Implemented on the Networked Trade Platform .
Singapore Customs has launched an electronic Banker’s Guarantee (eBG) programme on the Networked Trade Platform (NTP).
The implementation of a digitalised eBG was a result of a joint government-industry collaboration between Singapore Customs and financial institutions, accelerated by the new normal brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The eBG programme guarantees data authenticity from source and offers greater efficiency as it removes the need for the issuance and delivery of paper BGs by participating banks to Singapore Customs.
Traders can look forward to smooth and seamless transactions with the elimination of physical touchpoints and be assured of business continuity even in the face of disruptions.
Banks and traders can now experience a fully paperless process in the BG process, including lodgement, claims and discharge of the BG.
Participating banks can now lodge or extend an eBG with Singapore Customs by sending structured data digitally via the NTP. This reduces the transit time to almost zero with a processing lead time of one day, thereby improving the efficiency of the BG lodgement process.
The eBG programme also caters for early discharge of the BG via electronic means, which means that traders will not need to collect the physical BG and letter of discharge from Singapore Customs and return it to the issuing banks, saving effort and cost.
The eBG programme has been successfully piloted since March 2020, accounting for about 65 per cent of the BGs issued by the participating banks to the Singapore Customs between March and October 2020.
“Singapore Customs is proud to be the first agency in Singapore to implement an electronic, paperless BG programme, in collaboration with the banks via digital connectivity of the NTP. We hope that the eBG programme will be a catalyst for the industry and inspire more collaboration with like-minded partners, domestically and overseas to facilitate trade,” said Choo Wai Yee, director of NTPO.
The move to fully digitise BG via implementation of the eBG programme is a novel concept made possible by the participating financial institutions’ leveraging the secured data exchange functionality on the NTP.
It is part of the NTP’s efforts to connect various parts of the trade and logistics ecosystem to enable stakeholders, in Singapore and abroad, to reap the benefits of digitalisation, connectivity and interoperability, which will provide the foundation for Singapore to be a leading trade, supply chain and trade financing hub.
The eBG Programme is the result of a successful joint government-industry initiative that will enable companies to be paperless and streamlined, for BG lodgement process with Singapore Customs.
It will play an integral role in facilitating smooth trade flows, especially as intra-regional business is expected to grow further with the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
To date, BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, SMBC and UOB have signed up for the eBG programme.
