The webinar workshop started at exactly 9:06 AM and CB Lozano reminded everyone to turn on the camera during the whole duration of the session. Follow the preliminaries of the program flow. Then, CB Lozano started the introduction of the Resource Person as she was an alumna of the HCDC. Before CB Bation began with her discussion, she expressed her gratitude to the HCDC for selecting her as one of the lecturers for this webinar.

The topic is about Export documentation and Procedure, as explained by the Resource Speaker, Ms. Xcyllc A. Bation, CB. In the introduction of the webinar, she further discusses being a customs broker, dealing with import, export, and documentation of the shipments in the different collection districts in our Philippine territory. The speaker started the topic with the definition of exportation and stated that this is a way we ship and sell goods outside the country of origin. In line with this topic, the talk centered particularly on the Philippine exportations and commodities. The Philippines have exportations to various commodities such as mineral resources, fish and fish products, processed foods, and agricultural products. These products are being exported in every country as these commodities were intended for commercial value. For a consignor to export the shipments, it needs to have proper export documentation and follow the customs procedures. This is limited to consignors and other firms such as those exporter/companies, the shipping lines, agents/logistics, government agencies, importer/consignee, and the supplier of commodities. Therefore, to export commodities, exporters must secure registration in BOC, licenses, and permits. Showing the documents in order for us to be aware of this as these documents were vital in every export industry in dealing with starting a business for exportation. Every exporter or export company/firm requires company registration in different government agencies such as the DTI, SEC, BOI, and BIR, as she presented these sample documents in order to give us an idea of what the actual documents are. The exporter or export company must secure certificates of registration to DTI as this document contains a unique number in every certification, secure the SEC & BIR Registration Certificate. Every consignor has to deal with Export Permits after the pertinent documents are need to establish an export company. Thus, they have to apply to PhilExport to secure an application to show a certificate of registration to the Bureau of Customs. Then they must have to secure an account with the CPRS via VASP. The export permits will be issued by PhilExport Inc. and passed to BOC. That is why an importer, exporter, and licensed customs broker must secure their certificate of registration to the BOC, as this is the accreditation of their profile, and they are allowed to engage in trade and commerce business. In every exportation, the exporter must also consider that the commodities must have their permits based on their shipping commodities. For example, suppose an exporter wants to export agricultural products. In that case, he/she must have the accreditation from the BOA or in the BPI that accredited the exporter to engage in exportation business, which is why it needs to be accredited for all transactions of exportation.

As the discussion focuses merely on documents needed for the export company, the next thing that CB Bation highlighted in the discussion was the distinct Export Forms and Content. She explained about the Principal Export Documents, including the commercial invoice, packing list, Certification of Inspection, Shipping Instruction, Bill of Lading, Certificate of Origin, & Export Declaration. At the same time, the Auxiliary Export Documents contain Proforma Invoice, Inspection Form, Shipping instruction, and Mates Receipt. With these documents, we had to consider that the Auxiliary Export Documents were the prerequisites in order to issue or provide the Principal Export Documents. The process of the export documents as it starts first with having a proforma invoice (the initial agreement) to a commercial invoice that secures the sale of goods. Including the packing list. Then, the inspection form must be secure in order to have the Certification of Inspection. Next thing, the documents were settled, so a shipping instruction must be issued that includes the vessel plan of shipment when loading to a vessel of aircraft. That was the time that the Bill of Lading was issued, as this was also the needed document for this. After all of the pertinent documents were present, securing the mates receipt and the inspection form were also the prerequisite forms and documents needed to have an Export Declaration and the issuance of the Certificate of Origin. Considering on the documents must be aligned or coincide with each other because any discrepancies will but discharged of the cargoes.

CB Bation discussed the pertinent documents used in exportation by giving us the information as she defined these things one by one. The first thing she elaborated was about the Proforma Invoice, as this is one of the starting points of the export contract, as the exporter receives trade inquiry to the importer, the exporter will submit this document to the importer. This document was the basis of trade transaction negotiations or contracts & the foreign exchange for the completion of a contract. Then, the speaker showed us a sample proforma invoice and explained the information listed in the form. The next thing she discussed was the Inspection Form, as this is a certain certificate issued by the Export Agency Company that certifies the consignment has been inspected under the export (Quality Control and Inspection) and that the goods are export worthy. This was done through the selectivity lanes of BOC depending on how to process the documents as the customs use modern and digitalized transactions. Then she showed us a sample of this document from the inspecting government agency: The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI). For the shipping instruction, this document was used for the creation of the Bill of Lading. Then she provided the sample shipping instruction giving us the idea of how to fill up the form. Another thing was to secure the mates receipt; this was an acknowledgment that the goods had been received on board the ship. She provided a sample of this document as she showed us the picture of it. Those things were the documents that fall under the Auxiliary Export Document. For the Principal or main export document, an exporter must consider these things as they must be securing a Commercial Invoice that showcases the sellers' merchandise sold to the buyer. It contains the details and particulars of the sale that entails the total amount and price of the shipment. The billing information must coincide with the proforma invoice for easier tracking. For the Packing list, this was the document that contains the information on the quantity and kinds of packages, their contents, the net and gross weight in kg, and the full dimensions and size of each package. The Certification of Inspection was a document issued by a trade control examiner certifying the examined articles conform with the required standard for the manufacture of local products. This document will be issued once the inspection form is released and approved. Then, the Shipping Instruction was the document that specifies a shipper's instruction on preparing the transport documents and forwarding operations. The Bill of Lading was the written contract between the shipper and the carrier that showcases the proof of bringing taking custody of the received commodities intended for export to the point of destination. CB Bation showed us the Bill of lading sample so we can distinguish this document from others. The Certificate of Origin (COO) was one of the pertinent documents used in customs as this shows how to avail the preferential treatment of the commodity based on the trade agreements. Then, the Export Declaration was also needed as this document will serve as one of the documents used in customs declaration and release of the commodities. This document specifies the goods being exported, the value, quantity, and name of the exporter and consignee. For the lodgment of the declaration, CB Bation discussed the three (3) Value Added Service Providers (VASPs) used as she emphasized that the CDec were the common VASPs used as compared to others. With this, she was able to show us how to lodge information as they were using CDec as the VASPs for lodgment. CB Bation showed us the overview of the VASP as she started to discuss the interface on how to create a new entry, the importer profiling, and create an export declaration as the documents were all present to the declarant/broker. Encoding the information in filling the export declaration. If these asterisks were not filled out, this would not proceed to the next page of the form. After encoding, this will provide export customs declaration as this will be assessed by the BOC system for verification and validation of the shipment. After that, she provided a sample of the Export Declaration from the eKonek and CDec.

As all the documents were defined and identified by the Speaker, she next discussed in terms of coordinating the shipping lines for booking their containers was the first thing to consider. Providing the needed information on the shipment in terms of the number of containers, Port of Destination, Terms of Shipment, Commodity, Type of Container, Temperature, Vent, Free Time, Freight Payment, and Other Charges. The confirmation was that the container was full and ready for transport to the loading port. Then, the container list and shipping instructions must be submitted within 1-2 days prior to the departure of the shipment from the Point of Loading. These documents must be submitted to the Bureau of Customs. The perishable cargoes need a reefer container containing the temperature and ventilation (based on the allotted temperature for longer storage life). The discussion focused on the things to do in every export transaction as this first must secure BOC COR by the Exporter, Certificate of Registration and Accreditation. Then, the Consignor to consignee agreed on a contract for the creation of the proforma invoice. After that, the coordination with the supplier for a commodity (information reflected in the proforma invoice) coordinates with the shipping line for booking with the container. Then the Shipping lines will confirm the booking request and issue an Authority to Withdraw (ATW), or booking confirmation of the request, as the shipping lines will have the booking acknowledgment. In terms of the information of the containers, the trucker route to the container yard for plug-in and stuffing the boxes as this was done in the area of the seller/consignor. The monitoring of the company in charge of the production of the commodity that was ready for export. Then, the next thing to do was to apply for commodity inspection for the issuance of the Phytosanitary Certificate. This was also needed for export documents. After all of the pertinent documents are fixed, the stuffing of the commodities will take place and once all is done, the confirmation of the container will be shipped and ready for transport from the Point of Delivery to the Point of Loading. Then the Shipping in charge submits to shipping lines the container list and shipping instructions regarding the loading details and manifests. This document must be submitted to the consignee within 1-2 days prior to the departure of the shipment. After this process, this will be processed to the Bureau of Customs as the consignor will have to submit the shipping documents and needed files for smooth processing of the exportation request. With these, the documents must be uploaded to the BOC Portal. Register and submit the documents in applying for Export Declaration to the BOC. The declarant/broker may create a new ticket to file the goods declaration and upload the export documents. Once submitted, this provides tickets available to the client so that he/she can trace and track the request to the Bureau.

CB Bation discussed the flowchart as she explained processing the Export Declaration of Ordinary Containerized Export Shipments. The Broker/Authorized Representative / was responsible for presenting the duly processed Export Declaration to the Customs. Then the Export Division of the Customs will issue the Export Declaration that was accepted and validated by the BOC. Next, the Receiving Clerk will record the Export Declaration as he/she assigns stuffing supervision for stuffing the commodities and ensuring that the documents are present and in order. Lastly, the Chief or the Assistant Chief will be the one who will sign the Export Declaration for the payment of the arrastre and wharfage charges to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

This webinar also explains the proper processing of the BOC. This process involves the lodgment of export declaration in VASP and other needed documents for exportation to process the goods declaration's lodgment. After that, the BOC collects the payment for arranging in PPA and the submission of the stamp and signed the documents by the Bureau of Customs to the Shipping Lines. Container Plug-in Charges were respective to the Port of Loading. Shipping Lines can confirm the loading of the container and include it in the Manifest submission. The shipping documents must have secured the following documents: commercial invoice, packing list, phytosanitary certificate, Bill of Lading, and and Certificate of Origin. Taking into consideration that these will be submitted prior to the loading of goods. The shipping in charge now will send the scanned copy of the original documents for confirmation, while the original documents will be sent via courier services. The shipping in charge will be the person who will notify and coordinate with the consignee the details of the shipment. After the arrival of the shipment, the consignee now has to confirm to pull-out the container at the port of destination as agreed.

The Open Forum started as the discussion of CB Bation was ended. Some students raised their concerns in line with the discussion. The first thing a student asked was about the maximum of entries made. Do the two (2) the maximum? Then CB Bation said that as long as there were documents that cover the export declaration, it should be encoded. Another question about the documents to be submitted to the shipping lines. Will the consignor surrender the original copy to shipping lines or to the BOC? CB Bation answered that some copies should be original, and sometimes, a photocopy is enough. Question from another BSCA student as she asked regarding the inspection form. Is it necessary to submit this when exporting goods that do not require to have further inspection? The Guest Speaker answered as the goods intended for export were required to undergo a process of getting an inspection certificate. CB Lozano also added the thought as he said that this was also necessary to have a certificate that the commodity was bound to be safe, with quality and up with the standards. Question from another student as he asked that were not in line with the topic. He asked how a company could face the transition from the Face-to-Face to online modality? Was this difficult to adapt, especially in this situation in today’s pandemic? CB Bation answered this as, based on her experience and opinion, she prefers the online transactions because she was not required to go to the Bureau to have and request export transactions. With this, it would lessen the cost of transport and any other occurring fees. Thus, the online transaction was effective and time efficient. The last question about submitting the exporter's documents to the importer is whether they have to stick with giving the original copy, or is it possible to do it like in Telex? CB Bation answered this query as the documents must be received to the BOC, then the scanned copies prior to the buyer will be sent and used in preliminary of the documents when the original documents. This depends on the part of the Shipper/shipping lines and the importer. CB Lozano added the discussion as the Importer act as the broker to receive the documents while the Exporter, who was responsible for sending the documents (the shipper) to the seller, has the correct, sufficient details. If there were no export, no imports have been made. Export can represent the company in dealing with export transactions.

After the open forum, the webinar workshop was about to end as CB Lozano talked over the issuance of giving the Certificate of Appreciation to the Resource Speaker for imparting her knowledge and expertise in giving the comprehensive discussion during the webinar series, the BSCA Internship. After this, it was followed by a closing prayer led by CB Lozano. The webinar session ended around 10:41 AM.