The Bureau of Customs (BOC) plans to put in place starting April 18 transaction windows for electronic-to-mobile (e2m) processes at the agency, effectively limiting the time in which one can submit such transactions.
Under a draft memorandum order dated April 8, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina has directed value-added service providers (VASPs) to conform strictly to the following transaction windows:
- 1 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. for manifest submissions
- 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Client Profile Registration System (CPRS), payments, and BOC transactions. Only CPRS and payment-related transactions originating from VASPs will be allowed during this period. All other transactions will be purged from the system.
- 7:15 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. for lodgement declarations. Sea cargo lodgements entered during this prescribed window will be processed by BOC the following working day. As such, only entries lodged on a Thursday night will be processed by BOC on Friday.
VASPs that will not comply with the new transaction schedules will be penalized with a one-hour suspension of access privileges to e2m for the first offense, a one-day suspension of access privileges for the second offense, and a one-month suspension of privileges for the third offense.
The order 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,” Lina said.
E2m shutdown is a very common occurrence, causing delays in data submissions, and consequently slowing cargo processing and delivery.
Lina told PortCalls on April 12 that the order on the transaction windows is being issued to “diffuse” the number of e2m transactions “until such time that a sophisticated system is in place.”
As it is, the BOC is implementing six projects, launched in February, designed to upgrade its information technology systems. The agency said the projects will equip the bureau with robust information technology systems that “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.”
READ: BOC rolls out P222M tech modernization projects
In the draft order, Lina noted, “While the BOC Management Information Systems and Technology Group (MISTG) is currently undertaking parallel enhancement activities, we need to be cognizant that the e2m mission-critical system supporting the daily operations of the Bureau of Customs is a legacy system.
“Environmental conditions such as the quality of the internet services employed by stakeholders and internal operating units connecting to our environment amplify delays in the transactional delays of e2m.”
The draft order comes after BOC issued in January Customs Memorandum Order No. 04-2016 which already reduced the amount of transmissions that can be accepted by e2m to minimize the sending of duplicate data. This was seen as another way to lessen pressure on the technically challenged e2m. Under CMO 04-2016, the lodging of data to the e2m system through VASP facilities has been limited to 50 records per batch sent.
READ: BOC puts cap on excessive sending of info to E2M
Effects akin to the truck ban
The draft memo on the transaction window is being widely assailed by port stakeholders. PortCalls sources likened the proposed transaction windows to the truck ban in that both will ultimately cause a slowdown in trade.
“The order states that entries for sea cargo lodged on Thursday, 7:15pm to 11:45pm, would be processed on the following day, Friday; would entries lodged on Friday be processed and cleared by Customs on Saturday?” asked a PortCalls source.
Another questioned whether this draft order runs counter to the 24/7 operations that BOC is espousing. Lina himself has said that the operations at BOC Cebu are now running at 24/7. Several banks have also agreed to extend their services 24/7 to meet BOC’s supposedly 24/7 schedule.
READ: Some PH banks offer 24/7 service for BOC payments
With importers facing a limited window for e2m transactions, the BOC plan will affect the production line, sources said.
It will also likely have a knockon effect on other parts of the supply chain, including the Terminal Appointment Booking System in Manila ports since booking for that system is dependent on BOC’s Online Cargo Release System (OLRS).The OLRS enables port or arrastre operators, airline and other authorized warehouses, and container yard/container freight stations to receive release instructions from and transmit confirmation or misrouted OLRS messages to the BOC e2m system. The limited transaction window will have an effect on when the OLRS is released.
There are other questions surrounding the draft order. During a recent meeting between BOC and VASPs on the proposed order, PortCalls learned BOC officials claimed the air manifest and import entry for air cargo are not covered by the said order, yet the order’s Section 7 covers the “Aircraft and Operations Divisions”.
Under the order, BOC’s Aircraft and Operations Division/Pier Inspection Division will tag the actual date and time of arrival of an aircraft or vessel a day after the actual arrival to jibe with the adjusted hours of manifest submission.
To maintain the integrity of transaction windows, VASPs are directed to submit the last transaction for each scheduled window no later than 10 minutes before cut-off.
“All transactions committed beyond the cut-off requirement will be completely truncated and purged from the system,” the memo stated.– Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
