Asean's new online customs system set to boost trade
The region’s businesses can now access a powerful new online trading system connecting countries under a single cross-border transit regime, Asean Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi announced on Monday.
The Asean Customs Transit System (ACTS) will reduce intra-Asean trading challenges and enable companies to benefit fully from the Asean Economic Community (AEC) and the free movement of goods across the region, he added.
The new system aims to meet twin goals set by Asean economic ministers in 2017 – to reduce trade transaction costs by 10 per cent by 2020 and double intra-Asean trade between 2017 and 2025.
The ACTS has been developed to allow businesses to lodge e-transit declarations directly with Asean customs authorities and to track the movement of their goods from departure to delivery at the final destination.
"The implementation of the Asean Customs Transit System plays a vital role in facilitating seamless movement of goods in the region. I believe the system would be an excellent tool in enhancing Asean's trade and production networks as well as establishing a more unified market for its firms and consumers," said Lim.
"The ACTS could also support post-Covid recovery to accelerate the transit movement of medical supplies, vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment within the member states," he added.
Under the ACTS, businesses can make a single customs transit declaration that covers the transport of goods across multiple Asean countries, without the need to make repeated customs declarations or change vehicles at each border.
Faster customs clearance at borders helps accelerate transit movements, and reduce the time and expense of carrying out regional trade in goods, to the benefit of producers and consumers across the continental Asean region.
The system is managed by a permanent ACTS Central Management Team based in the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta, with support from the EU-funded ARISE Plus programme.
"The ACTS is a remarkable achievement that is testament to the strong, dynamic and long-standing partnership between Asean and the European Union," said Koen Doens, director general for International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission.
The first successful ACTS transit movement occurred on October 23-24 with a truck travelling from Singapore via Malaysia to Thailand. The system will soon be available in Myanmar, and depending on business needs may later be expanded to Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines.
