Philippines: Philippines Notifies WTO of the Implementation of Pre-Border Technical Verification and Cross-Border Electronic Invoicing of Imports

On February 18, 2025, the Philippines notified the World Trade Organization Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of the Department of Finance’s Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 001-2025. The JAO provides the implementing guidelines of the pre-border technical verification (PTV) and cross-border electronic invoicing (CEI) of all imported commodities. According to the JAO, the PTV and CEI implementation will commence 30 days after the Philippine Bureau of Customs publishes the specific rules, known as the Customs Administrative Order (CAO), for PTV and CEI. As of February 21, 2025, there has been no public announcement regarding the formulation of the CAOs, especially a schedule for public consultations.