THE Bureau of Customs under Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio continue to actively pursue its global commitments to further improve its operations and enhance the country’s standing before the international community.
In a statement, the BOC bared that from February 26 to February 28, a 4-man BOC delegation headed by Deputy Commissioner for Internal Administration Group (IAG) Atty. Erwin Mendoza, participated in 16th Capacity Building Committee Session of the World Customs Organization (WCO) held in Brussels, Belgium.
The delegation, also consisting of District Collector Jairus S. Reyes, Port of Clark; Joseph G. Escasio, Head, Learning and Development Management Office; and, Rechilda T. Oquias, Head, External Affairs Office, sought to gather more knowledge and experience in further advancing the bureau’s modernization program, which is a key pillar of Comm. Rubio’s ‘Five Point Priority Programs.’
This year’s CBC session focused on the theme ‘Reimagining the WCO Capacity Building Paradigm – Thriving with Strategic Purpose and Resource Optimization.’
“Discussions explored key elements of WCO’s evolving capacity-building framework, aligning with broader modernization efforts to optimize resources and enhance strategic positioning,” the BOC said in its statement.
In another important global gathering in Manila last March 6 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Port Operations Service (POS) director, Geniefelle Lagmay, joined Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary Charlito Martin R. Mendoza, and Assistant Secretary Dakila Elteen Napao for the ‘Special Session of the Philippine Trade Facilitation Committee’ (SPTFC).
The discussion centered on “key initiatives on the digitalization of cross-border trade and ongoing trade facilitation reforms,” the BOC said.
The session brought together PTFC members to review ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing efficiency, transparency, and compliance in international trade operations.
The participants were also joined by Dr. Yann Duval from the UN ESCAP Trade and Policy Facilitation Division who discussed the ‘Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade (CPTA)’ a UN treaty designed to promote cross-border paperless trade by enabling the exchange and mutual recognition of trade-related data and documents in electronic form. The Philippines formally acceded to the CPTA in 2019.
Mr. Tengfei Wang and Mr. Yern Fai Lee, also from ESCAP, emphasized the importance of system interoperability, particularly with the World Customs Organization (WCO) Data Model and the United Nations Trade Data Element Directory (UNTDED).
They encouraged the Philippines’ customs bureau to play an active role in the implementation of the CPTA.
The session also included progress reports from the PTFC Compliance Monitoring Technical Working Group (CMTWG), Trade Policy Review Technical Working Group (TPR-TWG) and National Time Release Study (NTRS) Technical Working Group to ensure seamless implementation of trade facilitation reforms.
Meanwhile, the BOC also reaffirmed its commitment to digitalizing trade processes at the recent Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Conference (APTFC) held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) main office in Manila.
The event was jointly organized by the ADB, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and ESCAP under the theme, ‘Integrating Technologies for Sustainable Trade Facilitation.’
The BOC was represented by key officials from the Management Information Systems and Technology Group (MISTG) headed by Deputy Commissioner Ronnel Hombre and the NSW (National Single Window) Technical Working Group Secretariat from the Office of the Commissioner (OCOM).
“With digitalization as a top priority, the Bureau of Customs is undergoing a transformative journey to modernize and automate its customs processes.
“This shift aims to enhance operational efficiency, improve trade facilitation, and increase transparency across all customs operations,” Hombre said during his presentation.
Key speakers, including representatives from ADB, UNESCAP, UNCTAD, ITC, and customs administrations from countries such as China, Korea, Timor-Leste, Mongolia, and Pakistan, discussed the benefits of integrating advanced technologies in customs operations.