Philippines - ASEAN trade single window expected in place by 2015

THE ASSOCIATION of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is on track to its goal to implement a regional trade facility by 2015, the new ASEAN Single Window (ASW) Steering Committee chairperson has said.

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"I am confident that the challenges to the implementation of the ASW will be surmounted by 2015. The fact that most, if not all, of these obstacles have been identified makes us many steps closer..." Customs Deputy Commissioner Ma. Caridad P. Manarang said in an e-mail to BusinessWorld yesterday.

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) announced over the weekend that Ms. Manarang, who heads the bureau’s Management Information and Technology group, was elected to head the ASW Steering Committee for a two-year term.

The ASW Steering Committee was formed last year to aid the 10 ASEAN member countries implement their "single window" at the national and regional levels.

A National Single Window (NSW) is an electronic trade facility that enables importers and exporters to conduct trade procedures online. It also enables them to secure permits from multiple government agencies in one integrated process.

ASEAN members have pledged to launch their own NSWs by this year, and these will be later integrated into an ASW by 2015.

The ASW will help track regional trade so that an export cleared in one country will automatically be cleared as an import in another.

However, the task of integrating customs frameworks in the region is not without issues.

"One challenge is gearing up all the member states for the linkage to the ASW. Member states are at different stages in the implementation of their respective single windows," Ms. Manarang said.

The "technology-readiness" of the ASEAN varies widely among members, she noted, and the ASW Steering Committee will have to assist governments to ensure that they aren’t left behind. A data exchange program is currently being pilot-tested among seven countries so the committee can assess their preparedness, she said. This could be scaled up later on to include all ASEAN members.

Another challenge is to bridge the gaps among laws of ASEAN countries. "A legal framework agreement is being drafted by the ASW Legal Working Group that will govern interoperability issues," Ms. Manarang said.

The committee also wants to make sure the regional trade facility is sustainable, and a study is now being conducted by the United States Agency for International Development, she added.

Diane Claire J. Jiao

http://www.bworldonline.com

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