Following the successful preliminary activities and connectivity testing, the Philippines has been given the green light by ASEAN to join other ASEAN Member States (AMS) in the electronic exchange of the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD) in November 2021.

The ACDD is a multi-purpose trade document used for facilitating the exchange of export declaration information in ASEAN. The objective of the electronic ACDD is to support Customs in the importing country to carry out their risk management activities. The pilot electronic exchange also aims to benefit the participating exporters through the potential reduction in Customs clearance time for shipments which are supported by the ACDD and imported into exchange-ready AMS. It will also broaden economic integration, support the digitization of BOC processes, and maximize the potential of intra-ASEAN trade.

During the ACDD end-to-end testing period, the Philippines together with Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam will conduct two test cycles which will be monitored by the ASEAN Secretariat. Once all parameters have been approved by ASEAN, the Philippines may start exchanging live ACDD data in the ASW production environment by December 2021.

The Bureau of Customs, through the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – ASEAN Policy Implementation (API) Project, spearheaded the activities in preparation for the electronic exchange of the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document (ACDD). The technical assistance included the development of the ACDD Portal through an in-depth study of the infrastructure requirements, information security issues, and functionality design under the guidance of Ms. Elaine Tan, who is the USAID API Chief of Party, Mr. Dennis Pantastico, who is the ASW Regional Advisor and Deputy Commissioner Allan C. Geronimo of the BOC-MISTG.