THE Department of Finance (DoF) said that the initial linking of the Philippines’ trade single window system with its Southeast Asian neighbors was “successful,” adding that it has obtained buy-in from nearly all agencies on joining the trade facilitation platform.
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said however that the development and testing of the system — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Single Window (ASW), will continue.
“Although there were some gaps in the responses between the two systems, the initial testing on the ASW connection with Indonesia was successful,” Mr. Beltran was quoted as saying in a statement e-mailed to journalists yesterday.
Mr. Beltran said the ASW’s interconnection tests will run until May with Cambodia and Brunei.
The ASW is a regional initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearances and promote economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents within the 10-member regional bloc.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are already using the ASW to exchange information on customs clearances.
The Philippine National Single Window (NSW) — also known as TradeNet — was launched in December by the DoF and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which is expected to minimize the costs of doing business and cut the processing time for the issuance of import and export permits.
So far, 65 of a total of 76 agencies involved in trade processes have adopted the online platform, the DoF said.
The Finance department had initially linked 16 government agencies when the platform was launched.
Mr. Beltran said that the Bureau of Customs (BoC) is set to identify five exporters who will pilot test TradeNet this month, while a team will do a demonstration on the Integrated Importer Accreditation Module, which aims to simplify the accreditation process for importers.
The module will later link accreditation records of regulatory agencies to the Customs bureau’s records, “to form a full importer profile.”
TradeNet initially covers import and export permits for rice, sugar, used motor vehicles, chemicals (toluene), frozen meat, medicine for humans, animals or fish and cured tobacco.
The agencies involved in issuing permits for these products include the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), National Tobacco Administration (NTA), Fair Trade and Enforcement Bureau (FTEB), National Food Authority (NFA), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the BoC. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
