Customs Department officials met with several dozen merchants yesterday, unveiling a new form they hope will allow for electronic filing and more accurate data collection.
At a symposium held at the conference room of the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, customs officers walked attendees through the nuances of the HMC-12 form, which on Jan. 1 will phase out the existing T-12 form.
The form asks for more detail about the shipper and the goods being shipped. The additional data the form will generate will help the Customs Department identify trends in importation and help policymakers make decisions about trade and the economy, Customs Commissioner Wade Smith told the audience.
Kendra Pickering, a customs officer, gave an example of the new forms’ requirements: Importers will now have to list the city at which a shipment was consolidated rather than just the country. Tracking that data, she said, could be useful in a variety of situations, including determining whether dangerous drugs that have been recalled have reached the VI.
See the Oct. 25, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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