Exporters are advised to become familiar with the new Bureau of Customs (BOC) order which provides the guidelines and procedures for the exchange of the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD) and which has just become effective.

The BOC released on October 1, 2022 Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 26-2022 covering the electronic exchange of import and export data using the BOC ACDD Operations Portal. The guidelines and procedures were issued as mandated under the Protocol on the Legal Framework to implement the ASEAN Single Window (ASW).

The ACDD is the electronic document used to facilitate the movement of export declaration information among ASEAN member states. It aims to inform the customs administration of the importing country about the incoming shipment from the exporting country with the view to facilitate customs clearance and the grant of preferential tariff rate.

The new order seeks to provide the procedures for the use of the ACDD Operations Portal by BOC authorized personnel and exporters. The portal is the platform for the exchange of ACDD messages through Tradenet (the Philippine ASW) and the ASWs of the country’s ASEAN neighbors.

CMO No. 26-2022 took effect on October 5, 2022. Under the guidelines, the exporter shall register through the bureau’s ACDD Portal (https://acdd.customs.gov.ph). The online registration form will be linked to the BOC’s profile data, and the exporter’s account will be verified through the Client Profile Registration System (CPRS). Only exporters with active CPRS can register and use the ACDD portal.

Registration will include verifying the applicant exporter’s identity, creating the exporter’s account, and giving the legal consent needed to authorize the BOC to extract the export declaration single administrative document data from the E2M System and to exchange ACDD messages with ASEAN member states.

Once the exporter has created an ACDD account, it can start to view, track status, print and generate reports for all the outbound ACDD messages sent under its account.

The exporter may end or reactivate its participation in the exchange of ACDD messages anytime, the CMO said. Withdrawal of consent can be done by accessing the exporter’s profile on the Homepage and clicking on the Withdraw Consent button. This will deactivate the exporter’s ACDD account.

The exporter that wishes to reactivate its ACDD account will again have to agree to the terms and conditions for participation.

The Management Information System Technology Group will be responsible for programming the BOC database server for extraction of data and for system maintenance and user account creation. The Risk Management Office will handle the monitoring of all ACDD messages, while the Export Coordinating Division is tasked to monitor all outbound ACDD messages