The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) technology modernization plan aimed at improving customs services will ease processes for exporters and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“The use of technology solutions to ease documentation and customs procedures will allow our exporters to expeditiously move goods across borders and to capitalize on the growing benefits of our trade engagements,” Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal, Jr. said in a statement.
BOC recently launched a series of information technology projects to prepare for the passage of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
The projects will equip the bureau with robust IT systems and solutions to “enhance and secure the services it is mandated to provide its stakeholders, aligned with the national government’s push towards trade facilitation, while equipping its regulatory, intelligence and law enforcement units with the necessary foundations to enhance its profiling and decision support capabilities,” said Cristobal.
The CMTA will amend the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines so it complies with the World Customs Organization (WCO)-Revised Kyoto Convention that lays down international guidelines for modern and efficient customs practices.
Key provisions of the CMTA include the reduction of opportunities for corruption and technical smuggling, update of existing laws to address modern business and trade practices, promotion of a paperless environment in trade transactions, and reduction in the cost of doing business and thus encourage investments.
Cristobal said the IT modernization program likewise lends support to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Boracay Action Agenda to Globalize MSMEs (BAA-MSMEs).
The BAA-MSMEs aims to pursue regional cooperation in trade facilitation to develop dynamic and global MSMEs.
Among its priority actions is to simplify procedural and documentary requirements for MSMEs.
“Bringing the Philippines’ customs procedures in line with global best practices will successfully plug our local enterprises, particularly MSMEs, as part of global value chains or as direct exporters of finished goods and services in regional and global markets,” Cristobal said.
“Further progress in trade liberalization will also ensure that our businesses can make full use of market opportunities,” he added.
According to the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), the bureau’s modernization plan will also raise the country’s performance in terms of trade facilitation procedures.
It will further improve the Philippines’ ranking in the Trading Across Borders (TAB) indicator measured in the Word Bank-International Finance Corporation’s Ease of Doing Business Report.
The TAB measures time and costs associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods using three sets of procedures: documentary compliance, border compliance, and domestic transport.
The NCC is finalizing its targets for TAB.
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