The Export Development Council (EDC) in the Philippines, working with the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), will push for an executive order that will finally implement the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC).
The decision was made after former Philippine Customs Commissioner Guillermo Parayno pointed out that the Philippines was adjudged as having the worst customs procedures in Southeast Asia, behind Laos and Cambodia, in the latest global ratings on competitiveness.
In a recent meeting of the EDC Committee on Trade Policies and Procedures Simplification, Parayno said the Philippines ranked 128th among countries evaluated on the ease of customs procedures worldwide. This was in the league of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, far below the rankings of dynamic economies in East Asia.
“It is a national shame that has to be corrected soonest,” Parayno said, noting that the fastest way the country can correct its cumbersome customs practices is to start complying with provisions of the RKC.
Parayno pointed out the Senate-approved Articles of Accession to the RKC was formally deposited to the headquarters of the World Customs Organization in Brussels on February 9, 2010. The Philippines has a little over a year left to align its local laws to the global customs rules and then actually practicing those rules.
A draft EO was almost signed by former President Gloria Arroyo before her term expired, but Parayno said the former President saw it prudent to pass on the task to the incoming President.
The then proposed EO instructs EDC to craft a national strategy for RKC implementation and establishes an RKC Compliance Center that will ensure compliance.
The Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2011, which the House of Representatives has passed on third reading, already contains some rules in compliance with the RKC. The Senate version of the act is still pending.
The RKC is considered the most comprehensive instrument for promoting international trade facilitation in the world today. To cope with the changing trading environment particularly in logistics, national Customs authorities have to streamline their regulatory processes even as simplification is harmonized with related actions from Customs worldwide. The RKC then serves as a best practices guide, promoting trade facilitation while also ensuring that the statutory functions of Customs are not compromised.
In the Philippine context, the RKC rationalizes the computerization of operations and change management at the Bureau of Customs and other agencies involved in the international trade process.
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