Online Filing saves Malaysian Business Time and Energy

Published by ZDNET Asia

At least 5,000 importers and exporters in Malaysia will find it faster and easier to get their permit applications processed by the end of 2005. Announced in July this year, Malaysia's ePermit system enables importers, exporters and forwarding agents to apply for import/export permit from other government agencies and obtain approval via the Internet.

ePermit is designed as a one-stop gateway or "single window" linking 19 OGAs (Other Government Agencies), the Royal Malaysian Customs, importers, exporters and forwarding agents to facilitate a more responsive import/export permit issuance system in Malaysia. The system was developed by Dagang Net Technologies at a cost of RM450,000 (US$119,311).

Some 19 permit-issuing agencies will be linked to this system by year- end. When fully implemented, ePermit is expected to process an average of 250,000 permit applications annually.

"Our aim is to consolidate and centralize all permit processing activities into one single entry point or gateway via ePermit. We believe the integration of our ePermit system into one national programme can facilitate greater collaboration amongst all government permit-issuing agencies," said Dagang Net's executive director Amiruddin Abdul Aziz.

The system is already running at two permit-issuing agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry: Pesticide Board and Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA).

"This allows the local agriculture produce to penetrate the export market faster because the electronic commerce system eliminates paper by capturing, storing, and transmitting the permit information electronically," Amiruddin explained. Sixty importers are now connected via the ePermit system to the Pesticide Board, which processes about 200 permits per month.

The ePermit system currently links FAMA to its 150 importers, and about 300 permits are electronically processed each month under the system's import module. When the export module is implemented, which will be "soon", the agency expects to process some 2,500 permits per month.

Four other agencies under the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry are scheduled to be onboard e-Permit by year-end. They are the Veterinary Services Department, Plant Control and Quarantine Department, Rice and Padi Industry Department and Fisheries Department.

The other 13 OGAs include Department of Environment which is currently undergoing a pilot run; Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment); Gambling Unit (Ministry of Finance); Cocoa Board of Malaysia & Timber Industry Board of Malaysia (Ministry of Primary Industries); Pharmaceutical Services Division (Ministry of Health); Atomic Energy Licensing Board (Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovations); Department of Museums and Antiquities Malaysia & FINAS (Ministry of Culture, Arts & Heritage); Royal Police of Malaysia and Film Censorship Board (Ministry of Home Affairs); Commercial Services Department (Ministry of International Trade & Industry); and SIRIM Berhad.

When fully implemented at these agencies, ePermit will benefit 5,000 importers and exporters nationwide. Approved permits from OGAs will be transmitted to Customs' Sistem Maklumat Kastam (SMK) electronically for validation and cross-reference purposes against Customs declaration, explained Amiruddin.

Dagang Net Technologies currently operates the national electronic trade facilitation service 'Sistem Maklumat Kastam - Dagang.Net' (SMK- Dagang.Net).

According to Amiruddin, ePermit reduces the application time from three days to just one day as approving a permit is a completely seamless electronic process from initial application to review and permit issuance.

The conversion from manual processing to a completely electronic process requires several complex issues to be addressed. They include capturing the information submitted with an application including form attachments, fee payments, security and authentication of the electronic transactions, database interactions, routing for review and internal workflow, electronic approval of the permit and convenient data access in an electronic format, he added.

Key to the success of the project is user training, which Dagang Net is focused on. "Undoubtedly, there will always be challenges when it comes to implementing new solutions. But after a few training sessions and product demos, people tend to accept it as a new way of doing business more efficiently," said Amiruddin.

To file permit applications electronically, the operator needs a personal computer, Web browser and an Internet connection. Each OGA has specific requirements, such as consignment details, quota details, grading summary and product database, and three modules are assigned to different groups of users: importers/exporters, forwarding agents and OGAs.

A fee of RM10 (US$2.65) is charged per transaction. For permit-issuing agencies to be linked to ePermit, no additional investment is required. Cordelia Lee is a freelance IT journalist based in Malaysia.