Trade department moves to cut red tape

Outgoing Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Apec Secretariat

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry has urged other government agencies to trim their official issuances as a means to cut red tape, eliminate redundancies and, consequently, further ease doing business in the Philippines.

The DTI has started weeding out obsolete and non-responsive department orders as it sought to further streamline procedures in the agency.

This move saw a thorough review of all department administrative orders (DAOs), implementing rules and regulations (IRRs), orders and circulars.

Following an inventory of all business and consumer related policies and procedures, the DTI was able to cut the number of active DAOs by more than half to 124 from 257.

“We hope that our recent effort in DTI to streamline our official issuances will be followed by other government agencies to make their administrative systems simpler and more efficient for all concerned,” outgoing Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said in a statement.

“The intention is to reduce inefficiency in our processes, especially for frontline services and, at the same time, make matters simple and readily understood by the public, and in this way, empower our consumers and improve competitiveness of businesses, especially micro, small and medium enterprises,” Domingo explained.

Domingo said the move was expected to protect consumers, enable businesses to flourish and encourage people to start new businesses. Through this effort, the public can expect not only a more speedy and efficient delivery of public services in various agencies, but also significant changes in the entire government.

“We will continuously share our experience on this effort to other government agencies to encourage and guide them in taking similar actions to streamline their official issuances,” he said.

“With efficient and quality government transactions, we can help put in place the underpinnings for an enabling environment that can improve the people’s living standards and promote inclusive growth in the country,” he added.

In the meantime, the DTI has put together a compendium of active DAOs.