TradeNet to link 76 gov’t agencies by 2022 — DoF
SEVENTY-SIX government agencies are expected to be connected to TradeNet, the National Single Window System for Customs clearances, by 2022, or else will be removed from the list of regulators, according to Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran.
“All the 76 agencies by 2022, they should all be connected or that agency will be removed from the list of regulators because NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) is reviewing,” Mr. Beltran told reporters in a chance interview in Pasay Monday.
“At least five should be added before the end of the year,” he added.
TradeNet is a platform of the Bureau of Customs that will connect the Philippine single window of trade-related agencies with its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts in order to rationalize and harmonizes all trade requirements.
It would also enable traders to apply for permits online, to which regulators can respond in real time, complementing the Ease of Doing Business Act.
“It’s just that before an agency goes online there are things they have to do like issue a manual so that the private sector, individuals, and corporations know what to do and then they will have to conduct public hearings pa (also) that are required,” Mr. Beltran said, noting that it is a slow process and some agencies are dragging their feet because of corruption.
“Yung agency mismo mabagal (The agency is slow to implement) because that’s understandable, they earn from it. When you are empowered to implement a process and you sit on it what do you do?… What we want to eradicate is the bribery part,” he said.
Mr. Beltran also said that there is no signed Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) yet in an absence of a head to sign it.
“The IRR is already finished. They are just waiting for someone to sign it. Once the head is appointed, it will be signed right away, Mr. Beltran said.
“One entity is already using it, all the chemical companies that import and export products go through it,” according to Mr. Beltran.
The automation of trade processes through the TradeNet went live in December 2018. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
