Duty-Exemptions on Donated Imported Goods are goods from foreign countries that are exempted from the payment of import duties upon the approval of the Secretary of the Department of Finance (DoF).

It is based on Republic Act No. 10863 otherwise known as the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA)” of 2016, Section 800(A-Z).

The DSWD is mandated to certify the following: (1) that the duly registered relief organization is not operating for profit; and (2) the imported goods will be distributed for free among the needy.

Click here to read DSWD’s Memorandum Circular No. 08 Series of 2024 to read the DEI guidelines.

A private Social Work Agency (SWA) duly-Registered, Licensed, and Accredited with a valid Certificate of Registration and License to Operate (CRLTO), and Certificate of Accreditation issued by the DSWD.

The agency head or authorized representative may accomplish the application through DSWD HELPS.

If you are a SWA that is anticipating foreign donations/goods from a foreign individual/organization and would want to be exempted from the payment of import duties, then you have to apply for DSWD Certification. But if you are willing to pay for import duties, there is no need for the DSWD Certification.

There are two (2) application categories: Under Normal Circumstances and/or State of Calamity.

A State of Public Health Emergency refers to the declaration of epidemics of national and/or international concerns by the Secretary of the Department of Health, except when the same threatens national security, by which the President of the Republic of the Philippines shall declare a State of Public Health Emergency per Section 7 of RA No. 11332 of 2018.

A State of Calamity refers to a condition involving mass casualty and/or major damages to property, disruption of means of livelihood, among others, and officially declared by the appropriate authority as defined by Section 16 of Republic Act No. 10121 of 2010.

Thus, applications without any declaration from the appropriate authorities will fall under Normal Circumstances.

In this instance, your application category falls under the State of Public Health Emergency and/or State of Calamity, where the processing fee is waived and the submission of the notarized Distribution Plan is within five (5) working days upon receipt of the Certification.

The DSWD will conduct *validation on the consistencies of the application and notarized Distribution Plan, and you are subjected to an announced or unannounced monitoring visit.

*General Policies, 6.2.

Yes, a Certification of Eligibility may be issued to Social Work Agency (SWA) even without securing clearances from the concerned government agencies. The clearances from the concerned government agencies (e.g., Food and Drugs Administration, Department of Education) are requirements of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The acceptable goods for free distribution are: 1) food items that are mainly for human consumption; 2) Specified non-food items such as mats, blankets, shoes, medicines, cooking and kitchen utensils, and others.

The goods that are NOT acceptable are used clothing and tobacco.

The Certification issued to an eligible SWA is valid for one (1) year only unless earlier canceled or revoked due to any violations committed under the Penal Provisions (hyperlink to the penal provisions) of the guidelines.

The distribution of donated imported goods shall only be within the area of coverage/operations of the SWA as stated in its DSWD-issued CRLTO.

However, during a State of Public Health Emergency and/or Calamity, the distribution outside of SWA’s area of coverage/operations is allowed provided it is reflected in the notarized Distribution Plan that is required to be submitted per importation.

The distribution of donated imported goods shall only be within the area of coverage/operations of the SWA as stated in its DSWD-issued CRLTO.

However, during a State of Public Health Emergency and/or Calamity, the distribution outside of SWA’s area of coverage/operations is allowed provided it is reflected in the notarized Distribution Plan that is required to be submitted per importation.

All applications for securing DSWD Certification for duty-exemption of donations must be submitted through the DSWD HELPS.

If the DSWD HELPS is unavailable, the private SWA is allowed to submit via the Standards Bureau (SB) official email address the duly accomplished application form and requirements including the proof of payment of processing fee to DSWD’s authorized payment merchants.

If DSWD HELPS is unavailable and there is a declaration of a Public Health Emergency/Calamity at the same time, the private SWA may submit its application to the concerned DSWD Field Office (FO) either via walk-in or courier service.

Below is the the list of requirements per type of applicant:

Yes, it should be uploaded during the application process for Normal Circumstances. Meanwhile, uploading of notarized Distribution Plan is not yet required for applications under a State of Public Health Emergency/Calamity.

In this application category, the notarized Distribution Plan has to be submitted via uploading to DSWD HELPS within five (5) working days upon receipt of the Certification.

Yes, a Php 1,000 processing fee is required for New and Renewal Applications under the Normal Circumstances category. These fees are non-refundable and non-transferable upon application. In contrast, no fees are required for applications under a State of Public Health Emergency and/or Calamity.

No. A processing fee is not required during the succeeding importations as long as your Certification is valid.

Within three (3) working days for applications under Normal Circumstances while it is within one (1) working day for applications under a State of Public Health Emergency and/or Calamity.

Yes, the following conditions will merit non-applicability of the guidelines resulting in automatic disapproval of applications:

1. The donated imported goods have already been released by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to SWDA;
2. The donated imported goods are already in any of the Philippine Ports upon application of the SWA;
3. The consignee is not a registered, licensed, and accredited SWA and/or has an expired CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation by the DSWD; and,
4. The SWA with CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation has not complied with the reportorial requirements regarding the previous application certified by the DSWD.

An approved application is equivalent to an issued DSWD Certification. You may now proceed to submit all other required documents to DoF-BOC following their procedures for duty-exemption through this link.

A disapproved application means incomplete and noncompliance with required information and documents.

You need to log in to DSWD HELPS and submit the corrected Application within two (2) working days for Normal Circumstances, and one (1) working day for a State of Public Health Emergency/Calamity. Submission beyond the prescribed timeline is subject to payment of a processing fee.

No. However, within three (3) calendar days, you are required to notify the DSWD through the DSWD HELPS that you have received the donated imported goods and report the conditions of the goods received.

Any deviations from the submitted notarized Distribution Plan due to damages of goods received shall be strictly reported to the DSWD via the DSWD HELPS to avoid any penalties/unfavorable findings during the monitoring visit(s).

A SWA is given six (6) months from the date of receipt of donated imported goods to utilize and distribute the same to its beneficiaries.

Yes, for every importation, a SWA is given six (6) months to utilize/distribute the received imported goods. Before the end of the six (6) month period, the SWA shall submit a Final Distribution Report with action photos before the end of the six (6) month period. Further, if not yet fully utilized/distributed, a Status Report may suffice. These reportorial requirements are to be requested also for succeeding importations and re-issuance of the Certification. Lastly, the deviations made based on the information provided to DSWD upon receipt of goods should also be indicated in these reporting templates.

Click here (hyperlink to Annex F) to download the Final Distribution/Status Report template.

The DSWD will conduct an announced and/or unannounced monitoring visit to the SWA’s identified area/s of distribution and date/s of distribution per consignment/importation and as stated in the submitted notarized Distribution Plan. A random inspection may also be conducted based on the submitted documents to BOC vis-a-vis the notarized Distribution Plan.

State of Public Health Emergency/Calamity: Non-submission of the notarized Distribution Plan within (5) working days upon receipt of Certification will result in the automatic cancellation of the Certification.

Normal Circumstances: The application will not proceed without an uploaded notarized Distribution Plan.

“Non-declaration of donated imported goods upon application and/or notarized Distribution Plan” is a violation under Item D of Section XII. Penal Provisions of MC 08 s. 2024.

Said section states that, violations of ANY of the provisions A to H shall be subject to:

1. Automatic disqualification to apply a Certification for Duty-Exemption on Importation of Donated Imported Goods;
2. Automatic cancellation of issued Certification (if still valid); and
3. Revocation of DSWD CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation, and delisting from the DSWD registry.

“Non-submission of distribution plan and/or distribution report as required” is a violation under Item E of Section XII. Penal Provisions of MC 08 s. 2024.

Said section states that, violations of ANY of the provisions A to H shall be subject to:

1. Automatic disqualification to apply a Certification for Duty-Exemption on Importation of Donated Imported Goods;
2. Automatic cancellation of issued Certification (if still valid); and
3. Revocation of DSWD CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation, and delisting from the DSWD registry.

No. “Utilization of the issued Certification for consignment/s without distribution plan submitted to the DSWD” is a violation under Item F of Section XII. Penal Provisions of MC 08 s. 2024.

Said section states that, violations of ANY of the provisions A to H shall be subject to:

1. Automatic disqualification to apply a Certification for Duty-Exemption on Importation of Donated Imported Goods;
2. Automatic cancellation of issued Certification (if still valid); and
3. Revocation of DSWD CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation, and delisting from the DSWD registry.

“Failure to inform the DSWD of the conditions of received foreign donations and/or any amendments in the distribution plan” is a violation under Item G of Section XII. Penal Provisions of MC 08 s. 2024.

Said section states that, violations of ANY of the provisions A to H shall be subject to:

1. Automatic disqualification to apply a Certification for Duty-Exemption on Importation of Donated Imported Goods;
2. Automatic cancellation of issued Certification (if still valid); and
3. Revocation of DSWD CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation, and delisting from the DSWD registry.

It is important to note that if there is any fraudulent findings during the monitoring visit and proven eventually that the SWA has violated any of the provisions, the SWA shall be subject to:

1. Automatic disqualification to apply a Certification for Duty-Exemption on Importation of Donated Imported Goods;
2. Automatic cancellation of issued Certification (if still valid); and
3. Revocation of DSWD CRLTO and Certificate of Accreditation, and delisting from the DSWD registry.

Sections 800 and 1403 of CMTA of 2016 that are applicable for these guidelines are:

1. Section 800, “goods sold, bartered, hired or used for purposes other than what they were intended for and without prior payment of the duty, tax or other charges which would have been due and payable at the time of entry if the goods had been entered without the benefit of this section, shall be subject to forfeiture and the importation shall constitute a fraudulent practice against customs laws”;
2. Section 1401 provides for various punitive actions (i.e. imprisonment and penalties) relative to the fraudulent importation or exportation of goods;
3. Section 1403, “[a]ny person who makes or attempts to make any entry of imported or exported goods by means of any false or fraudulent statement, document or practice or knowingly and willfully files any false or fraudulent claim for payment of drawback or refund of duties shall, for each act, be punished in accordance with the penalties prescribed in Section 1401.”;

Any violations committed will be subsequently reported to the BOC for appropriate action in line with other existing applicable guidelines/laws.