Through a partnership with the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Presidential Commission on the Central Luzon Growth Corridor (PCCLGC) said the project has finally put into action the SBMA’s vision to "fully automate" all its import, export and cargo movement systems by early 2002.
The SBMA and the BoC utilized a new software called "Asycuda" to put the cargo systems at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone online.
The commission, which oversees the economic development and investment activities in the region, said the software is the first of its kind in the country, paving the way for "the most modern system" in cargo data handling.
The PCCLGC explained that through the project, manufacturers and traders at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone can access the system online from their own facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"The system will eliminate duplicative paper documents, streamline steps involved and make processes simpler and more transparent to the public," said the commission.
"It will also improve the ability of both the SBMA and BoC to control smuggling and other illicit operations (at the freeport zone)," it added.
In a related development, the PCCLGC said a two-day seminar on Freeport Customs and cargo control was held late last month in Subic, participated in by ranking officials of the SBMA and the BoC and members of the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce.
The commission said the seminar participants "unanimously endorsed a complete reengineering of systems and procedures related to Customs and cargo control for the Subic Bay Freeport Zone."
"They agreed to work together to achieve this within the shortest possible time, with the goal of creating a world-class business environment characterized by effective and user-friendly systems," the PCCLGC said.