BOC orders manual processing for PEZA transhipments while e2m slowdown persists

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ID-10053318Transhipment applications from Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators will have to be processed manually by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) while the agency addresses problems with its electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system.

In a memorandum dated May 16, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said that due to the e2m system slowdown, the BOC will undertake manual processing and approval of PEZA transits/transhipments until such time he issues further orders.

The e2m system server was in fact shut down for 24 hours, from May 21 to 22, as the BOC transferred the location of the system’s hardware. The shutdown—from 6am of May 21, 2016 until 6am of May 22, 2016—was in “connection with the ongoing BOC Data Center and Network Rehabilitation Project,” Management Information System and Technology Group deputy commissioner Dr. Dennis Reyes said.

READ: BOC to shut down e2m from May 21-22

As early as February 1, the BOC had already issued an order reiterating the use of manual processing for PEZA transhipments whenever the e2m bogs down. The February memo instructed district and port collectors to “approve manual process every time there is e2m slow down for more than 30 minutes or down time of more than two hours after confirmation with the assigned MISTG Site Team in your respective port.”

Since May 2015, all PEZA locators importing goods through any port of discharge for transhipment to any PEZA location have been required to file a transhipment entry through the e2m at the port of discharge, under BOC-PEZA Joint Memorandum Order (JMO) No. 01-2015.

This time under the May 16 memo, transit/transshipment applications should be filed electronically with an accredited value-added service provider, which will then “store application locally and not send data to current BOC e2m server.”

The declarant will print a copy of the application and attach the required supporting documents, including the PEZA Import Permit, for manual processing by both PEZA and Customs.

The Office of the Deputy Collector for Operations will maintain a record of all manually released transit single administrative document to ensure these are monitored, completely processed, and tagged paid once processing can be done in the e2m system, the May 16 memo said.

“Rest assured that the Bureau is addressing the cause of the slowdown and taking corrective measures which include migrating the e2m Customs System to a multi-core virtual computing environment,” Lina said.

MISTG’s Reyes, in a forum hosted by the Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc. on May 12, said BOC is subscribing to a virtual computing environment to distribute the e2m processes among multiple servers in a bid to minimize congestion.

READ: E2m scheduled transaction windows in place for 2 more weeks

The MISTG chief added that the subscription to the virtual cloud is a way to stabilize the e2m while the agency remains barred by the court from replacing or upgrading the e2m following an injunction filed by a disgruntled bidder.

At the same time, the BOC is implementing scheduled transaction windows in the e2m, which restrict the time stakeholders have to process certain shipments, to determine what processes trigger the slowdown. Once MISTG secures the information it needs, Reyes said the BOC will immediately switch off the scheduled transaction windows.

The order to schedule transaction windows for e2m, contained in a draft memorandum order dated April 8 and signed by Customs commissioner Alberto Lina, is meant to address limitations in the BOC’s technology environment, reducing “transactional latencies experienced by all external and internal stakeholders connecting to the e2m environment.” – Roumina Pablo­