SEC. 157. All imported merchandise must be entered at the custom-house of the port of arrival, either for consumption or in bond, by the person holding the bill of lading which names him as the consignee, or a bill of lading indorsed to his order by the consignee named therein. A banker holding a bill of lading as security for advances of money may transfer the same, by indorsement, to the actual importer. Underwriters shall be recognized as consignees of merchandise abandoned to them, and salvors as consignees of merchandise found by them derelict at sea.
A consignee holding a bill of lading drawn to his order or assigns may transfer the same to any person who can lawfully make the required declarations on entry, and the holder of a bill of lading drawn in blank "to order," and indorsed by the shipper or consignor, may make entry of the merchandise specified therein upon duly indorsing the same.
SEC. 158. Merchandise of which entry is not perfected at the expiration of the period allowed by law for the discharge of cargo of the importing vessel may be taken possession of by the collector as unclaimed, and placed in store to be disposed of according to law.
Unless otherwise specially provided by law, duties shall accrue upon imported merchandise on arrival of the importing vessel within the jurisdictional waters of a port of entry with intent to unlade.
SEC. 159. Entries in bond may be made for placing the merchandise in warehouse, or for its constructive warehousing and immediate transportation to other ports of the Archipelago without appraisement, or for constructive warehousing and immediate exportation; and merchandise in warehouse may be withdrawn either for consumption, exportation, or for transportation to another port of the Archipelago. Two of these objects may, in some cases, be combined in one withdrawal. Whenever goods are so transported in bond without appraisement they must be consigned to the care of the collector at the port of destination, who will allow entry to be made at his port by the actual consignee.
SEC. 160. Entries shall be in duplicate, in writing, according to prescribed form, and shall be signed by the importer or his duly authorized agent, and shall declare the names of the importing vessel and her master, her port of departure and date of arrival, the number and marks of packages, or the quantity, if in bulk, and the nature of the merchandise contained therein; also the value thereof as set forth in an invoice to be presented in duplicate with the entry, with all costs incidental to placing the same, packed, ready for shipment to the Philippine Islands.
SEC. 161. The description on the entry of the merchandise shall be in terms of tariff laws and in the currency of the invoice, and the values of the several classes of merchandise shall be separately placed under their respective rates of duty, as claimed by the importer, and the totals of each class duly shown. The rates of duty thus stated oil the entry shall be advisory only, and shall not govern the collector's classification for the assessment of duty.
SEC. 162. Entries of merchandise covered by one invoice may be made simultaneously for both consumption and warehouse. Where an intent to export the merchandise is shown by the bill of lading and invoice, the whole or a part of an invoice (not less than one package) may be entered for "warehouse and immediate exportation." In this case the collector may designate the vessel in which the merchandise is laden as constructively a "warehouse," in order to facilitate the direct transfer of the goods to the exporting vessel. The same procedure may apply to goods entered for "warehouse and immediate transportation."
Merchandise received at any port from another port of the Archipelago on an entry for "immediate transportation without appraisement" may be entered at the port of delivery either for consumption or warehouse.
SEC. 163. No merchandise over one hundred dollars in value, except personal effects accompanying a passenger, shall be admitted to entry without the production of the invoice thereof, unless the importer shall make application under oath showing, to the satisfaction of the collector, that it is impracticable to produce such invoice. This affidavit shall be accompanied by a statement of value of pro forma invoice, which shall be verified by declaration under oath.
SEC. 164. All invoices of imported merchandise shall be made out in the currency of the place or country from whence the importation shall be made or if purchased, in the currency actually paid therefor shall contain a correct description of such merchandise, with true numbers, gross weights, and net weights in the terms of the tariff, or quantities as the assessment of duty may require, and shall be made in duplicate and signed by the person owning or shipping the same, or his duly authorized agent. In case of merchandise transported in bond, one of said invoices shall be retained by the collector at the port of original entry, and the other shall be forwarded with the entry to the collector at the port of destination.
SEC. 165. Every invoice must represent a distinct shipment to one consignee or firm of consignees by one vessel. If by reason of accident or short shipment, a portion thereof should fail to arrive, an extract from the original invoice, certified to by the collector, may be used for entering the remaining packages.
SEC. 166. Invoices must be made out on firm and durable paper, in a legible manner, on one side of the paper only, and with ink not liable to fade, and must contain the quantities of the merchandise in weights and measures of the country of exportation. Press copies shall not be accepted for customs purposes.
SEC. 167. In making entry the importer must make a declaration on oath in the following form:
"District and port of ........................................ SS ....................................., of ...................................., being duly sworn, says that he is a member (or manager) of the firm (or corporation) of ..................................., the identical person .............................. mentioned in the foregoing entry, and that the said entry contains the true numbers, weights, and quantities according to the tariff, and a just and true account, classification, and description of all the goods, wares, and merchandise contained in the parcels described in the said entry, as he verily believes; that according to the best of his knowledge and belief there is no invoice or bill of lading other than those now produced by him, and that they are in the state in which he actually received them, and that nothing has been by him or to his knowledge concealed or suppressed whereby the Government may be defrauded of the duty lawfully due on said goods, wares, and merchandise. And this deponent further says that the invoices and entry which he now presents contain, as to such goods, wares, and merchandise as are dutiable according to the value thereof, a just and faithful account of the actual cost and actual market value thereof in the usual wholesale quantity, including the cost of all packing, packages, and receptacles therefor, and all other costs incident to placing the said goods, wares, and merchandise in condition ready packed for shipment to the Philippine Islands.
"...............................................
"Subscribed to in my presence and sworn to before me this ................... day of .........................., 190 ..........
"...............................................
"Collector of Customs."
Said declaration shall be made before the collector or his deputy at the time of making entry.
SEC. 168. Whenever it is shown that the owner (or in case of a firm, the manager) or consignee, on account of temporary absence or sickness, may be unable personally to make entry of the merchandise, he may be represented by a duly constituted agent or attorney, whose power must be lodged with the collector, and who may make entry and perform all necessary acts thereto, except that he may be required, in the case of merchandise dutiable on value, to give bond to produce the personal declaration of the owner or consignee.
SEC. 169. In making entry the importer must file the declaration prescribed by law, and the collector, or deputy collector, shall designate upon the entry, permit, and invoice, respectively, the packages which are to be examined by the officer designated for that duty, there being designated, unless otherwise provided, at least one package and not less than one-tenth of the entire invoice.
SEC. 170. If at the time of making entry, the importer shall desire the delivery to him of all packages not ordered for examination. He shall file a bond in such form as shall he prescribed by the Insular Collector, in such penal sum as shall be fixed by the collector, and which shall at least be equal to double the estimated duties on the merchandise, with approved sureties, for the return to the collector of any packages included in his entry which may be demanded by the collector within ten days after the merchandise has been examined and reported to the collector. In the absence of such bond all the packages shall be held until after the report of the examining officer is received.
SEC. 171. A general bond for the delivery of unexamined packages, covering a period not exceeding six months, in such form as t shall be prescribed by the Insular Collector, may be accepted in lieu of the special bond; the estimated liability and date of each subsequent importation shall be indorsed upon this bond, and the aggregate liability of such importations must not exceed the penalty named in the bond. Each such indorsement shall be canceled by the liquidation of the entry to which it relates.
SEC. 172. Except as provided in the two sections last preceding, no imported dutiable merchandise shall be delivered to the importer until after examination of the designated packages, the proper return of weight, gauge, or measure, the liquidation of the entry thereupon, and the full payment or security of the duties so ascertained.
SEC. 173. Each entry and all papers pertaining thereto, including invoices and bills of lading, shall be designated by a serial number. Every invoice, as soon as entered, shall be stamped with the date of entry and certified by the signature of the collector or his deputy or other customs officer duly designated, and the officer whose duty it is shall compare the classification made by the importer with the description given in the invoice, and shall see that the merchandise is classified at the rates provided by law.
SEC. 174. In the assessment of duties upon merchandise subject; to and valorem rate of duty, or to a duty based upon or regulated in any manner by the value thereof, the kind of money expressed in the invoice shall be reduced to the currency of the United States at the rate of value of foreign money, as established by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States upon the first days of January, April, July, and October of every year. The date of the invoices will indicate the value of the money, but the reduction of insular or local currency of the United States shall be at the ratio fixed for the current quarter by the Civil Governor in accordance with law.
SEC. 175. When the standard value of a foreign coin has not been thus proclaimed, an invoice expressed in such coin must be accompanied by a consular certificate showing its value in standard gold dollars of the United States.
SEC. 176. The money provided for in section eight of the Tariff Revision Law of nineteen hundred and one as being acceptable in the payment of duties shall be received at their value as stated in said Tariff Revision Law of nineteen hundred and one in unlimited sums: Provided, however, That it shall not be compulsory for collectors of customs to receive fractional silver coins of the United States in sums exceeding ten dollars in any one payment, nor fractional silver coins now in circulation in the Philippine Islands, in sums exceeding an equivalent amount according to the rates fixed by the Tariff Revision Law of nineteen hundred and one.
SEC. 177. Whenever imported merchandise is subject to an ad valorem rate of duty, or to a duty placed upon or regulated in any manner by the value thereof, the duty shall be assessed upon the actual market value or wholesale price of such merchandise as bought and sold in usual wholesale quantities at the time of exportation to the Philippine Islands in the principal markets of the country from whence imported, and in the condition in which such merchandise is there bought and sold for exportation to the Philippine Islands, or consigned to the Philippine Islands for sale, including the value of all cartons, cases, crates, boxes, sacks, and coverings of any kind, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition, packed ready for shipment to the Philippine Islands; and if there be used for covering or holding imported merchandise, whether dutiable or free, any unusual article or form designed for use otherwise than in the bona fide transportation of such merchandise to the Philippine Islands, additional duty shall be levied and collected upon such material or article at the rate to which the same would be subject if separately imported. The words "value" or "actual market value," whenever used in any law relating to the appraisement of imported merchandise, shall be construed to mean tile actual market value or wholesale price as above defined.
SEC. 178. The duties, if ad valorem, shall be estimated on the value of the goods; or if specific, upon the numbers, weights, or quantities, as the case may be.
SEC. 179. When upon entry the estimated duties have been duly registered and deposited with the proper officer, the collector may deliver to the importer, if he shall have executed the bond herein before prescribed, a delivery permit directing the inspector in charge of the goods to send the packages therein designated for examination to the public store, and to deliver to the importer packages not so designated. If the entry be for warehouse, the collector may deliver to the importer, if he shall have executed the bond required by law, a permit directing the inspector in charge of the goods to send the packages therein designated for examination to such bonded warehouse as the importer shall request in writing upon the entry.
SEC. 180. No person employed under the authority of the Government of the Philippine Islands in the collection of duties or imports, exports, or tonnage dues, shall own, either in whole or in part, any vessel, or act attorney, agent, or consignee for the owner of any vessel or of any cargo or lading on board the same; nor shall any such person import or be concerned, directly or indirectly, in the importation of any merchandise for sale into the Philippine Islands, or the exportation therefrom of any dutiable produce. Every person who violates this section shall be subject to dismissal and to a penalty of five hundred dollars, and all merchandise imported by such person shall be treated as unclaimed.
SEC. 181. Any goods, wares, or merchandise not duly entered within ninety days after importation shall be sold at auction by order of the collector of customs, on approval of the Insular Collector, after five days public notice, conspicuously posted at the port: Provided, That the period of ninety days may be extended by the Insular Collector, not exceeding a period of six months from the date of importation, when good and sufficient reasons therefor are presented to him, if, in his judgment, the interests of the Government will permit such extension. The proceeds of such sale shall be kept for ten days subject to the demand of the importer, after deduction of the proper duties on the goods and all expenses of storage and sale, if not claimed after the expiration of the sale, less the proper duties and expenses, shall be paid into the Insular Treasury: And it is further provided, That the customs authorities may destroy any unclaimed leaf tobacco at the expiration of the period allowed for entry: Provided, That the collector of customs shall be satisfied that the duty accruing upon said tobacco would not be realized by the sale thereof.
SEC. 182. All seized and confiscated merchandise shall be sold to in the same way, and the proceeds of such sale, after deducting all charges, shall be delivered to the collector or other customs official designated for that purpose, who shall pay the same into the Insular Treasury: Provided, That the customs authorities may destroy seized and confiscated leaf tobacco so as to prevent its sale at less than the duty imposed by the tariff.
SEC. 183. The merchandise deposited in the general-order stores, it which, in the opinion of the collector, may, by depreciation in value, damage, leakage, or other cause, result to he insufficient, upon being cl sold at auction, to pay duties for storage and other charges corresponding thereto, if it be permittee to remain in the warehouse during the period prescribed by the regulations, shall be sold at public auction, after due public notice, as above specified, of not less than three or more than six days, as the collector may determine, and the proceeds disposed of and accounted for as on regular sales of unclaimed goods, except that in ease of abandoned goods no part of the proceeds shall be returned to the owner of the merchandise.
SEC. 184. From the proceeds accruing on such sales of ware-housed goods will he paid the following charges in the order named:
1. Expenses of appraisal, advertisement, and sale.
2. Duties at the same rate as if the merchandise had been regularly withdrawn for consumption.
3. Any other charges due the Philippine Customs in connection will the goods.
4. Any sum due for freight on the voyage of importation, of which due notice shall have been given in the manifest hereinafter prescribed.
5. Storage and other charges for which the goods may be liable.
In case of warehoused goods in public stores, the storage dues thereon will be paid from the proceeds next after the expenses of sale.
EXAMINATION AND APPRAISAL OF MERCHANDISE.
SEC. 185. The invoice shall be filed with the entry which shall he transmitted to the examining officer, who shall compare the cases designated for examination and their contents with the invoice and shall make return of the description of the goods covered thereby, whether the quantities are correct, and in case of merchandise dutiable ad valorem, whether the prices named show the correct value of the merchandise in accordance with the provisions of this article. Samples of yarns and tissues and of such other merchandise as the Insular Collector shall prescribe shall be returned by the examining officer with his report.
SEC. 186. Examination shall be made only at the rooms designated for that purpose by the collector, except as otherwise provided by law by regulations prescribed by the Insular Collector. In case of examination elsewhere than at such rooms, the examining officer must slate in his report the fact and place of such exceptional appraisement.
SEC. 187. Examining officers shall rigidly exclude all unauthorized persons from such rooms and shall not communicate with interested persons concerning the goods under appraisement.
SEC. 188. Upon the written application of the examining officer, the collector may summon two disinterested merchants doing business at his port to assist the examining officer in the ascertainment of the value or proper description of specified merchandise in the terms of the tariff, and for such service, which shall be compulsory, said collector may allow and pay to each a sum not exceeding three dollars per diem.
Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines — Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
