DAVAO CITY: Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina has flagged the risk of deteriorating Philippine competitiveness within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with further delays in the passage of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina stresses the need for the passage of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act during the Mindanao Exporters Congress in Davao City last week.
Mr. Lina called on Mindanao exporters to help push the Senate to hasten the CMTA’s approval in view of the full implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community by December.
“The CMTA is near plenary so please help us,” Mr. Lina said during the Mindanao Exporters Congress here last week.
Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, in a statement issued yesterday, cited the passage of the CMTA as one of the upper chamber’s priorities before the end of the current 16th Congress.
House Bill 4788, which prescribes the provisions of the CMTA, was approved by the House of Representatives on Aug. 15, 2011, then transmitted and received by the Senate three days later. It remains pending at the committee level.
“We will lose our momentum and we will be left behind if the Modernization Act is not passed,” Mr. Lina said.
The CMTA will set international standards for the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) operations; simplify procedures on the forfeiture, disposition and seizure of contraband goods; and strengthen the Philippine National Single Window.
The legislation is also intended to comply with the Revised Kyoto Convention (Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures) of the World Customs Organization, to which the Philippines is a signatory.
Mr. Lina said the Philippines submitted its instrument of accession to the Revised Kyoto Convention in 2010 and “we are waiting for Congress to pass the proposed CMTA to harmonize customs procedures and practices.”
Under the CMTA, the BoC will have to institutionalize electronic systems and minimize corruption by eliminating face-to-face transactions.
The revised Kyoto Convention, which took effect in 2006, is the blueprint for modern and efficient customs procedures through transparency and predictability of customs actions, simplified procedures, maximum use of information technology (IT), and adopt the minimum necessary customs control, among others.
While waiting for the CMTA, Mr. Lina said the BoC is already strengthening its IT system and rolling out the final phase of the national Single Window in preparation for the ASEAN Single Window.
He said the BoC Web site now contains relevant data and information, including tariff classification, basic duty computation, reference values and frequently asked questions on import and export transactions.
“We are now updating and will soon publish a BoC Code of Regulations and Manuals, which is a compilation of various regulation and processes of the Bureau that will serve as a single reference for all stakeholders,” he said.
