In 2015, Customs to improve processing, valuation system

Specifically, Sevilla said the BOC will work on speeding up the release of clearances and the examination of cargos, especially those subjected to alert orders.

“We want 90% of all import entries to be cleared in 4 hours. We will redesign the procedures in order to achieve that target,” Sevilla said.

 “Faster turnaround” in one or two days for the examination of alerted cargoes is also BOC’s goal in 2015.

 “As much as possible, we want to examine those with alert orders on the same day or the next day to get rid of phenomenon that it is taking weeks, if not months before it is resolved,” Sevilla said.

In 2014, BOC started issuing an unprecedented number of alert orders due to the continued entry of smuggled goods.

For every 100 alert orders, BOC found that only 18 shipments were cleared while 82% of the cargo were either outrightly misdeclared or undervalued.

However, such alert orders created a stir at BOC, as importers complained that they delayed the flow of goods.

The BOC’s other priorities for 2015 include a system for better valuation of goods, and hastening the resolution of the disputes concerning valuation.

“It is quite slow. We could do better in terms of looking for third party sources of information for commodities, which are frequently undervalued,” Sevilla said.

Other measures include the roll out of the “real” national single window (NSW) system, with 38 government agencies possibly using the NSW.

Sevilla said that only 6 of these agencies are using the system. “There were times the utilization was not 100%,” he said.

The Philippines NSW aims to facilitate trade through efficiencies in customs and authorization processes. To be implemented via Executive Order 482, the NSW will allow single submission and accelerated processing of applications for licenses, permits, and other authorizations required prior to trade transaction.

The agency also procured a new electronic system as BOC transitions into “almost, if not completely paperless transaction,” Sevilla added.

Improvements, reforms

These reforms are needed in an agency often ranked at the bottom for “very bad” or “execrable” services. (READ: Bureau of Customs: A few good men)

President Benigno Aquino III even called out the agency in his 2013 State of the Nation Address (SONA), saying, “Here we have BOC, whose personnel are trying to outdo each other’s incompetence. Instead of collecting the proper taxes and preventing contraband from entering the country, they are heedlessly permitting the smuggling of goods, and even drugs, arms, and other items of a similar nature into our territory.” (READ: Customs: A year after SONA shaming)

Such “shaming” led to the reforms, resulting in significant improvement in the agency’s cash collections, though still behind targets. – Rappler.com