THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) will likely link with the Bureau of Customs (BOC)-initiated National Single Window (NSW) today after encountering minor glitches on its first try.
“It is still a go. We are just fine tuning several aspects of the project but we expect to resume the interface as early as today,” Francis Lopez, president of value-added service provider InterCommerce Network Services (INS), which is the technology enabler of the PEZA linkup, told PortCalls.
“Once implemented, all government agencies attached to the NSW can look at all approved import permits issued by PEZA for verification and scrutiny,” Lopez said.
Under the NSW, all approved import permit applications of importers and brokers will automatically be uploaded by PEZA to the NSW.
Once the application is filed electronically, PEZA will automatically process the import application and check whether the items are valid or approved before electronically sending the approved import permit application to the locator and the NSW. The approved permit can be printed and shown to PEZA or customs authorities before cargo release.
Information uploaded to the NSW will be the basis for BOC to validate import permits issued. Import permits not in the NSW database will not be honored.
There are no fees for the upload but applicants will have to pay the regular electronic import permit application with PEZA.
The NSW will link up to 40 government agencies and enable the submission of data and information that is synchronously processed and resulting in a single point of decision for the release of cargoes by Customs.
The NSW is expected to increase transparency in cargo processing, provide a more accurate, timely and cost efficient exchange of information, reduce customs operational cost and improve revenue.
