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The Bureau of Customs is eyeing to roll out the electronic airway bill within the year as the system and the corresponding rules and regulations are already moving toward finalization
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A public consultation was held on May 22 to take feedback and inputs from stakeholders
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With faster processing and improved data accuracy, BOC said the e-AWB system – which is already being used by many other economies – is seen to strengthen the country’s trade competitiveness, making it easier for businesses to move goods efficiently while ensuring compliance and transparency
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The International Air Transport Association has long pushed for the adoption of e-AWB in the Philippines and urged airlines to implement it even without BOC’s full participation
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is eyeing to finally roll out the electronic airway bill (e-AWB) within the year as the system and the corresponding rules and regulations are already moving toward finalization.
BOC said the e-AWB is expected to deliver immediate gains for exporters by shortening clearance times, minimizing paperwork, and improving coordination across the logistics chain.
“With the Electronic Airway Bill, we aim to remove unnecessary delays and make it easier for stakeholders to move goods efficiently and transparently. This forms part of our commitment to a customs service that is modern, connected, and responsive to the needs of trade,” Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said in a statement.
The e-AWB system – which is already being used by many other economies – will digitalize cargo documentation and enable real-time data exchange among shippers, freight forwarders, airlines, and BOC offices.
With faster processing and improved data accuracy, the system is also seen to strengthen the country’s trade competitiveness, making it easier for businesses to move goods efficiently while ensuring compliance and transparency, BOC added.
Public consultation
To support its implementation, the BOC-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), led by deputy collector for operations Atty. Wilnora Cawile, together with BOC Management Information Systems and Technology Group-Planning and System Development acting director Atty. Maria Liza Sebastian conducted a public consultation and stakeholder dialogue on May 22 to present the proposed proof of concept and gather industry input for the system.
NAIA handles the biggest volume of air cargo shipments in the country.
READ: BOC-NAIA official to push for e-AWB adoption
The consultation brought together more than 100 participants, including freight forwarders, airline operators, shippers, and representatives from organizations such as Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association, Inc., Airline Operators Council.
Also present at the event was Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary Mary Jean Pacheco, who BOC said is a staunch supporter of the e-AWB initiative.
BOC said Pacheco conveyed her strong support for its implementation as a key step toward more efficient and digitalized trade processes.
Participants provided constructive feedback on operational processes and identified areas for further enhancement, particularly in strengthening automation and system integration to support end-to-end digital transactions.
BOC said the initiative forms part of its broader modernization program, aligning customs processes with global standards and supporting the current administration’s push for faster, technology-driven government services.
Stakeholders for years have been pushing for the adoption of the e-AWB in the country.
Since the Philippines ratified in 2015 the Montreal Convention of 1999, or the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, it has established the legal framework to adopt the use of electronic documentation for shipments to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Today, airlines and air freight forwarders in the Philippines are doing duplicate work, submitting paper master AWB and e-AWB to fulfill local and global regulatory requirements. Other markets that have adopted e-AWB, only submit data, and this has enabled the processes to be more digitalized allowing stakeholders to be more cost-efficient in developing innovations and business continuity plans.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has long pushed for the adoption of e-AWB in the Philippines and urged airlines to implement it even without BOC’s full participation.
READ: Immediate adoption of e-AWB in PH urged
IATA has also worked with BOC-NAIA and the private sector for the initiative.
IATA Philippines country manager Samuel David earlier said most of the countries in Asia Pacific have moved over to recognizing the e-AWB, and that agents, freight forwarders, and airlines are ready for its adoption.
Airlines are already implementing the e-AWB in their systems but BOC still needs to recognize the e-AWB as the default AWB.
