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Across Borders

Across Borders is a column on world trade and customs issues written by Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero, an international trade, customs (indirect tax) and supply chain expert. Uvero provides advisory and training services to top corporations and industry associations. He was previously Deputy Commissioner for Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group at the Philippine Bureau of Customs (2013-2016). He is author of the book “Understanding International Trade, Tariff and Customs“.

Across Borders

RCEP and Free Trade Agreements

May 16, 2023

Last February 21, 2023, the Philippine Senate ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the largest free trade agreement (FTA) to date. The agreement...

How PH Customs should Modernize – Part II

April 23, 2023

Different Setting, Different Customs Model In the Philippines, with customs collections significantly contributing to approximately 15% of national revenue, the role of customs has primarily...

How PH Customs Should Modernize

April 16, 2023

(This is the first of a two-part series. ) Brief History of Philippine Customs Customs all over the world historically serves as the state “gatekeepers”, taking...

Avoiding Common Importer Mistakes

April 3, 2023

Unless you are buying a one-off low-value item online, buying offshore for regular importers and for high-value goods is a complex affair. The central...

International Trading Terms – INCOTERMS 2020

March 19, 2023

Prior to the pandemic, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) released its latest INCOTERMS version which took effect in January 1, 2020. With these...

How to Buy and Source from Abroad

March 12, 2023

In recent years, digital commerce has grown tremendously and this has greatly affected how people conduct their trading transactions. We all have heard of...

Frequently Asked Questions on Importation

March 6, 2023

As a result of the pandemic lockdowns, e-commerce has grown exponentially, and many offshore purchases are now done through online sites. Unfortunately, many first-time...

Introduction to Import Management – Part II

February 27, 2023

Know the Import and Export Process. Customs process in the Philippines is still partly manual and tedious. In addition, there are import regulations issued...

Introduction to Import Management – Part I

February 19, 2023

In the Philippines, most importers pay a lot more taxes (indirect taxes) to customs than to internal revenue authorities. The landed cost of importations...

What Will You Buy? How Will You Source?

August 28, 2018

In recent years, digital commerce has grown tremendously and this has greatly affected how people conduct their trading transactions. We all have heard of...