FPA Memorandum Circular No. 93-03 dated May 25, 1993

CBP CIRCULAR LETTER Series of 1993

TO : All Authorized Agent Banks and All Concerned

SUBJECT : FPA Memorandum Circular No. 93-03 dated May 25, 1993

Attached for your reference and guidance is a copy of the letter of Mr. Francisco C. Cornejo, Executive Director III of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority dated May 25, 1993 submitting a copy of FPA Memorandum Circular No. 93-03 dated May 25, 1993 on the guidelines and procedures for the liberalized importation of fertilizers.

EDGARDO P. ZIALCITA Deputy Governor

FPA MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 93-03 SERIES OF 1993

To: All Importers and Others Concerned

From: Francisco C. Cornejo Executive Director III

Re: Guidelines and Procedures for the Implementation of Central Bank Circular No. 1337

Date: May 25, 19913

In accordance with the provision of Central Bank (CB) Circular No. 1337 dated 27 April 1992, importation of fertilizers shall no longer require an FPA clearance prior to opening Letters of Credit (WC). As a policy of Government, it is however required that all importation shall: (a) only be made by FPA-licensed importers; and (b) cover only FPA-registered fertilizers.

This FPA Circular sets the following guidelines and procedures to implement CB Circular No. 1337.

SECTION 1.  Product Coverage

All fertilizers, whether finished, intermediate or raw materials, shall be covered by this FPA Circular. It shall include, but shall not be limited to, fertilizers under Chapter 31 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) dated August 1991.

The inclusion of all fertilizers in CB Circular No. 1337 is further confirmed by CB Circular No. 1348 dated July 28, 1992, which excludes fertilizers as one of the government-regulated commodities.

SECTION 2.  Procedures.

1. All fertilizer importers shall no longer obtain in from FPA a Certificate Authorizing Importations of Fertilizer or Fertilizer Inputs (CAIF) as a prerequisite in opening L/Cs or for other modes of importation.

2. For importation of fertilizers with no customs duty as per the TCCP or with customs duty which shall be paid by the importers, the following procedures shall be followed:

a. The name of FPA, as a consignee for the account or end-use of a specific fertilizer importer, shall be deleted from all import documents.

b. The FPA shall not issue a letter-endorsement to the Department of Finance (DOF) requesting for the withdrawal of fertilizer importations from the custody of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) without the prepayment of taxes and duties.

c. The Certificate of Official Importation (Form 1) and Certificate of Undertaking required by the BOC per Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 23-92 and 114-92, respectively, shall no longer be prepared by FPA.

d. To enable FPA to monitor fertilizer importations, importers shall report to FPA all the information required in Attachment A, supported by certified true of duplicate copies of the Commercial Invoice and Bill of Lading. These documents shall be submitted to FPA Head Office three (3) days before arrival of the shipment/s, or at the latest, immediately after arrival of the shipment/s.

3. For importations of fertilizers, which have customs duty per the TCCP but are subsidized by the Government, as approved by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, the existing procedures shall apply as follows:

a. All import documents shall bear the name of FPA as a consignee, for the account or end-use of a specific fertilizer importer.

b. FPA shall issue the letter endorsement of the DOF as well as the Certificates of Official Importation and Undertaking as required under CMO No. 23-92 and 114-92, respectively, after the submission by the importers of all documents referred to in Section 2.2.d.

SECTION 3.  Fees

Importers shall pay to FPA an amount of Three Hundred Pesos (P300.00) as processing fee for the documents referred to in Section 2.3.b.

SECTION 4.  Penalties

1.  Sections 8 and 9 of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1143 provide that any fertilizer should be duly registered with FPA and the business license to engage in the importation of fertilizers should be secured from FPA. Violations of these provisions shall be dealt with accordingly.

2. Non-submission of the required documents referred to in Section 2.2.d shall be treated as a violation of this FPA Circular. Penalties shall be imposed on these violators which shall include, but shall not be limited to, revocation of their product registration and business license after due notice and hearing.

SECTION 5.  Repealing Clause

All previous circulars or orders which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Memorandum Circular are hereby revoked, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 6.  Effectivity

This FPA Circular shall be effective on July 1, 1993.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND/OR COMPLIANCE.

FRANCISCO C. CORNEJO Executive Director III