Streamlining of customs procedures gets PH nod

The Philippines continues to support the ambitious plan to interconnect customs bureaus of Southeast Asian countries, streamline procedures, and ease trade barriers to boost intraregional trade and curb corruption.

In a speech delivered Tuesday during a gathering of customs officials from various Southeast Asian countries, Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon said it was important to see the plan through to accelerate growth of the region’s economies.

“Globalization is a reality we have to face and trade facilitation is at the forefront of this Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) endeavor. “Today’s meeting of customs chiefs shall, therefore, help pave the way for the establishment of integrated customs agencies among the Asean countries,” Biazon said in his speech.

The gathering is the 18th meeting of the Asean Coordinating Committee on Customs. The meeting began on May 7 and will end on May 9.

Under the “One-Asean, One Customs Environment” plan, databases of customs bureaus of the 10 member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be electronically interconnected.

The interconnection is expected to help customs bureaus determine movements as well as accurate values of goods being traded within the region.

The plan likewise involves streamlining and harmonization of customs procedures to speed up intra-regional trade.

The Philippines’ support to the “One-Asean, One Customs Environment” plan also comes amid calls for tough measures against smuggling, a perennial problem in the country.

Biazon has been criticized for so far failing to significantly curb smuggling, but he said the problem was a consequence of deeply rooted culture and corruption in his own agency. Michelle V. Remo