The Tape that is Red

Yesterday, my boyfriend bought a Macbook Pro, from a certain guy who's a friend of a friend of a friend. The contact person is a direct importer of Apple products and a small-time supplier to some stores in Metro Manila. Since there was no intermediate seller, we saved almost P20,000 on the entire purchase including the applications he threw in for free. (I still have his number for those who may want it. Haha!)

As an importer, he narrated to us the hardships he has to endure everytime he brings the products onshore. It shocked me to find out that importation requires procurement of 27 signatures in the Bureau of Customs alone. 27 signatures, imagine that! That if all 27 would take one day each to sign the freaking document, which is way, way ideal, it would take one shipment 27 days, in the Bureau of Customs alone, to clear. That 27 days for an importer is crucial especially that markets are dynamic and competition in the electronics industry is fierce. That if grease-money would be required to speed up the process or iron out troubles, that's grease-money for 27 people!

Unbelievable! No wonder the investment climate in the country is poor and lagging as compared to our neighbor Vietnam. It has hampered competitiveness in the business sector and has turned off local investments.

On a good note, the Manila Times reported last June that the Bureau of Customs has acceded to the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC), which is aimed at simplifying customs procedures worldwide. As a contracting party to the convention, the Philippines agrees to conform to its provisions that would streamline and simplify the customs procdure that would translate to efficiency, transparency and thus lowering the cost of clearing with the Bureau. President Noynoy promised in his SONA as well to cut the bureaucratic red tape in the administration.

Oh well, what to do but wait for changes... Tsk...