Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina has approved the emergency purchase of another server for the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system to address frequent problems of system slowdown.
There will be relief in the coming weeks once the new server is in place, assured Atty. Agaton Teodoro Uvero, Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG) deputy commissioner, in a meeting with stakeholders on July 1.
The new server will mirror the lone server of BOC, and can be used to view data and generate reports to lessen the daily load on the existing server.
The current e2m server slows down from 3 p.m. onwards, lengthening processing and thus increasing storage fee for warehousing, stakeholders complained during a meeting with BOC-Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Management Information Systems and Technology Group (MISTG) on July 1.
Uvero suggested to stakeholders to file before lunchtime to avoid the “rush hour” that starts around 1:30 p.m. or 2 p.m.
He noted all these are birth pains arising from implementation in May of the mandatory electronic filing of air manifests and the automation of transhipment for Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators.
Further extension
BOC-accredited value-added service providers (VASPs), during a meeting with BOC on July 2, suggested further extending the no-penalty period for submission of late airfreight manifests under Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 10-2015, or the revised mandatory electronic submission of air cargo manifest through a VASP.
It may be recalled that after implementing CMO 10-2015 on May 11, the BOC temporarily waived the penalty for late submissions to give stakeholders time to become familiar with the system while the agency addresses glitches. The system is also in “switch off” mode, which means an entry may be lodged even if the air waybill is not yet in BOC’s e2m system.
In separate presentations, the VASPs said that although compliance rates of airlines, air express operators, freight forwarders, and consolidators to the CMO have increased since May, there remain issues—on both the BOC and stakeholders’ sides—that have to be cleared first before imposing penalty.
One is that a considerable number of entries is being rejected by the system. Other issues also need to be ironed out, such as encoding errors, incorrect carrier codes, traceability of partial shipments, and the mismatch in weight between the house air waybill and master air waybill. Some users also still don’t fully understand the automated system, while many airfreight forwarders are not religiously using the automated system.
However, BOC-MISTG chief of technical support Nomie Gonzales told stakeholders during the meeting to be “ready soon,” since once the system is fully activated, the penalty for late submission of P1,000 for airlines and P500 for consolidators and forwarders will be strictly imposed. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of hywards at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
