SHIPPING agents and brokers at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) frowned upon the new electronic online system being introduced, which reportedly will cut the time of processing and releasing of shipment from one to two days to a record of thirty minutes.

In an interview with Sun.Star Davao, a shipping agent and customs broker who spoke on condition of anonymity said that BOC has long been in an online mode.

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"Brokers and agents really have to go online to log the arrival of their shipment. It was something called Asycuda," the broker said.

Abbreviation for Automated System for Custom Data, Asycuda was a project undertaken in 2006 as part of the e-Customs Modernization Project. The project was expected to reduce the transaction cost of importing and exporting products.

Based on reports, the P500 million Asycuda is also expected to boost collection yield and improve with reliable operation and execution.

Part of the plan was that by the fourth quarter of 2007, a development support to local small and medium entrepreneurs should have been established with an integration of supply chain and industry business specific greenlane access and fully automated import process payments.

Similar to the present system being introduced at BOC, Asycuda also aims to reduce if not eliminate face-to-face transactions on the basic requirements which exporters comply as transactions will be done on line.

Declaration will be done online and exporters will also be advised on line if there are lacking requirements. Manifests by shipping lines and airlines, including de/consolidators, will also be through the internet.

"The problem is usually with the payment of fees, it takes time to process at the bank. And what if the shipment will cost several millions? Most of the shippers have a number of bank accounts, will all these be divulged," the broker said.

But one primary concern of the broker is that there are still a number of shipping agents and brokers who are inept in using computers.

"Some do not even know how to use the computer? So what will happen? They can no longer import?" the broker asked.

Early this week, Francis Lopez, president of Intercommerce Network Services, one of the three IT firms accredited by the BOC to be their value added service provider, said the importation of products will be made easier under the new system, which has been dubbed as the electronic to mobile (e2m).

Lopez said smuggling will also be curbed and will be more difficult with the installation of an electronic system that will also reduce the personal transactions.

"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 BOC 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 BOC with the national treasury. (CPM)