AsycudaWorld to recognize TIN of corporations - BOC
THOSE waiting for an answer on whether AsycudaWorld will
recognize entries filed by corporations, wait no more. The answer is yes.
According to Customs deputy commissioner for the Management Information Service
and Technology Group (MISTG) Alexander Arevalo, the system for implementation in
the first quarter of next year will recognize entries filed by corporations using
their corporate tax identification number (TIN).
However, all entries must also bear the individual TIN or signature of the
authorized customs broker by the corporations without which, entries filed by
corporations will be rejected, Arevalo told PortCalls at the sidelines of the
Port Users Confederation building inauguration last week.
All company information, such as Securities and Exchange Commission registration,
as well as cargo consignee, destination and other vital information will also be
included, he added.
It will be a seamless integration of information; any entry lacking only one
of the information will be rejected, Arevalo said.
AsycudaWorld is an upgrade of the Automated System for Customs Data (Asycuda).
The new system is expected to increase the speed of data transfer within Bureau
of Customs (BOC) offices, and help make transactions more transparent.
The program is part of the BOC's move to modernize its system in order
to plug holes in the bureaucracy and collect more revenues for the government.
Under AsycudaWorld, the BOC will require biometric signatures for uniform
electronic messages based on a global, harmonized standard data, otherwise
known as the World Customs Organization Data Model. The shift to AsycudaWorld
is also in line with the ongoing P500-million customs modernization program
which will enhance current day-to-day operations of the BOC involving import
entry lodgment, the Valuation Reference Information System, selectivity,
bank payment transactions, electronic manifest system assessment process
and online releasing.
The data generated in the system may be used for statistical economic
analysis both for the country and for the United Nations. The system
takes into account international codes and standards developed by the
International Organization for Standardization, World Customs Organization,
and the UN.
The impending implementation of AsycudaWorld has prompted freight forwarders
and customs houses to seek a step-by-step guide at the BOC to ensure that they
can continue transacting with the BOC.
The groups claim a directive is needed to prevent any confusion once the agency
starts using AsycudaWorld as it only recognizes individual biometrics and
electronic signatures and TIN.
For now, corporations and freight forwarders are still allowed to lodge entries
using their corporate TIN. Which TIN to use in import entries appears to be
the most contentious issue under AsycudaWorld as well as Customs Administrative
Order 3-2006-A which operationalizes Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Broker
Act of 2004.
(AsycudaWorld) will definitely bolster implementation of Customs Administrative
Order 3-2006-A plus implement provisions of the Kyoto protocol and the Asean
Single Window. It does not matter now who processes the paper, said Philippine
International Seafreight Forwarders Association executive secretary and Port
Users Confederation spokesperson Atty. Romeo Sto. Tomas.
Sharing the same view is Aircargo Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc.
president Jaime Roxas: It is a good move from the MISTG to allow corporations
to access AsycudaWorld. It will really enhance the movement of cargoes in
the country.
International trade and customs consultant and PortCalls columnist Atty.
Agaton Teodoro Uvero said it also does not matter whether AsycudaWorld is
able to identify entries filed by corporations. "What is important is that
the Customs Accreditation Secretariat or the BOC legal division should come
out with a directive whether it will allow accreditation of corporations.
In the absence of such a directive, existing laws apply which bar accreditation
of corporations at the BOC."
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC), Department of Agriculture and
its seven attached agencies, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) have
signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) aimed at curbing smuggling, particularly
of agricultural products.
The MOA requires all importers to secure letters of credit, documents
against payment, and documents against accep-tance from the BSP which will
validate the issuance of import permits from the bureaus of Animal Industry,
Plant Industry and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The agreement will facilitate information sharing and inter-agency counterchecking
among BOC and agricultural agencies as well as the BSP to synchronize the process
of importing meat, poultry, fisheries and other agricultural precuts to
the country.
BSP will open a window to authorize banks of the BOC, usually the Land Bank of
the Philippines, to handle import transactions of regulated agricultural commodities
and assign personnel to coordinate with the BOC on all agriculture and meat
transactions. They must submit reports on payment transactions of importers
and report irregularities to BOC for appropriate actions.
With the MOA and with the participation of local agricultural industries,
the BOC will be able to achieve the objectives of revenue enhancements,
trade facilitation and trade security, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales
said.
Aside from this agreement, the agencies also signed a pact on the implementation
of the National Single Window by quarter two of next year.
Customs deputy commissioner Alexander Arevalo said the implementation of
the National Single Window is a step toward the implementation of the
Asean Single Window by early 2008. The National Single Window System is
envisioned to create a "single, synchronized processing and decision-making
system for customs inspection, clearance and cargo release" for the entire
country beginning July 2007.
DOMESTIC cargo handlers are asking for another round of rate increase.
Philippine Chamber of Arrastre and Stevedoring Service Operators (PCASSO) said the
15% hike it is petitioning represents the balance of the 30% it originally requested
from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) last year.
The group said the earlier-approved 15% is not enough to cover expenses related to
labor, fuel and power. The PCASO petition covers arrastre and stevedoring services
at the Manila North Harbor.
I have created a panel to study the cargo-handling rate increase petition,
PPA general manager Atty. Oscar Sevilla said.
There has been tremendous increase in salaries and wages as well as fuel
and power (costs). The increase in cargo-handling rates is to recover
expenses related to that. However, the petition will be studied thoroughly,
Sevilla stressed.
Local cargo-handling operators International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
and Asian Terminals, Inc. are not party to the petition. A check at both terminals
revealed there are no immediate plans by both to ask for another rate increase.
Shippers, led by the Distribution Management Association of the Philippines, said
any increase will have a direct impact on their business, as it is suffering from
poor economic conditions aggravated by the country's political woes.
The increase, they said, will ultimately be shouldered by end consumers.
