MANILA -- After four testing cycles in December 2021, the Philippines officially joins the live electronic exchange of the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD) using the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) regional platform.

Through the continued assistance from the ASW Project Management Office (ASW PMO) of the ASEAN Secretariat, three Member States namely: Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand have agreed to exchange the live electronic ACDD with the Philippines starting January 21, 2022. Further, Malaysia gave her approval to start the live ACDD exchange on January 25, 2022.

At the 35th ASW Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting, ASEAN Member States agreed on the electronic exchange of the ACDD which includes fifteen (15) mandatory “information parameters” extracted from the Export Declaration. The ACDD would be used as advanced information to enhance Customs risk targeting and profiling activities. In addition, the availability of the ACDD parameters would provide better visibility to various intelligence, enforcement, and monitoring system of Customs.

In February 2022, a stakeholder consultation will be conducted to finalize the draft Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) covering data protection, regulation of access and network security, and the continuous improvement of the ACDD Portal to meet future needs. Awareness campaigns on the use of the portal, such as virtual training and audio-visual presentations, will also be provided by the Bureau of Customs in coordination with the USAID ASEAN Policy Implementation (API) Project. (BOC)