The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is moving toward a more paperless environment, discarding the use of a few forms to help minimize cost in the clearance of some imported items.
Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 29-2015, dated September 1 and signed by Customs commissioner Alberto Lina, promotes “universal use of paperless transactions with the Bureau of Customs and eliminate(s) unnecessary use of papers and expensive forms”.
The CMO also implements the memorandum of agreement on the electronic interchange of information between BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine Statistics Authority, Tariff Commission, and other government agencies.
READ: BIR, BOC agree to share data electronically
In addition, it allows acceptance of the printed copy of the electronic airway bill (e-AWB) consistent with the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air or the Montreal Convention 1999.
The Philippine Senate recently ratified the Montreal Convention 1999 which, among others, pushes for electronic submission of airway bills.
READ: PH accedes to aviation treaties, including Montreal Convention
Under CMO 29-2015, the use of the Import Entry and Internal Revenue Declaration (IEIRD) or BC Form 236 is “discontinued and in its place shall be the Single Administrative Document (SAD) secured through the e2m (electronic-to-mobile) Customs System and printed. The SAD shall serve as the entry declaration as required by existing rules and regulations.”
The CMO likewise removes the need for the Supplemental Declaration on Valuation (SDV) and accepts printouts of the e-AWB as support documents to the SAD, according to BOC deputy commissioner for Assessment and Operations Atty. Agaton Teodoro in a press statement.
“Our aim is to reduce documentation and paper costs by as much as 70%. We will achieve this by doing away with expensive carbonized forms and costly airway bill forms. We will also lessen the number of documents required from seven sets to two sets,” Uvero said.
This reduction, he said, would cover around 50,000 transactions a month.
“You could just imagine the positive impact on costs. Zero paper use would also benefit the environment. Less trees would be sacrificed, less waste would need to be disposed,” Uvero noted.
For his part, Lina said the agency is working to achieve the twin objectives of curbing inefficiency and combating corruption with the steady phase-in of a paperless transaction system that promotes ease of doing business with the BOC.
“Eliminating red tape and all the ills that go with it is an important step in improving the overall performance of Customs and in restoring the public’s confidence in the bureau,” Lina added.
Under CMO 29-2015, the SAD will be printed in two copies with the required documents attached to it. The first copy will be for BOC, “the back side of which may be used for the return or findings of the customs officer concerned.” The second copy will be for the importer and licensed customs broker and will serve as the acknowledgement receipt.
BOC’s Management Information System and Technology Group (MISTG) will now provide the soft copy of the import declarations requested by concerned government agencies.
With the discontinuance of the use of the SDV, Box 39 of the SAD will be considered a mandatory field in the entry declaration to secure basic information indicated in the SDV.
The P265 documentary stamps will be added by the MISTG to the computation of duties and taxes based on entry declarations and settled through BOC’s electronic payment system, Payment Abstract Secure System version 5.
The use of IEIRD will be allowed in lieu of the SAD until such time the BOC’s IEIRD inventory is exhausted, the CMO said. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Goldy at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
