Electronic Trade Facility helps save cost and time, says CEO

Published by The Star (Business IT)

WHERE before it took two workers 12 hours to process documents for an export consignment through Port Klang, now one clerk completes the task in a mere 15 minutes. Where there used to be a document error rate of 40% , it is now 5%. Cargo turnaround time has been reduced from four to two days.

This resulted in annual cost savings of RM81.6mil to forwarding and shipping agents and of RM14.8mil to the Royal Malaysian Customs, according to a 1996 study, Saifol Bahri Shamlan, chief executive officer of Dagang Net Group of Companies, told StarBiz in an interview.

It will be more now because the paperless Customs document submission coupled with electronic funds transfer services provided by Dagang Net have also eliminated the need for bank guarantees.

The group – a government-linked company comprising Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd, Dagang Net Commerce Sdn Bhd and Dagang Net Solutions Sdn Bhd, set up in 1989 – is a subsidiary of Time Engineering Bhd, the government-owned UEM Group's information communications technology flagship.
A national e-commerce exchange service provider, it has pioneered and spearheaded electronic Customs-related documentation and services to facilitate international trade and the logistics industry.

Today, it handles about RM1.8bil of Customs duty payments and 40 million document transfers a year among members of its trading community, made up of manufacturers, forwarders, shipping agents, terminal and port operators, banks, port authorities and Customs houses.

Dagang Net scored a global first in 1997 when it successfully introduced the Customs duty electronic funds transfer.

Since 2002, Dagang Net has commenced the rolling out of more Web-based value-added products as well as other major services that complement existing ones under a portal branded as MyPorts,

At the centre of MyPorts is eDeclare, the Web-based Customs declaration service launched in 2002, to facilitate preparation and submission of trade documents.
Other Web-based services include e-Permit for the electronic application of import/export permits to the relevant issuing agencies; DutyNet, a 24-hour, 7-day a week service for payment of Customs duty; and Vessel Information System, for shipping agents to apply for ship call numbers to port operators/authorities.

MyPorts Content covers Customs exchange rates, Harmonised System tariff codes, Asean Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature tariff codes, ISO codes, Customs stations, bank information, shipping schedules, Landbridge schedule, and particulars on registered forwarding and shipping agents.

Also, Dagang Net has, since 1999 been providing a service within the scope of Customs' internal taxes that enables motor vehicle producers to apply and register for excise duty payments of their products.

“This is how we give back in value-add to our customers,” Saifol said, adding that with greater transparency in the move to self-service in the entire value chain, the Royal Malaysian Customs will also be able to adopt risk management procedures which will further facilitate international trade.