MDM importers’ refund hangs; BOC to heed EO

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) said it will follow Duterte’s executive order and collect 5-percent tariff on imports of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken and turkey until end-2022.

Customs Assistant Commissioner and spokesman Vincent Philip Maronilla told the BusinessMirror the BOC will release a memorandum soon following the issuance of the new EO.

“We just follow orders,” Maronilla said in a phone interview.

According to the EO 123 s. 2021, the President’s directive to retain the 5-percent tariff on chicken and turkey MDM would be effective upon publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

It is not yet clear, however, when the EO was published.

The copy of the EO was uploaded in the web site of the Official Gazette on January 18 (Monday) but the EO was signed by the President on January 15 (Friday).

Maronilla said they will still need to check with the Official Gazette when the EO was officially published for them to determine the specific start date of collection of 5-percent tariff.

“If it was immediately published on January 15, then on [January] 15 it should be implemented,” he said.

Maronilla said, however, it is “most likely” that the memorandum to be issued by BOC would already clarify the exact date of the start of collection of the 5-percent tariff.

Asked whether BOC would grant the request for refund of importers of products brought into the country before the EO’s issuance, Maronilla said they will have to refer the matter to the BOC’s legal service department.

But Maronilla, who is a lawyer, said he personally believes the EO did not include a retroactive provision on the application of 5-percent tariff on these products.

Without the retroactive provision in the new EO, Maronilla earlier said BOC would not grant importers’ requests for a refund of the tariff differential over these MDM imports, just like what happened in 2019.

In 2019, BOC and the meat processing industry had a dispute over the collection of tariff differential over MDM imports.

Maronilla earlier said the meat processing industry was seeking a refund of about P100 million to P200 million but BOC believed back then that the industry was not entitled to a refund because the EO 82 did not contain a retroactive provision.

Until now, the case has yet to be resolved.

The President is allowed to increase, reduce, or remove existing rates of import duty upon the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority if Congress is not in session. Congress was on recess until January 17.

According to EO 23 issued in 2017, concessionary rates on certain agricultural products should go back to 2012 levels once the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice is removed and converted into ordinary customs duties.

The rice trade liberalization law, which removed the QR on rice, took effect on March 5, 2019.