The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has drafted a joint memorandum circular (JMC) that seeks to onboard trade regulatory government agencies (TRGAs) to TradeNet on or before the second week of April.
ARTA said the JMC is in accordance with Ease of Doing Business and Anti-Red Tape Advisory (EODB-ARTA) Council Resolution No. 12.
The resolution, approved last December 2020, mandates onboarding to the TradeNet on or before the second week of April the 73 trade regulatory government agencies involved in issuing licenses, permits, clearances, and certifications for movement (import-export-transit) of cargo.
The draft JMC was presented in a recent virtual meeting that was headed by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and ARTA Director-General Jeremiah Belgica, who are EODB-ARTA Council chair and vice chair, respectively.
Among the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) priorities this year is to encourage an additional 15 trade regulatory government agencies to join the National Single Window (NSW).
Department of Finance (DOF) undersecretary Gil Beltran earlier said ARTA would be included in the NSW Steering Committee to fast track the streamlining of the processes of the various TRGAs involved in TradeNet.
In November last year Angelica Sarmiento, head of the DOF Central Management Information Office, said two trade regulatory agencies have already joined the system, and two more would do the same by end-2020. Other trade regulatory agencies are expected to join this year.
TradeNet is the government’s online platform for processing applications for import and export permits. Serving as the country’s national NSW, the platform is required when connecting to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Single Window (ASW), a regional initiative to speed up cargo clearance and promote regional economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents among the 10 ASEAN member states.
TradeNet is set to replace NSW Phase 1, currently operated by BOC and launched in 2010 then deployed in 2011. In 2017, the NSW Steering Committee issued a resolution to adopt TradeNet as the new NSW instead.
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