The Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc. (CCBI) is requesting the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) to exempt until next year the Port of Manila, Manila International Container Port (MICP), Cebu and Davao from implementation of 1-Assessment, BOC’s electronic system for processing and monitoring import goods declaration. This, said CCBI, will ensure some of the system’s features are institutionalized and stakeholders’ concerns addressed.
In a letter to Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, CCBI president Atty. Ferdinand Nague said the organization has been receiving reports from its different chapters, particularly in Batangas, Clark, and Subic, about “their apprehension and not- so-welcoming experience… encountered and [are] continuously encountering” with the pilot implementation.
He pointed to delays in assessment at the ports of Batangas, Clark, and Subic, where pilot testing has been in force since August even as he said CCBI supports “laudable objectives of 1-Assessment” as well as Lapeña’s efforts to fast-track and modernize procedures and address corruption in BOC.
1-Assessment, or the enhanced goods declaration verification system (EGDVS), is a Web-based queue management software/application that provides bias-free assessment by randomly assigning appraisers and examiners to each goods declaration.
October launch
Management Information System and Technology Group (MISTG) Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Ian Dy, in a recent forum organized by PortCalls and Asia Customs & Trade, said BOC will implement phase two of 1-Assessment at all ports starting October 15.
Nague requests that implementation be deferred until BOC’s National Assessment Center (NAC), which will house more than 200 appraisers and supervisors, has been created; and until the Value Reference Information System (VRIS) or Import Assessment Service (IAS) valuation, Enforcement Security Service Motor Vehicle Monitoring and Compliance Office (EMVCO) certificate, and x-ray images are connected to or made available in 1-Assessment.
Dy said that under phase 2 of 1-Assessment, BOC’s pool of appraisers will be housed in a “one call center-type community,” similar to what is being done in other countries. He noted the idea of placing appraisers of declarations outside the port is not new and is actually being practiced in other countries such as China and Sierra Leone.
Further, in this latest phase, stakeholders will no longer need to go to BOC to get the final version of the EMVCO certification. The entry can just be routed to the Enforcement Security Service or ESS, which will upload the document. There is also no need to submit the certification “because the origin of the document is BOC, therefore we can authenticate it for you,” said Dy.
There is also no need to go to BOC for rulings of district collectors and IAS certification as these can likewise be done online through 1-Assessment.
If a shipment gets alerted, 1-Assessment can provide x-ray images for transparency.
Holiday congestion feared
Nague said implementing the new system at the country’s four big ports while cargoes are arriving in time for the Christmas season “might affect trade facilitation and ease of doing business.”
He said port congestion “may ensue as there are already reports of about 94% port utilization at the Manila seaports as evidenced by long queue to unload empty and/or to load laden containers.”
Dy earlier acknowledged birth pains during the implementation of the system at the three pilot ports, but added that MISTG had identified the problems and was addressing them.
One such issue is delays in processing of entries when the assigned appraiser or examiner is absent. Dy said the new feature in phase 2 allows the FED chief to “pick up” the declaration and put it in queue again, to be assigned randomly to an available examiner/appraiser. He added that BOC will now know if an appraiser or examiner is absent or not.
He noted that based on data from the one-month implementation, 1-Assessment works, and “is proven effective against corruption” as “true valuation is easier to implement.”
Dy shared several “success stories” in detecting discrepancies and gross undervaluation in declarations and taking action on these. He said the system is also “effective in tracking the entire transaction” for audit purposes.
Batangas port, which had backlogs of up to 70 declarations during the first weeks of implementation, now has zero backlog. Further, Dy added that in research done by BOC, those stakeholders following the rules by the book took one day shorter to process their shipments.
Dy acknowledged that the system entails cultural change not only for stakeholders but for BOC as well. He said Lapeña has ordered a three-month training program for customs employees to recalibrate their knowledge in valuation.
1-Assessment is the second version of the Goods Declaration Verification System (GDVS) being implemented at the Port of Manila (POM) and Manila International Container Port (MICP) since October 2017. GDVS has replaced sectioning at the Formal Entry Division (FED) and eliminated the “suki system” or collusion between stakeholders and customs employees.
Implemented under Customs Memorandum Order No. 10-2018, 1-Assessment covers consumption entries only and excludes green lane shipments. – Roumina Pablo
