China steel bars ordered released

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT —The Subic customs office on Wednesday allowed a local importer to bring out of the free port a shipment of deformed steel bars from China that had been held since April due to fears from the local steel industry that it would be sold in the local market.

Outgoing Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina had directed the local customs office to seize the shipment pending resolution of a steel industry advocacy group’s claim that the steel bars were not tested according to procedures.

But finding no legal basis to seize the shipment, lawyer Ernelito Aquino, district collector of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the Port of Subic, said his office allowed importer Mannage Resources Trading Corp. to pay the duties and taxes for the 4,929 metric tons of steel bars.

On May 19, the Zambales office of the Department of Trade and Industry granted Mannage an import commodity clearance (ICC) for the shipment following a May 16 report, which indicated that samples of the steel bars had passed the mechanical, chemical and physical tests required by law.

Lina had ordered the steel bars’ seizure after affirming the recommendations of lawyer Erwin Mendoza, acting director of the BOC’s legal division, that quality standard tests made on the shipment had not followed procedures.

According to Mendoza, the Bureau of Product Standards should conduct another test to “settle this matter that is imbued with public interest.”

Aquino said he did not defy Lina when he made his decision. “I had to do the right thing. We may have differences in opinion but we have the same ultimate objective,” he said.

“I didn’t find any probable cause [to seize the shipment] after conducting two hearings in May. My endorsement is based on facts,” Aquino said on Thursday.

“DTI and BOC should be partners because both are government agencies. Out of courtesy, whatever regulations or findings they (DTI officials) come up with, BOC should be ready to implement them,” he said.

Aquino’s decision to release the shipment came amid a legal battle between the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (Pisi), a steel industry advocacy group, and the DTI over the ICC.

In an earlier statement, Pisi said the provisional ICC was “not the lawfully issued permit contemplated by law for importation of products that require mandatory testing and certification.”