The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said that all the agency's efforts are in furtherance of the directive of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to improve the services in the Logistics sector.
ARTA Undersecretary and Officer-in-Charge Ernesto Perez said this after Marcos revealed that he received complaints from agricultural product transporters and freight forwarders on the policies and checkpoints imposed by local government units (LGUs).
During the 2022 Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP) Supply Chain Conference last week, Perez noted that anti-red tape measures could help address the issues faced by those in the supply chain sector.
"An efficient supply chain system will foster economic development, contribute to the country's GDP (gross domestic product), facilitate trade, and improve the country's competitiveness," he said.
"A strengthened supply chain management system will definitely contribute to a more competitive Philippines with an improved state of doing business," he added.
Perez discussed some of the Authority's initiatives, particularly those aimed at streamlining logistics, food, and pharma systems.
Among these are the Omnibus Guidelines on Pass-Thru Fees which prohibits the collection of fees and taxes on the transport of goods and products.
This covers "charges for wharfage, tolls for bridges or otherwise, sticker fee, discharging fee, delivery fee, market fee, toll fee, entry fee, or mayor's permit fee, or other taxes, fees, or charges in any form whatsoever upon such goods or merchandise."
Another initiative was the Unified Logistics Pass (ULP), a unified Quick Response (QR) code that facilitates the unhampered movement of trucks for hire delivering essential goods and necessities.
The ULP aims to eliminate the varying and separate pass-through stickers required by economic zones, ports, and LGUs to allow easier movement and ease port-entry restrictions for trucks.
ARTA recently turned over the said system to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Perez also talked about the Philippine Business Hub (PBH), formerly Central Business Portal (CBP), a single online platform for registering businesses. It reduced the days for registering businesses from 33 days and 13 steps to only seven days with only one step. It can be accessed through business.gov.ph.
He also mentioned the Pinas Bilis program, an end-to-end assistance for target national government agencies and local government unit beneficiaries.
The said program, done in partnership with the Aboitiz Group, carries the tagline "Quick, Responsive, and Citizen-Centric Government Service" It aims to streamline government processes of target NGAs and LGUs through empowerment activities and the donation of hardware.