The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will soon start processing online the special export permits of an initial six private firms under the government’s Internet-based trading platform TradeNet, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
These initial six firms are Merck, Inc., Unilab Inc., Pasar Corporation, Roche Philippines, Inc., Petron Corp., and Coral Bay Nickel Corp., according to Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran.
Beltran said in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that the online processing by PDEA will involve the approval and issuance of import and special export permits on “dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and controlled chemicals.”
“Under TradeNet, all issued permits by PDEA can be electronically accessed by the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which, in turn, can provide information back to PDEA on whether each permit was used or not,” Beltran said during a recent DOF executive committee (Execom) meeting.
Beltran said the BOC needs to come out with the Customs Memorandum Orders (CMOs) necessary to “operationalize this utilization function for PDEA.”
These CMOs cover the operationalization of the issuance of electronic Certificates of Origin, which the BOC has already issued, and the responsibilities of the BOC on accessing and utilizing the permits issued by the various agencies under TradeNet, Beltran said.
Beltran said that once TradeNet is fully operational, traders may apply online for import and export permits for commodities such as rice, sugar, used motor vehicles, chemicals (toluene), frozen meat, medicines (for humans, animals, or fish) and cured tobacco.
The Duterte administration’s goal is to eventually have all 76 trade regulatory government agencies across 18 government departments fully interconnected. TradeNet will simplify import and export documentary processes covering an initial 7,400 regulated products.
As of November 2018, a total of 24 agencies have completely identified tariff classification and codes for all their regulated commodities.
These 24 agencies include the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Board of Investments (BOI), Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Energy Resource Development Bureau (ERDB), Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), and the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB).
The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), Forest Management Bureau (FMB), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), National Book Development Board (NBDB), National Food Authority (NFA), National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS), National Museum (NM), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), National Tobacco Administration (NTA), Optical Media Board (OMB), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PFIDA), and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) have also completed the identification of tariff classification and codes for their regulated goods.
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