General Bonded Warehouse Act

PURPOSE – to regulate the business of receiving commodities for storage in order to protect
persons who may want to avail themselves of warehouse facilities and to encourage the
establishment of more warehouses.

To achieve this purpose, any person who wants to engage in the business of receiving commodities for storage is required by the Act to first secure a license therefor from the Department of Trade and Industry. (Sec. 3)

WAREHOUSEMAN – a person engaged in the business of receiving commodity for storage. (Sec. 2)
- person lawfully engaged in the business of storing goods for profit. (Sec. 58 (a) of the Warehouse
Receipts Act [Act No. 2137])

The BUSINESS OF RECEIVING COMMODITY FOR STORAGE includes entering into any contract or
transaction wherein:
1. The warehouseman is obligated to return the very same commodity to him or pay its value;
2. The commodity delivered is to be milled for the owner thereof;
3. The commodity delivered is commingled with the commodity belonging to other persons, and the warehouseman is obligated to return commodity of the same kind or to pay its value.

Generally, the commodities that may be stored in a bonded warehouse could be any raw,
processed, manufactured, or finished product or by-product, goods, article, or merchandise, either domestic or of foreign production or origin, which may be traded to or dealt in openly and legally. Thus, prohibited substances, the possession of which is proscribed by law, may not be validly received for storage in a bonded warehouse. (Sec. 2)