Updates

Supporting effective policies for trade facilitation in the Philippines

6 January 2023
ITC News

Members of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Philippine Trade Regulatory Government Agencies (TRGAs) attended a series of national workshops held earlier this month in Pasay city, Metro Manila.

The workshops aimed at providing necessary support to equip BOC and TRGAs in creating new policies and procedures for trade facilitation in the Philippines, focusing on E-Commerce, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), and Integrated Risk Management (IRM) programs.

National Workshop on the Fundamentals of Supply Chain and Logistics Management for the E-Commerce, AEO, and IRM Programs

More than 40 participants from the BOC and TRGAs attended the National Workshop on the Fundamentals of Supply Chain and Logistics Management for the E-Commerce, AEO, and IRM Programs.

The workshop raised awareness about applying the concepts of supply chain and logistics to e-commerce, trade as well as to the AEO and IRM programs.

Participants observed that the workshop strengthened the capacity to implement the Customs Modernisation and Tariff Act (CMTA) and WTO. They also said that a deeper understanding of supply chain and logistics management would support the need to develop the connectivity and interoperability of common IT platforms among agencies

Sessions focused on Supply Chain Management Fundamentals, Logistics Management Principles, and Practical Use Cases of Supply Chain and Logistics Concepts in the Private Sector.

Participants had the opportunity to learn directly from supply chain practitioners who were hands-on in both the public and private sectors.

Integrated Risk Management (IRM) Blueprint Validation Session and Workshop

Another workshop focusing on IRM Blueprint Validation Session and Workshop was also held with members of BOC and TRGAs. The workshop was conducted to identify challenges in developing and implementing a dynamic and effective IRM Blueprint.

More than 20 participants attended the workshop.

Participants found the sessions instrumental in expanding their understanding of IRM.

“I found the discussion about international best practices related to risk identification, risk profiling, and risk management and the use of information technology results in the optimization of risk management techniques insightful.”

The series of workshops serve as a preparation for additional workshops that will be held early in 2023 with added detail for discussion on these topics.

The workshops were organized through ARISE Plus Philippines project, which is enabling Philippine exporters to take advantage of European Union (EU) market access and the trade privileges granted under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP+). It supports the overall EU-Philippines trade relationship and trade-related policies.

ARISE Plus Philippines is a project of the Government of the Philippines, with the Department of Trade and Industry as lead partner together with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of Customs, the Department of Science and Technology, as well as the private sector. It is funded by the European Union with the International Trade Centre (ITC) as the technical agency for the project.