On March 17, further operational guidelines under the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) concerning the implementation of the  “Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)”, ordered that “All government agencies in the Executive Branch are hereby directed to issue accreditation orders to identify their respective skeletal workforces for critical services operating during the duration of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon…”

Following the aforesaid mandate, and in aid to process new and pending Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) transactions, the Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) issued Memorandum No. 62-2020 “Guidelines for the Issuance of Accreditation Pass to BOC Stakeholders” which covers the application and issuance of accreditation pass to BOC Stakeholders, under Sec.1 including 1) BOC accredited importers; 2) Licensed Customs Brokers; 3) Declarants; or 4) Any of their authorized representatives,   that would authorized them to access BOC premises and may also be presented at any established checkpoints during the ECQ implementation.

Despite of the ECQ countereffects in trade, this memorandum will help the immediate release of shipments to lessen port congestion and other trade facilitation issues affected from this directive. – MRJ