SMUGGLING through the ports in Southern Mindanao will be more difficult with the installation of an electronic system that will also reduce the personal transactions.

During Wednesday's Club 888 press forum at the Marco Polo Hotel, Francis Lopez, president of Intercommerce Network Services, one of the three IT firms accredited by the Bureau of Customs to be their value added service provider, said the importation of products will be made easier under the new system.

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"From what used to be two to three days of clearance, it will now only take thirty minutes to clear shipments," Lopez said.

One of the features of the online system is the paperless transaction it provides.

"There will be less and less papers to be filled out and submitted as everything will be online," Lopez said.

Moreover, Lopez said the online system to be put in place at the Bureau of Customs will also increase the revenues of the bureau as even the payments are debited from the bank account of the importers and directly remitted to the account of the Bureau of Customs with the national treasury.

In Southern Mindanao, the BOC-Port of Davao has surpassed its P2.086 billion worth of revenues for this year.

As of October 9, the revenues have already reached P2.16 billion, or P75 million more than the annual target.

During the first half of the year, the revenue collection of BOC in Southern Mindanao also exceeded its target by P200 million. (CPM)