The Bureau of Customs (BOC) aims to speed up trade, strengthen border security and plug revenue leakages by implementing more Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in the next few months as it prepares for the “new normal” due to Covid-19 pandemic.
In a news statement issued on Wednesday the BOC said it will fast-track the rollout ICT projects in the pipeline.
At the same time, the BOC also said the loan negotiations between the Department of Finance and World Bank on the Philippine Customs Modernization Project will begin on May 12, 2020.
The project was approved on March 6 by the National Economic and Development Authority Board’s (Neda) Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CabCom).
Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero has already signed a letter to the Department of Budget Management for the issuance of the Forward Obligation Authority (FOA) for the project. The FOA is a requirement for the loan negotiation.
The BOC will also issue a Customs Special Order, creating the Project Management Unit tasked to oversee the implementation of the project and ensure that the project objectives, along with the specifications and standards, are met during construction, deployment and implementation of the project.
A Special Bids and Awards Committee shall also be constituted for the procurement of the different components of the project.
The BOC also said it is working on stabilizing the electronic-to-mobile (E2M) system wherein the legacy component of E2M will be replaced by Trade Engine to ensure the fast system performance of the existing system.
As of May 1, the bureau reported that Trade Engine has been successfully rolled out in all collection districts.
The E2M system was implemented by the BOC to help streamline its processes, which is seen to improve trade facilitation between the bureau and its stakeholders.
To protect government revenues arising from discrepancies and misdeclaration of quantity and gross weight of imported goods, BOC is likewise working on an Online Inventory Management System for Off-Dock Container Yard/Container Freight Stations (CY/CFS) that will monitor the real-time status of import goods transferred, stored, and withdrawn.
Aside from these, the BOC said it will also develop a system that will monitor real-time status and accounting of imported raw materials from the time of its transfer from the port of discharge to the Customs Bonded Warehouses (CBW) destination.
This system called Online Inventory Management System for CBW will also monitor the withdrawal of imported raw materials either for production, transfer to another CBW, or to a free zone registered enterprise up to the exportation of finished goods.
It will also manage the liquidation of the goods declaration filed for the imported raw materials.
Within the year, the BOC is also targeting to introduce an Online Payment Platform to quickly process the payment of customs fees such as the processing fee for registration of importers and customs brokers at the Account Management Office (AMO) will be accepted online. The said system will complement other online transactions of the bureau.