Philippines Customs Modernization Project

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The development objective of the Customs Modernization Project for Philippines is to improve the efficiency of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and reduce trade costs. The project comprises of three components. (1) Modernization of Customs Operations component will support the modernization of BOC’s core CPS, related technical infrastructure and internal capacity to manage and operate a sophisticated ICT operation to ensure it contributes to improving operational effectiveness, integrity, accountability, and organizational performance. (2) Organizational Development component will support BOC’s modernization initiative to move to a modern customs administration. The new CPS will bring in the implementation of modern customs procedures, which will create new responsibilities and demands for BOC’s workforce. Therefore, this component will upgrade BOC’s back-office enterprise resource planning (ERP) ICT system, support an organizational and structural review, develop HRM and development strategies and tools, and prepare a new customs training curriculum. (3) Project Management and Implementation Support. The implementation of the CPS and the ERP includes complex ICT implementations requiring BOC to exercise a strong methodology-based project management approach to ensure the successful and timely delivery of the ICT solutions. In order to support BOC in managing the modernization agenda, this component will also finance a Project Supervision and Quality Assurance (PSQA) consultancy to work together with BOC to manage and provide quality assurance support during project implementation. The PSQA will support BOC’s fiduciary, M&E roles, together with change management and communication. This component will also support gender-related data analytical activities, and several citizen engagement mechanisms, including: (i) participatory planning and policy-making with regards to the CPS design and implementation; (ii) annual multi-stakeholder dialogues; (iii) an online grievance redress mechanism embedded in the CPS.