The Bureau of Customs (BOC) will implement several measures, including streamlining accreditation requirements and introducing a new system for document track and trace, to facilitate trade and promote ease of doing business, said Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
“We are also putting in place proactive measures to enable better trade facilitation processes and upgrade vetting controls,” Guerrero said in a speech during the 29th National Convention of the Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc. (CCBI) on March 8.
Guerrero said BOC is continuously streamlining the accreditation procedures of its Account Management Office (AMO), which handles the accreditation of importers and registration of customs brokers.
“Very soon, the BOC will be coming up with a CMO [Customs Memorandum Order] wherein the applications for renewal of accreditation of broker and exporters, as well as the activation in the CPRS [Client Profile Registration System] will be reverted to the district collection offices,” Guerrero said.
He noted that the goal is “to process the renewal and activation of accreditation in one day.”
He added that the only application that will pass through the Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) for approval will be that of importers and consignees.
Moreover, the list of requirements for accreditation is also currently being reviewed to further trim down or reduce the requirements only “to those that are essential in determining the integrity and capacity of the applicant,” Guerrero said.
The Customs chief also disclosed that BOC is now consulting and coordinating with CCBI to come up with a system wherein the customs bureau can tap the “services and expertise of the CCBI to vet out brokers applying for accreditation.”
BOC will also be upgrading to a QR code mechanism in tracing the whereabouts and status of documents for the “proper handling of all communications” at BOC. The mechanism is currently undergoing pilot testing in BOC’s central office and will be “eventually implemented throughout the BOC system.”
“We hope to do away with the run-arounds that stakeholders usually experience when making follow-ups with the BOC. With this system, follow-ups can now be made efficiently,” the Customs chief said.
He added that very soon, the customs document marking system will be linked to a mobile application that can be downloaded by stakeholders, Guerrero added.
BOC also recently established the Alert Order Clearing House Desk (AOCHD) pursuant to Section 1111 (Alert Orders) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), which states that the customs bureau “shall create a central clearing house for alert orders and shall submit reports quarterly on the status thereof.”
“The Alert order clearing house is necessary to ensure that alert orders are properly implemented in accordance with law,” Guerrero earlier said.
AOCHD will also ease and address delays in the processing of alert orders through active monitoring of alerted shipments, he added.
Two other orders “meant to contribute to our continuing efforts in providing optimum trade facilitation processes” were also issued this year, including the implementation of the automated bonds management system for temporary imports, and reverting of the tagging of abandoned shipments to the district collector level. – Roumina Pablo
