Customs modernization project up for Duterte approval —BOC

The P5.44-billion Philippine Customs Modernization Project is awaiting the final approval of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Bureau of Customs reported Sunday.

In a statement, the BOC said the project is now one step closer to being finalized after it was approved on March 6 (Friday) by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

"(T)he NEDA ICC, during its meeting last March 6, 2020, approved the Philippine Customs Modernization Project of the BOC and recommended for its final approval by the NEDA Board chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte," the statement read.

Further, the project is in line with the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), signed into law by former President Benigno Aquino III, which aims to modernize the bureau's facilities, procedures, and overall operations.

The project will be financed partly by the World Bank, with 85.48% to be funded through an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan and the remaining 15.42% through local funds.

Under the project, the frontline and back-office functions of the BOC will be modernized through a Customs Processing System (CPS), which will have an integrated system for both imports and exports over a single platform capable of paperless transaction processing.

It will also include the Administrative Back-Office Enterprise Resource Planning (ABERP) which will integrate, manage, and automate the BOC's back-office functions related to technology, services, and human resources.

Moreover, the project will be done in five years starting 2020, with partial implementation expected in 2023, and full completion in 2024.

"With the full automation of the BOC’s core processes, trade facilitation will vastly improve, revenue collection will increase, and processing time and trade costs will significantly be reduced," the bureau said. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/LBG, GMA News