Passage of Customs Modernization Act pushed

LOCAL exporters have renewed calls for the immediate passage into law of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), as they expressed alarm over the continued decline of Philippine exports.

The CMTA aims to modernize the Bureau of Customs through full automation of operations, ensure the country’s compliance with the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), update the tariff and customs law, and reduce the cost of doing business, all of which are expected to help the country attract more investors.

Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport), cited a study made by the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia, which found how inefficient trade procedures, such as a day’s delay in a shipment, can reduce trade volume by at least 1 percent.

“Imagine the adverse impact if this one case is multiplied every day,” Ortiz-Luis noted. “The same study also emphasized that improving trade facilitation, particularly in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation region, can increase intra-Apec trade by around 10 percent or $280 billion. Again, the positive multiplier effect of an efficient trade facilitation system using this assumption is very clear.”

Philexport is hard pressed to help boost the country’s export performance, which has been adversely affected by the softening of major export markets such as China and the still fragile economic growth of Japan and the United States.

Ortiz-Luis pointed out, however, that domestic challenges such as red tape have heightened the country’s vulnerability to global shocks compared to its counterparts in the region.