Live test of Govt’s e-Permit systemKUALA LUMPUR,Wednesday, June 27, 2001- A total of 25 permit-issuing government agencies (OGAs) will beginexchanging approved permit application details electronically with theRoyal Malaysian Customs and Excise Department’s Sistem Maklumat Kastam (JKED-SMK) from July 2 when the central e-permit system kicks off amonth-long “live” test.The OGA e-Permit System is being jointly implemented by Customs, DagangNet Technologies Sdn Bhd (DNT) and CMNet Dotcom Sdn Bhd.DNT, formerly known as Electronic Data Interchange (M) Sdn Bhd (EDIMalaysia), will build and manage the network connectivity between JKED-SMKand the OGAs, the company said in a statement.Its business partner CMNet will focus on marketing and providing user-endfacilities to importers and exporters.Phase One of the project would enable OGAs to transmit approved permitapplication details to, and receive official acknowledgement from,JKED-SMK using the front-end software OGA SANCRT Interface Module for SMK(OASiS).Phase Two, scheduled to be implemented in August, will enable importersand exporters to submit permit applications electronically to the OGAs.The approved applications will be automatically routed to Customs foracknowledgement, and the response would be sent electronically to theimporters and exporters.The entire process would be conducted via a single connection through theInternet or the private Dagang· Net network, DTN said.Currently, five OGAs are already exchanging documents electronically withJKED-SMK. They are the Veterinary Services Dept, Malaysian Timber IndustryBoard, International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), the NationalForest and Wildlife Protection Department and Sirim Bhd.According to Customs Deputy Director-General Datuk Abdul Rashid Bolong,the implementation of the OGA e-Permit System is a major step forward forthe Electronic-Government (E-Gov) initiative.“It effectively completes the trade cycle loop and drastically reduces theamount of paperwork and human intervention.“We are now able to monitor the country’s trade much more effectively tosafeguard our country’s economic, social and security interests. The taskof tax collection can be done more efficiently and effectively to benefitthe nation,” he claimed.Currently, the 25 OGAs manually process more than 300,000 permitsannually, taking an average of three to 10 days to process a permit.Each agency has its own unique system and requirements that necessitatetedious matching of declarations and approved permits at JKED-SMK, andsometimes causes inaccurate data balancing between the OGAs, JKED-SMK andthe Statistics Department.“The OGA e-Permit System will reduce permit-processing and approval timedown to just a few hours to within a day. Procedures will be standardisedand a single ‘e-document’ can be routed to all relevant parties withoutthe need for duplication. Incomplete and inaccurate data would be thingsof the past,” DNT chief executive officer Hazree M. Turee said in astatement.He claimed that the project was different from other E-Gov initiatives asit was based on a proven working model, the Port Klang Community System(PKCS), and uses the established SMK-Dagang·Net infrastructure thathandles some 150,000 electronic transactions and some RM4mil in electronicpayments daily.The participating OGAs are:1) International Trade and Industry Ministry2) Malaysian Foreign Trade Development Corporation (Martrade)3) National Forest and Wildlife Protection Department4) Agricultural Department (Quarantine)5) Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama)6) Department of Veterinary Services7) Malaysian Fisheries Department8) Padi and Rice Supervision Section9) Fisheries Development Authority10) Pesticides Board11) Road Transport Department (JPJ)12) Department of Electricity and Gas Supply13) Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas)14) Al-Quran Film and Text Production Section15) Royal Malaysian Police16) Pharmacy Services Section17) Food Quality Control Section18) Malaysian Palm Oil Board19) Malaysian Timber Industry Board20) Malaysian Cocoa Board21) Malaysian Rubber Board22) Department of Environment23) Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim)24) Finance Ministry25) Department of Museums and Antiquities