MANILA: The Senate approved on 3rd and final reading the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), which will put the country’s custom procedures in step with global best practices.
It will achieve this by amending the current Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP).
“We want to overhaul and modernize the bureau which has long been perceived as one of the most corrupt and underperforming government agencies in the country. Approximately $277 billion (P13.23 trillion) in revenues was lost by the government from 1960 to 2011 due to technical smuggling according to a 2014 study of Global Financial Integrity,” said Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said.
Angara, the sponsor of Senate Bill 2968 or the CMTA, said the measure aims to amend the TCCP in compliance with the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), the blueprint for “modern and efficient customs procedures” of the World Customs Organization.
The bill also proposes the use of information and communications technology in order to harmonize trade facilitation.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said that upgrading the current Bureau of Customs systems to electronic processing would make the BOC’s importation and exportation procedures faster, more effective, and more convenient, especially for the public.
“The modernization under the CTMA will benefit millions of ordinary Filipinos who suffer from the inefficiencies in the handling of incoming and outgoing goods, especially during holiday seasons when Filipinos endure the cumbersome process of trying to claim gifts or packages which are stuck at the ports,” he said.
