Bureau of Customs Launches Customs Operations Center

As the Bureau of Customs (BOC) further enhances its facilities and capabilities, the Bureau established and formally inaugurated its Customs Operations Center on 16 December 2020 to command and control the intelligence and enforcement operations of its seventeen (17) Collection Districts nationwide.

The event was graced by Department of Finance Assistant Secretary Dakila Elteen M Napao, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, Deputy Commissioners and Service Directors of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) and Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) who were instrumental in establishing the operations center.

The Customs Operations Center facility is designed to house the different intelligence, enforcement, risk management, and scanning systems of the Bureau. Also, to be managed in the facility are the Intelligence Database, the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) and the Vessel Monitoring System. The center shall also have capabilities to utilize the Universal Risk Management System (URMS) and provide remote access to the scanning or x-ray systems of the Bureau under the X-ray Inspection Project. It will likewise serve as a fusion center to integrate and analyze intelligence, enforcement and operational information gathered from various sources. The IT-integrated facility will be manned 24/7 by personnel of the Enforcement Security and Services (ESS), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

In his statement Asec. Napao congratulated the Bureau of Customs for another milestone. “I congratulate Commissioner Guerrero for launching and integrating all the existing command systems for their operations. This is a landmark achievement of the BOC led by our Commissioner to efficiently monitor, protect, as well as control the borders. All of these are aimed to enhance the Bureau’s revenue collection.” Asec Napao said.

For his part, Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero underscored that the facility is an important tool for the Bureau of Customs, being a border protection unit of the country continuously working to deliver its mandate of securing the borders along with facilitation of trade and collection of lawful revenues.

“The Customs Operations Center is a significant part of the Bureau’s thrust on reform and transformation”, Guerrero added.

The Bureau of Customs, under the leadership of Commissioner Guerrero, remains steadfast in its commitment of providing excellent and efficient public service, through the implementation of modernization projects to serve national and public interest.

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