THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) yesterday signed a Joint Memorandum Order (JMO) to implement the Automated Export Documentation System (AEDS).
The JMO aims to simplify exports of Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone (SSEFZ) locators for loading at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark and at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
It is also designed to harmonize SSEFZ export procedures with ecozones in the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (Calabarzon) and Cebu-Mactan with NAIA, Cebu-Mactan International Airport (CMIA) and the DMIA.
Specifically, the automated system allows exporters to undertake remote lodgment of Export Declarations (ED) in the form of a Single Administrative Document (SAD), 24/7, including weekends and holidays. The system replaced signatures with generated encrypted barcodes.
The presence of a barcode in a printed ED signifies that the ED application has been processed and approved by the system, thus converting it into the Authority to Load (ATL).
The scanning of ATL barcodes at the SSEFZ gate and the receiving counters of the airline carrier companies generates departure and arrival data supporting real-time tracking and monitoring of the status of the export shipments, a feature which serves as an effective safeguard against possible diversion of exports into the domestic market.
