
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is revising its citizen’s charter to comply with the standardized deadline for government transactions under the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery (EODB) Act of 2018.
BOC said its group of offices and ports has categorized their processes into three: “simple” processes being the easiest to accomplish only need three days to complete; “complex” need seven days to complete; and “highly technical” need 20 days to complete.
The categorization is to comply with the directive last August of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the implementing body for Republic Act (RA) No. 11032, or the EODB Act, signed last May. ARTA gives government agencies until December to submit their citizen’s charters detailing their streamlined processes and rationalized fees.
An example of a process categorized as “simple” by the BOC is the application for the conduct of a discharge port survey. An example of a “complex” transaction is the application for accreditation. The application for membership under the Super Green Lane program may be considered a “highly-technical” process.
BOC said it is set to create a technical committee that will spearhead revision of all its offices’ and ports’ citizen’s charters, and will be sending its officers to a workshop on charter revision, to be conducted October 23 by ARTA.
BOC said it has reached 80% compliance with ARTA’s directive, and expects to be fully compliant by December 6, 2019.