CUSTOMS value-added service provider (VASP) Intercommerce Network Service (INS) has introduced a new service feature expected to reduce if not eliminate errors in customs entries.
Brokers may now print for free the Import Entry Internal Revenue Declaration (IEIRD) Form directly from the INS system, eliminating double inputting of customs data.
“This is an interim solution pending BOC decision on the use of the SAD (single administrative document) as the service reduces if not eliminates double handling of data,” INS president Francis Lopez told PortCalls.
“Brokers can now directly type and print the IEIRD Form from our system, submit it to the BOC then print it after they get their entry assessment from the BOC,” Lopez said.
Even with the new feature, INS is still pushing the use of the SAD, he noted.
The SAD is lodged electronically prior to payment, facilitating payment of duties and taxes. Its use eliminates the additional step in a second payment of duties and taxes after assessment, or in case the advance payment prior to lodgment and the assessment is greater than the assessed value. If the examiner imposes additional duties and taxes after examination, the importer will just need to remit the balance before goods are released.
For now, brokers type entries using the IEIRD form from the BOC then type entries again with the VASPs for submission to BOC. This process, said INS, defeats the purpose of automation, increasing the risk of error in typing of entries.
The two other BOC-accredited VASPs — Cargo Data Exchange Center and E-Konek Pilipinas — are also pushing for the immediate use of the SAD.
