THE Bureau of Customs said it would complete the inter-connection of the National Single Window and electronic to mobile system in two months despite a conflict in warranties.

Commissioner Angelito Alvarez told reporters that the only setback is the possibility of losing the warranties from its e2m system provider Unisys Philippines should it be linked up to the NSW.

“Of course, we don’t want to lose the warranties given by Unisys in the event that we connect the e2m to NSW,” Alvarez said.

The warranties protect the government from hidden faults and defects of the system.

The Customs chief said Crowne Agent, which is the system provider of the NSW, has guaranteed no glitch would arise from the interconnection.

“We are discussing with them the options as to how we can pursue with the plan and at the same time we don’t lose the warranties,” Alvarez said.

“The NSW will be linked up to e2m in two month’s time,” he added.

Once completed, the NSW will interconnect initially 10 government agencies issuing import permits, and thereafter, another 40 other government agencies necessary for import and trading transactions.

The NSW is in compliance with the Asean Single Window program scheduled for next year.
The Philippines was supposed to complete the said program in 2009 but several technical difficulties prevented the full operation of the system.

Under the initial launch, the BOC is applying the government-to-government model of the NSW that involves both automated and manual processes. The automated process only involves the electronic printing of import permit application and automated release of the permit while submission and processing will be done manually. The agencies involved in turn issue a bar code that will be submitted to the NSW for use in validating the authenticity of documents including the payment of fees.

These agencies include the Bureau of Product Standards,

National Food Authority, Sugar Regulatory Administration, Board of Investment, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bureau of Food and Drugs, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

PEZA applications will have to be submitted straight to the agency’s accredited value-added service providers instead of passing through the NSW system.

Under this process, PEZA will just notify the NSW if the applications for import permits of locators have been accepted, had paid the corresponding fees and were approved.

The information uploaded to the NSW system will be the basis of the BOC for validating the permits issued. Any import permit not appearing in the NSW database will not be honored.

To date, the Department of Agriculture and the BOI have successfully interfaced with the NSW system.

Under the DA-NSW interface, the process involves the production of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances in three of its attached agencies, namely the Bureaus of Animal Industry, of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and of Plant Industry.

The live production at BOI involves the electronic Certificate of Authority to Import (e-CAI) under its Motor Vehicle Development Program.

The DA and BOI are working with one value-added service provider, Intercommerce Network Service, which is also an accredited VASP of the BOC.