CLOSURE OF CUSTOMS BONDED WAREHOUSE

I.          OBJECTIVE:

To facilitate the closure of Customs bonded warehouse.

II.         GROUNDS FOR CLOSURE:

A Customs bonded warehouse maybe closed by the District Collector of Customs, for any of the following grounds:

1.         For filing on application for license to operate (new or renewal) found to contain false information.

2.         For being inactive, for at least one continuous year
i.e. no importation, or if there is such, no corresponding legal
withdrawal of imported goods or exportation of finished goods.

3.         For violation of Customs rules and regulations.

4.         Upon written application of the operator.

III.        CLOSURE ORDER

Upon finding of the existence of any of the grounds for closure
aforestated the District Collector of Customs shall issue a closure
order per format shown in Annex A hereof.

IV.       OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES:

1.         Upon the issuance by the District Collector of the
closure order, the Chief of the Warehousing Inspection Division shall
immediately effect the closure of the concerned CBW by sealing the same
and put it under guard on a twenty four hours basis at the operator’s
expense.

2.         Upon receipt of the closure order, the CBW operator
concerned shall immediately surrender the books, records and other
documents relative to and required for the operation of the CBW to the
Chief of the CBW Division concerned.

3.         The Chief of the CBW Division concerned shall
immediately cause a complete inventory of all imported articles/raw
materials, goods-in-process, finished products. The inventory should
indicate, among others, the corresponding entries (numbers and year
series).

4.         The Chief of the CBW Division concerned shall likewise
cause the determination of the extent of the accountability/liability of
the CBW Operator.

5.         All goods inventories in the CBW shall be transferred
to the security warehouse of the Bureau of Customs unless in the
meantime the same are sold at public auction and/or duties, taxes and
other charges are paid thereon. Pending transfer to the security
warehouse, the expenses for the round-the-clock underguarding and
storage of the goods at the CBW shall be for the account of the
concerned CBW operator.

6.         Immediately upon closure no warehousing fee shall be
collected but the fees already collected shall not be refunded. The
Customs Warehouseman, if there be one assigned, may be re-assigned where
his services are needed.

7.         The payment by the CBW operator of his secondary
accountability liability shall be without prejudice to any other
liability, administrative, criminal or otherwise, which shall subsist.

V.        REPEALING CLAUSE:

All Customs Orders and/or Circulars inconsistent with this Order are hereby repealed/amended or modified accordingly.

VI.       EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE:

This Order shall take effect immediately.

Adopted: 08 June 1990

(SGD.) SALVADOR M. MISON
Commissioner