Report of the OTO Advisory Council (April 12, 1993)

3-(1) Changing customs clearance procedures outside the normal customs office hours (overtime service system)

1. Complainant: the U.S. Embassy

2. Ministry concerned: Ministry of Finance

3. Complaint:

Subject to approval by the Director-General of Customs, the overtime service system is in effect to customs clearance procedures on Sunday, holiday or outside normal Customs office hours of any other days.

For every application to obtain approval, users are required to pay the overtime service fee based on one-hour units. Further, in order to determine the number of staff required for overtime service and expected processing time, the maximum number of cases per application is determined according to the type of cargo. In the case of air cargo imports or exports, the maximum number is set at five per application.

The complainant states that although it is possible to clear a considerable number of small package shipment in one hour, since the current overtime service fee schedule limits the maximum number to be cleared per application to five, the overtime service fees as a whole are a considerable burden and regulations concerning the current fee schedule should be reviewed to take current conditions into account.

4. Results of deliberation:

Under the current fee system of overtime service, the beneficiary is compensated, which are calculated according to hourly expenses of the Customs for staff and facilities. The limit on the number of articles per application is determined based on the average time (number of applications one staff can process per hour) required for import/export procedures (included, physical examination).

Calculations of time required for customs clearance should of course reflect the actual time required as far as possible, but the method actually used (many staffers handling a large number of cargoes) makes objective calculations difficult. For lack of a better method, then, the number of items per application is limited according to specific guidelines.

Items clearing customs are also examined according to the level of risk of the particular cargo. Even if the cargo is a small package shipment if it is judged to be high-risk, it is examined carefully. Therefore, it does not hold that small package shipment must be processed quickly simply because they are small package shipment.

The current limits per application, however, were set based on conditions in 1987. Customs processing has been speeded up since then and because the number of small package shipment cleared has been steadily increasing, the current handling fee schedule can end by putting more of a burden than actual expenses to companies specializing in handling small package shipment.

Accordingly, the ministry or agency concerned should immediately review actual customs processing conditions during contingency office hours and review current handling procedures based on these findings.

Government decision (May 27, 1993)

The ministry or agency concerned should immediately review actual customs processing conditions during contingent office hours. They should also revise current handling procedures based on the outcome of the review.