With his senatorial bid taking a back seat, Philippine Customs commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon said he will focus on enhancing the Bureau of Customs (BOC) automation system to facilitate trade and curb smuggling.
Biazon said his thrust will rely heavily on technology, specifically improving the electronic-to-mobile (e2m) system, adopting the National Single Window (NSW) and the Asean Single Window (ASW), and automating other processes in the bureau.
“I have some consultation with the President and I still maintain that my direction really is to run for the Senate. I am happier as a legislator,” Biazon said last week. “But with the decision to defer my Senate bid, concentration will be focused in the automation of the processes in the agency.”
According to Biazon, the use of state-of-the-art technology is the long-term solution to customs problems, particularly smuggling.
Biazon said Filipinos tend to look at smuggling as a problem involving people and not systems. “It is the system that provides those personalities the opportunities so we will eliminate those opportunities by putting in available technology,” he explained.
Among systems for adoption are the NSW and eventually the ASW, the former likely to be implemented before yearend despite delays in the bidding process.
Biazon is also looking at a process that will automatically reject Harmonized System (HS) codes and descriptions that do not match. Right now discrepancies require the attention of a customs personnel.
“….it’s possible that under the present system, the HS codes are different from the cargo descriptions. What we can do is simple programming… to make the system reject any entries that have conflicting HS codes and descriptions. We do not leave it to the people to make discretion,” he explained.
The BOC chief is also looking at how to get around propriety rights of the e2m system.
“For the e2m, an open source is an option. But if not, then we have to get somebody to get the access for us,” Biazon said.
Image courtesy of International computer network by sheelamohan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
