At the Cabinet meeting today, Premier Jiang Yi-huah was briefed by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on the results of its Ubiquitous Economy and Trade Network Plan.
The plan was implemented by the MOF to meet global economic and trade challenges and to incorporate the World Customs Organization's Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade. Five sub-projects, including a Customs Port Trade (CPT) Single Window System, have been completed under the plan.
These projects have effectively enhanced trade facilitation, raised competitiveness, and greatly reduced business operating costs and government expenditures, Jiang said. They also highlight the administration's efforts in engendering a quality trade environment.
The premier affirmed the MOF's efforts and urged it to continue improving customs management and enhancing trade facilitation and safety.
The MOF pointed out that the five sub-projects have already yielded concrete results:
• The CPT Single Window System is estimated to have saved businesses and government up to NT$1.58 billion (US$51.80 million) in operating costs every year.
• The Advance Cargo Information Project—which streamlined customs-clearance procedures, consolidated customs control and management, and integrated air and sea customs clearance—has saved operators some NT$150 million (US$4.92 million) in transshipment and transportation costs annually.
• The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) certification program has improved trade security, accelerated customs clearance and promoted mutual international recognition. As of October 2014, the number of AEOs in Taiwan had grown to 604.
• The Cargo Movement Security Project affixed electronic seals on containers to replace human escorts, thus significantly reducing operators' costs, manpower and time and alleviating workload on customs personnel. Every year it is expected to save 30,000 human escorts totaling 63,000 hours of work.
• The Inspection Instrument Modernization Project cuts customs clearance costs by NT$8,000 (US$262) per container or NT$800 million (US$26.23 million) per year, while saving clearance time of six hours per container or about 600,000 hours per year.
Looking ahead, the MOF said the CPT Single Window System will also be connected to the intelligent logistics cloud platform of the free economic pilot zones (FEPZs) in phase two of the FEPZ program. Through public-private partnerships and the verification and integration of information, the system will be able to link B2B (business-to-business), B2G (business-to-government) and G2G (government-to-government) services and give government and industries greater control over the movement of imported and exported goods.
In addition, the Advance Cargo Information Project is expected to launch an imports subsystem in 2015, integrating overseas and domestic data to improve risk assessment. High-tech cargo screening equipment, drug-detector dogs and spot-check teams will also be in place strengthen border security and ensure that imports pass through customs in a fair, effective and safe manner.
The Ubiquitous Economy and Trade Network Plan covers trade facilitation, trade safety and an intelligent environment, and is jointly implemented by the MOF, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, as well as banking and insurance associations in Taiwan.