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All systems go for full implementation of TradeNet
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Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy on Feb 6 signed a MOA ensuring the development and sustainability of the TradeNet system as the Philippines’ National Single Window platform
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The NSW provides for automated and integrated licensing, permitting, clearance and certification system of Trade Regulatory Government Agencies involved in the import and export trade of regulated goods
TradeNet’s full implementation is underway following the February 6 signing of an agreement that paves the way for the onboarding of all 73 government agencies regulating imports and exports into the platform.
Signed by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy, the memorandum of agreement ensures the development and sustainability of the TradeNet system as the Philippines’ National Single Window (NSW) platform. The NSW provides for the automated and integrated licensing, permitting, clearance and certification system of the Trade Regulatory Government Agencies (TRGAs) relevant in the import and export trade of regulated goods.
The platform will continue to function as the official government portal for the electronic exchange of data on import and export that is connected to the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Single Window System, facilitating seamless trade with other countries in the region.
The agreement defines the Department of Finance (DOF) as responsible for the overall coordination, facilitation, and onboarding of the TRGAs to the TradeNet System.
DOF, DICT deal to define roles in TradeNet
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will operate, maintain, acquire, and modify the technological design and architecture of the TradeNet. Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), in accordance with its mandate under Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, will assist in the onboarding of TRGAs by helping streamline and re-engineer their processes.
The MOA has been pending for three years due to several revisions in the agreement. In November 2022, TradeNet’s implementation gained headway after ARTA convened the agencies and earned their commitment on the individual and joint responsibilities relevant to the platform.
Witnessing the signing of the lead agencies were Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Secretary Ernesto V. Perez, Presidential Management Staff senior undersecretary Elaine T. Masukat, Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, DOF Officer-in-Charge undersecretary Dakila Elteen M. Napao, and DICT assistant secretary Jeffrey Ian C. Dy.
“We know that in order for us to attract more investors or traders in the country, we need to address the high costs and long processing times of doing business in the Philippines. We can look at TradeNet as another tool that can help us to curb over-regulation and high transaction costs with the government as it addresses the demand for efficiency by the public to transact with the government,” ARTA Secretary Ernesto V. Perez said in his welcome remarks during the signing.
Diokno said the signing is a milestone in the improvement of trade facilitation in the country and committed to the platform’s full implementation. “These efforts are anchored in the DOF’s obligation, under the Ease of Doing Business Act, to expedite the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and adoption of digital technologies in enhancing the delivery of key public services. In this context, the DOF together with the DICT, BOC, and ARTA will continue to champion the government wide harmonization and automation of trade processes through the use of the TradeNet system,” Diokno said.
For his part, DICT Secretary Uy said: “This MOA is the first step in addressing all these bureaucratic challenges that we have to streamline and as the President says, to produce an agile bureaucracy that will facilitate trade and make it easier for the transacting public to do business in the country.”
In January, the Office of the President identified TradeNet as one of the identified priority digitalization programs of the government for 2023.
The MOA gives the DOF the green light to continue onboarding 18 priority TRGAs this year before their live operation to TradeNet. These TRGAs are the Bureau of Plant Industry, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards, Bureau of Quarantine, DTI-Export Marketing Bureau, National Meat Inspection Service, Philippine Coconut Authority, Philippine National Police-Civil Security Group -Firearms and Explosive Office, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Philippine Gaming Corporation, Forest Management Bureau, Office of the Protocol, and Board of Investments.
