The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) have started meeting to facilitate the sharing of electronic Phytosanitary Certificate (e-Phyto) with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The DA, through the Bureau of Plant Industry, said the move is part of the Philippine government's commitment to the ASEAN Single Window System wherein member-countries would be able to electronically exchange export declarations issued by their respective customs officials.
It is part of the commitment to digitalization that was agreed by ASEAN member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
The Philippines is expected to exchange the e-Phyto certificates with ASEAN using the BOC Electronic Phytosanitary (e-Phyto) Management Portal, which has access to the e-Phyto certificates issued by DA-BPI, the country's official National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO), as well as those issued by the respective NPPOs of exporting countries.
Representatives from the DA-BPI, hBOC, the Department of Finance (DOF), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - ASEAN Policy Implementation (API) Project agreed to promote trade facilitation and strengthen the relations between the two government agencies regarding the import and export of plants and plant products.
The USAID has been extending technical support to the project.
Follow-up activities between BOC and DA-BPI include data and process mapping covering both incoming and outgoing e-Phyto messages with ASEAN, as well as system alignment with other modes of exchange (i.e., via the International Plant Protection Convention or IPPC Hub and bilateral arrangements with Australia) that the DA-BPI is currently implementing.
The cross-border exchange of the e-Phyto Certificate will reduce document falsification, increase transparency and predictability in agri-food trade, and facilitate faster customs clearance.