THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is implementing the electronic-to-mobile/import assessment system (e2m/IAS) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the ports of San Fernando and Aparri starting Feb 23.
The implementation of one procedure at the NAIA is, however, being deferred to March 23.
In IAS Memorandum Number 37-2010 (Subject: Submission of Electronic Airline and Airfreight Consolidation Manifest) dated February 17, 2010 ( click here for copy ), Customs deputy commissioner Alexander Arevalo said, “The mandatory submission of advance electronic manifest as a requisite for filing of import entries (consumption, warehousing, transshipment and informal) is hereby deferred to 23 March 2010. All other procedures in the e2m remain in effect.”
He added that “For the meantime, the existing alternative facilities of ACOS (Automated Customs Operating System) electronic manifest submission through any of Customs-accredited VASPs (value-added service providers) or other service providers shall remain operational in accordance with existing regulations in the Port of NAIA and in order to ensure smooth implementation of On-Line Release System (OLRS) for airport cargo warehouses.”
In a separate memo ( IAS Memorandum Number 39-2010; Subject: Registration of Air Freight Forwarders in the e2m Client Profile Registration System) addressed to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla dated February 17, 2010, Arevalo said, “Only air freight forwarders with registered and activate profile in the e2m CPRS shall be allowed to transact with BOC through the IAS.”
Arevalo enumerated procedures to be followed for registration by CAB-accredited air freight forwarders in the CPRS.
1. The BOC-MISTG (Management Information Systems Technology Group) will provide CAB with a pool of User IDs and Passwords that CAB-accredited air freight forwarders and CAB-approving officers will use to access the e2m CPRS through Other Government Agency (OGA) Gateway.
2. CAB shall issue the User ID and Password to its accredited forwarders to allow the forwarder to access the CPRS system. The forwarder shall encode its profile in the system.
3. The CAB approving officer shall retrieve from CPRS the profile encoded by the forwarder. Based on examination of the encoded profile vis-à-vis the records that the forwarder has with the CAB, the approving officer shall accredit the forwarder in the system.
4. BOC-MISTG shall retrieve from CPRS the forwarder profile that has been accredited in the system by CAB, and shall approve and activate the profile.
Last week, the BOC also applied the IAS at the freeports of Subic Bay and Clark.
According to the VASPs, the delays at the freeports have been manageable since entries are minimal. Subic and Clark each handle about 25 to 30 entries a day.
The IAS is scheduled to be rolled out at the ports of Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro by middle of next month. Before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down from office in June, the system would have been implemented in almost all collection districts.
To date, the BOC has collected about P80 billion from five ports operating under the e2m/IAS.
