CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Customs officials of the four-country regional grouping Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) expressed commitment on Wednesday to make trade among the four countries more efficient.

During the fifth BIMP-Eaga Heads of Customs Meeting here, Customs Commissioner Rozanno Rufino Biazon broached the idea, which was readily agreed on by his counterparts from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia, to institute and improve measures leading to a more reliable Customs regulations and processes to ensure the seamless transport and movement of goods across the East Asean Growth Area.

“These efforts are geared toward the sub-region’s goal of increasing investments, trade and tourism,” said Biazon, who is also the current chairman of the BIMP-Eaga Customs Sector.

The Customs sector agreed to have good system in place that is not only efficient, but will also help the businesses cut cost.

Royal Malaysia Customs Chief Mohamed Khalid Bin Yusuf stressed that making trade more efficient in the subregion should not compromise security and control.

This can be done more easily with the implementation of the Intelligent Clearance ID Tag (i-CLID), a cross-border solution for tagging of cargo and vehicles, he said.

The implementation of i-CLID will provide hassle-free and timely clearance border experience as well as make trade facilitation more efficient to meet international standards.

“We should not be technologically stagnant. We should always be mindful of the latest technologies,” Biazon said, adding that this will significantly improve the trade processes in the subregion.

It will also spur BIMP-Eaga’s growth engine to run smoothly.

Nguyen Ba Hung, regional cooperation specialist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said the Trade Sector is BIMP-Eaga’s  engine of growth. But at present, it is sputtering because “[Customs] practices [in the subregion] are still unfriendly to businesses, thus causing mistrust between traders and the regulatory agencies.”

“The objective of trade facilitation is to make legitimate trade more efficient,” he said.

The ADB has been extending assistance to BIMP-Eaga, specifically providing technical expertise and funding support to a number of subregional initiatives. One of its current technical assistance projects supports trade facilitation in the subregion.