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By Ike Suarez Correspondent
All cargo shipments from abroad
will start to be cleared for release by the Bureau of Customs within
30 minutes this December. The fast-tracking will be made possible by
a computerized clearance system under the Asean Single Window System
to be used by Customs agencies of all 10 member- countries of the
regional bloc. Asean, or Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The announcement was made on
Wednesday by Alexander Arevalo, deputy commissioner of the
Philippines’ Customs bureau, before members of the Information
Technology Association of the Philippines during their general
membership meeting at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City. The
association is composed of vendors who supply hardware, software and
other computer equipment for users of large computer networks.
Arevalo said the clearance
system, or the Philippine Single Window, will link all government
agencies whose clearance and approval are needed before imported
goods can be released. The system will also be employed in the
country’s three major ports, 12 provincial ports and 32 sub-ports.
The Philippine Single Window will
simplify clearance and release by requiring only the single
submission of data on the imported goods.
Arevalo said the development of
the clearance system was made possible by an $8-million funding from
the United States Agency for International Aid. He added that the
amount will also cover development of the system for the rest of the
Asean.
The Philippines is the lead
country in the clearance system’s development. Arevalo is the
project chairman. Arevalo said the Philippine Single Window will be
the first of its kind in the world in terms of its reach and
connectivity. The Customs bureau has commissioned Oracle Corp. to
write the software and Crown Agency to do the systems integration
for the clearance system.
The Customs chief said Oracle is
not charging the Philippine government for the software’s
development, but it will have the right to market the application in
other countries and interested parties. This condition, Arevalo
added, was accepted because the software can be further customized.
He said Brunei Darussalam,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have committed to start
use of the clearance system this year. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam are committed to start use of the system within 2012.
Arevalo admitted that some
parties in various agencies are not happy about the project because
the system’s implementation would dramatically reduce chances for
graft and corruption.
The project was the subject of
Executive Order 482 signed by President Gloria Arroyo on December
27, 2005. Earlier that year on December 9, the Asean Ministers of
Trade signed an agreement to create a single Asean Window to
facilitate trade in the region.
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