SEVERAL foreign airlines operating at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have gradually commenced in the past two weeks their test submission of airline electronic cargo manifest to e2m Customs through the facility of Cargo Data Exchange Center (CDEC) value-added service provider (VASP).
The test submissions are in preparation for the eventual implementation of mandatory submission of electronic airline and aircargo consolidation manifest e2m system in NAIA.
As of today, CDEC provided assistance to 16 airlines on their Client Profile Registration System (CPRS) registration with e2m Customs. Of the total, 12 airlines submitted sample manifest data which were subjected to data integrity checks in order to determine their compliance with e2m electronic manifest data specifications. Starting last week, five airlines already commenced test submission of “live” manifest data through CDEC VASP.
The results of test submission have been mixed so far and technical and procedural problems are continuously reported to BOC MISTG so that e2m NAIA electronic manifest system settings (arrival schedules and cut-off time for advance submission) are re-evaluated and undergo fine-tuning.
BOC Deputy Commissioner Alexander Arevalo already issued two separate memoranda addressed to the BOC NAIA District Collector and Chief, Formal Entry Division that deferred the mandatory submission of advance electronic manifest as a requisite for the filing of import entries (consumption, warehousing, transshipment and informal entries) initially to March 23 and later to April 15.
Among the reasons cited why electronic submission of airline electronic manifest was not made immediately mandatory when e2m Customs was implemented in NAIA last February 16 are the need for sufficient time for airlines to register with e2m Customs CPRS through the Civil Aeronautics Board, and the lack of a Customs Memorandum Order on electronic submission of airline and airfreight consolidation manifest.
A Technical Working Group (TWG) on e2m implementation in NAIA has been organized which will assess implementation problems in terms of both technical aspects and procedural issues.
The TWG is inviting representatives of airlines and airfreight forwarders to attend the next scheduled meeting so that they can provide their inputs on e2m electronic manifest submission. — LEO V. MORADA
