Trade facilitation, Customs modernization keys to PHL success in integrated ASEAN

Business facilitation and implementation of reforms in the Bureau of Customs starting next year are crucial to Philippine trade agreements and competitiveness in Southeast Asia, participants in a business conference said Thursday.

 

The adoption of trade facilitation measures is paramount if the Philippines is to effectively utilize and maximize the ASEAN Economic Community and other economic partnerships where Manila is a part of or aims to become a party to, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and European Union said in a joint statement.

 

“If we do not simplify, if we are not successful... in putting in place facilitation, then all these trade agreements which open up markets are gone. That's the basic assumption,” PCCI CFO Donald Dee said during a press briefing at the Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila.

 

According to the EU, trade facilitation is simplifying and streamlining international import and export procedures and associated documentation.

 

The government definitely sees trade facilitation as a tool for the economy's competitiveness, DFA undersecretary for economic relations Laura del Rosario said during the forum.

 

In fact, it will not only further reduce import tariffs but also lessen or eradicate revenue loss from inefficient border procedures, said Guy Ledoux, ambassador of the Delegation of the EU to the Philippines.

 

“Implementing the trade facilitation agreement that was agreed to in Bali last year would support trade in goods by improving transparency, streamlining Customs procedures and eliminating red tape,” he said.

 

“These benefits would come from measures related to documentation, automation and information availability as well as other simplifications,” Ledoux added.

Choke points

 

However, Del Rosario noted the Philippine trade industry is currently hounded by several choke points, including lack of transparency and enough infrastructure and logistics capacity, efficient clearance, efficient customs, proper documentation, and ineffective connectivity and regulation standards.

 

“We have been working on reforms to increase the transparency in government, procurement and budgeting, to cut down business processing steps, filing of charges on tax cases. And this is part of ease of doing business in the Philippines,” Del Rosario said.

 

The government is also on its way to modernizing and amending the Customs Code of the Philippines,” she added.

 

“The BOC is in the process of designing an IT infrastructure, a tech platform, contact-free processing of transactions… because the less human intervention there is, the more tech is used, the more transparency will happen, and the less corruption will be involved,” the DFA official said.

 

Bureau of Customs has an important role in this economic endeavor, Commissioner John Philip Sevilla said in the same event.

 

“We realize that the ASEAN integration... presents opportunities and challenges and we fully understand the role of Customs if the Philippines is to realize the opportunities to be created by these trade agreements,” he said.

 

But the BOC would need the help of every sector to achieve improvements in the government agency, Sevilla said.

 

“This is something Customs can’t do by itself. It is important for us to make the rules of the game clear... but we'll need cooperation from everybody – brokers, importing agencies,” he added. – VS, GMA News