IS SET TO ISSUE a memorandum banning the entry of imported used motor vehicles into the country, a move that will favor domestic car manufacturers who have complained of stiff competition brought by cheap second-hand and imported cars.
The issuance of the Customs memorandum order, to be addressed to customs officials at the various ports nationwide, will be in observance of a recent Supreme Court decision upholding the power of the government to control the entry of imports into the country.
The Supreme Court last week said in a decision that it was not unconstitutional for Malacañang to have issued in December 2002 EO 156, which banned the importation of used vehicles.
The executive order was placed on injunction following an earlier Court of Appeals' decision that said it was unconstitutional.
Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., undersecretary of the Department of Finance, which has oversight functions over the BOC, said Finance and Customs officials would meet today to discuss the details of the memorandum order.
"That should put the judicial ruling in correct perspective," he told reporters in an interview.
A memorandum order addressed to concerned government officials was necessary to implement executive orders and court decisions.
Mendoza said the memorandum order would clarify to customs officials that the ban on the importation of used vehicles, as also stated by the Supreme Court, would not cover Subic and other freeports because these are considered outside the Philippines' customs territory.
However, he explained that used vehicle imports may be brought to freeports, but they could not be sold domestically and that they could only be re-exported.
Freeports, especially the one in Subic, was used as a point of entry of used second-hand vehicles, many of which were right-hand drives converted to left-hand and then sold locally.
The entry of cheap, second-hand vehicles into the country had been cited as one of the major problems adversely affecting the competitiveness of vehicle manufacturers operating here.
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
10:20 PM
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