TWENTY GOVERNMENT agencies are expected to be fully integrated into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) single window trade facilitation platform by the first half of 2018, the Department of Finance (DoF) said.

In a statement yesterday, the DoF said an initial 20 trade-related offices will be linked to TradeNet, the National Single Window (NSW) system, greater than the initially expected 16 agencies.

This is about a third of the 66 agencies which will eventually use the system “progressively over the course of the next two to three years.”

The system allows traders to apply for import and export permits for their shipments at a single transaction window. Products initially covered by the scheme are rice, sugar, used motor vehicles, chemicals (toluene), frozen meat,  medicines (for humans, animals or fish), and cured tobacco.

Agencies included in the system are the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of Product Standards, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, among others.

Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said that this is expected “to shorten the processing time of import/export clearances, reduce the number of transactions and required documents to be submitted, and remove red tape that has plagued businesses and citizens when dealing with the government.”

On top of facilitating trade, the program is also expected to increase transparency in customs procedures and improve revenue collection.

The NSW will be then linked to the ASEAN Single Window, a regional initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearances and promote economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents among the organization’s 10 member-states — which has been installed and is being tested this month.

Mr. Beltran said that the linkage to the ASEAN platform is targeted by December this year.

Of the 10 ASEAN member states, only Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand have successfully integrated into the ASEAN Single Window.

Such move is expected to contribute to the improvement of its ranking.

The Philippines was 113th in the latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings, down from 99th last year. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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