By LEO V. MORADA, IT Columnist
MANDATORY submission of electronic airline and aircargo consolidation manifest to the Philippine Bureau of Customs’ electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system is now ongoing in the country’s major airports.
The June 16, 2011 implementation date for Customs Memorandum Order 23-2011 (Submission Of Electronic Air Manifest Through VASP) was upheld during a meeting conducted by BOC Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last week and attended by representatives of airlines, ground handling agents and air express operators.
The application of the electronic air manifest is on soft implementation for 60 days, according to BOC NAIA District Collector Atty Carlos So. This will allow companies not yet compliant with the e2m Client Profile Registration System (CPRS) and/or not yet capable of advance electronic manifest submission to achieve full compliance.
For the transition period, BOC will not impose penalties for late manifest submission by airlines and airfreight forwarders.
Mandatory compliance takes effect on August 17, 2011.
NAIA & Mactan airlines online; Clark to follow
BOC-accredited value-added service provider Cargo Data Exchange Center Inc (CDEC) reported to BOC that as of June 16, the following airlines in NAIA are already submitting electronic air manifest in e2m System: Air HongKong, Eva Airways, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airlines, Japan Air Lines, Delta Airlines, Gulf Air and Korean Airlines.
CDEC also reported it is providing assistance on e2m CPRS registration to KLM Cargo, Thai Cargo, All Nippon Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines.
Over at Mactan, CDEC handled initial e-manifest submissions by Cathay Pacific and Korean Air.
For its part E-Konek Pilipinas, another BOC-accredited VASP, said it is helping 12 airlines, including Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, comply with e2m electronic manifest submission.
Air express operators
Air express operators FEDEX, DHL Express, TNT Express and UPS also commenced their respective e-manifest submissions last week and are expected to subsequently expand their compliance to include air express shipments carried by other commercial airlines. Some technical problems encountered in the e2m System caused by voluminous transaction volume are being evaluated by the BOC Management Information Systems and Technology Group for resolution.
A sticking point it seems is whether the current practice of pre-clearing cargoes of express operators even prior to the submission of pertinent documents to the BOC will continue to be allowed.
Member lines of the Philippine Chamber of Air Express Operators are pushing for a stay on the practice, saying that delays will occur if they have to wait for documents before cargo clearance.
Airfreight forwarders
As far as electronic airfreight forwarders are concerned, CDEC reported to BOC that more than 50 forwarders and consolidators are already using its VASP system for submitting e-manifest in NAIA and Mactan.
Modes of submission
At the moment, the initial modes of e-manifest submissions involve encoding data directly into the VASP system or file uploads. The VASPs are continuously working with stakeholders to implement more efficient solutions of e-manifest data submissions to meet the advance cut-off times required by e2m.
Cut-off
The electronic air manifest for shipments on flights originating in Asia must be submitted two hours before aircraft arrival in any Philippine airport.
For flights with less than two hours’ flying time, the deadline is one hour prior to arrival and for flights originating in North or South America, four hours prior to aircraft arrival in any Philippine airport.
The deadline for flights originating in locations other than Asia, North and South America is four hours before aircraft arrival.
When it comes to consolidated cargo manifest, the deadline for flights originating within Asia is an hour before aircraft arrival and two hours prior for flights originating in North or South America.
For origins outside the identified locations, the cut-off is two hours before aircraft arrival in any Philippine airport.
