The Philippines has finally joined the live operations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Single Window (ASW), according to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The Philippines linked to the ASW on December 30, 2019, exchanging ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) electronic Form D (certificate of origin) with Indonesia and Malaysia, BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla said in a presentation to media on January 10.
Last December the Department of Finance (DOF), BOC’s mother agency, said the Philippines would go live on the ASW before the year ended, finally joining Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Brunei, which had all done so earlier.
The ASW is the regional initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearance and promote regional economic integration by enabling electronic exchange of border documents among the ASEAN’s 10 member states.
Like the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos were scheduled to join the ASW before 2019 ended.
BOC last year released Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 15-2019 that provides guidelines for application, submission, and processing of the ASEAN electronic certificate of origin (e-CO) using TradeNet, the government’s digital trading platform that aims to reduce the processing time and number of transactions for import and export clearances. TradeNet is the Philippine platform that connects to the ASW.
Under the ATIGA, the CO or Form D, which also serves as an exporter’s declaration, has to be submitted to secure preferential tariffs, which are tariff schedules giving one or more nations lower rates or other advantages over other countries.
Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran in an earlier statement noted that Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Brunei are already exchanging over 460,000 customs and other trade-related documents a year at only 10% of the usual cost to traders.
“Lower transaction costs will, in turn, enhance ASEAN’s trade competitiveness,” he added.
The Philippines aims to have all 76 trade regulatory government agencies across 18 government departments eventually become fully interconnected to TradeNet, a development expected to simplify import and export documentary processes covering an initial 7,400 regulated products.
DOF earlier said the government targets exchanging additional documents through the ASW this year, including sanitary and phytosanitary certificates, animal health certificates, self-certification of product origin, and shipping documents. – Roumina Pablo
