A digital trading platform that aims to reduce the processing time and number of transactions for import and export clearances will be reinforced with cybersecurity features to keep it safe from unauthorized access and other forms of cyberattacks, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
Undersecretary Gil Beltran said this online platform—TradeNet—will also be subjected to periodic vulnerability reviews to test its integrity.
“Our cybersecurity system will be implemented to provide monitoring and continuous vigilance services for TradeNet,” he said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III during a recent DOF Executive Committee (ExeCom) meeting.
Launched last December, the TradeNet platform will also serve as the Philippines’ link to the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) gateway and is expected to minimize the costs of doing business and cut the processing time for the issuance of import and export permits.
The ASW is a regional initiative that aims to speed up cargo clearances and promote economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border documents among the organization’s 10 member-states. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are already using the ASW to exchange information on customs clearances.
Beltran said TradeNet.gov.ph will allow traders to initially use the system to apply for import and export permits for rice, sugar, used motor vehicles, chemicals (toluene), frozen meat, medicines (for humans, animals or fish) and cured tobacco.
The Tradenet platform will eventually link 66 government agencies through a common database.
Besides TradeNet, the government has also launched three parallel initiatives that form part of its “comprehensive deployment of information and communications technology to enhance governance efficiency,” Dominguez earlier said.
These are the 1) Government Cloud Service (GovCloud) launched recently by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to serve as the National Government Portal for all government information, transactions and services; 2) PHPAY platform initiated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to function as a centralized online payment portal, transactions ledger and reconciliation system; and 3) Philippine Business Data Bank (PBDB), which is a search engine for all registered businesses in the country that will be available online for government agencies to verify records for business registration and permits.
GovCloud will help to significantly reduce red tape and corruption as well in applying for permits, clearances and other similar documents, while PHPAY will provide government agencies “a way to interface their service websites to payment facilitators, banks or credit card gateways, making it easier for private users to pay for permits or applications.’’
The PBDB, meanwhile, will bring together for easier reference the available information from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and the local government units.
TradeNet uses the PBDB for verifying business information.
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