CUSTOMS commissioner Napoleon Morales last week signed Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) 27-2009 which implements the Import Assessment System (IAS) in Limay, Mariveles starting August 10, 2009.
The system will then likely be rolled out at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) two weeks after full implementation in Limay or at the start of September.
If everything goes well at MICP, the Port of Manila (POM) will adopt the IAS toward end of September and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), 15 days later.
“The process (in Limay) will be the same as that implemented in Batangas except the new CMO provides for a Port Implementation Task Force to answer queries relative to the IAS,” InterCommerce Network Service (INS) president Francis Lopez told PortCalls.
INS is one of three BOC-accredited value-added service providers (VASPs) enforcing the IAS. The other two are Cargo Data Exchange Center and E-Konek Pilipinas.
“Limay, Mariveles is the last stop in determining flaws of the system and correcting them before implementation in MICP, POM and NAIA,” Lopez pointed out.
The IAS procedures cover, among others, lodgment through the VASPs; Client Profile Registration System; Electronic Manifest System; clearance of Formal Entry System (Consumption and Warehousing); use of Payment Abstract Secure System v. 5.0 (PASS-5); application of non-cash payments, consisting of Tax Exemption Certificates, Import Entry Declaration, Tax Debit Memos, Import Entry Declaration/Advanced Payment and Deferred Payment of Government Accounts through the e2m Payment System; On-Line Release System; and License and Clearance System involving government agencies that are ready to upload their licenses, clearances and other authorizations to the electronic-to-mobile Customs.
