BARMM barter trade exchanges within BIMP-EAGA get a major boost

Malaysian products being sold at the public market of Bongao, the capital of the island-province of Tawi-Tawi. The new Bureau of Customs circular is seen to curb smuggling of consumer products from Malaysia and boost formal barter trade exchanges between the two areas. MindaNews file photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO

MindaNews / 31 January — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has received a major boost involving barter trade exchanges within the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines – East Asia Growth Area (BIMB-EAGA).

This after the Bureau of Customs (BoC) issued Customs Memorandum Circular 13, Series of 2026 (CMC 13-2026), which recognizes the “Operational Guidelines for Trading in the BARMM with BIMP-EAGA.”

Approved last year, the Bangsamoro Barter Trade Council (BBTC) guidelines aim to prescribe simpler procedures in the BARMM, BoC and other concerned agencies involving the importation and exportation of goods from the Bangsamoro region with BIMP-EAGA member-countries by qualified enterprises in the BARMM.

BoC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno ordered the dissemination of CMC 13-2026 to concerned agency officials, including district and sub-port collectors, effectively recognizing the BBTC operational trade guidelines with BIMP-EAGA.

Issued last January 20, Nepomuceno stated in the circular that the BARMM trading guidelines with BIMP-EAGA invoked the provisions of Customs Memorandum Order 32-2019 or the “Guidelines in the Implementation of Special Cargo Clearance Procedure for Qualified Enterprises at the Ports/Subports of Mindanao and Palawan Pursuant to BIMP-EAGA Economic Cooperation.”

Nepomuceno issued CMC 13-2026 in response to the letter of Bangsamoro Trade, Investments and Tourism Minister Farserina Mohammad, who chairs the BBTC, requesting CMO 32-2019’s operationalization in the BARMM.

Mohammad described the issuance of the new BoC circular “as a major milestone for BARMM trade.”

“This landmark circular recognizes BARMM’s local trade guidelines and marks a decisive step in transforming informal trade into a legal, structured, and inclusive economic powerhouse,” she said in a statement.

“By streamlining accreditation and empowering regional governance, we are opening doors for small-scale entrepreneurs to thrive within the BIMP-EAGA framework,” she added.

Mohammad noted the new circular strengthens trade facilitation as it in effect leads to streamlining accreditation and procedures and improving the efficient movement of goods through BARMM ports.

Most importantly, this circular bridges a long-standing gap by enabling informal Bangsamoro traders to locally apply for registration as exporters or importers with the Ministry of Trade, Investment, and Tourism, with the latter endorsing such applications to the Bureau of Customs for approval, she said.

“Through this mechanism, informal trade is transformed into a legal, efficient, and inclusive economic activity, allowing our small-scale entrepreneurs to participate meaningfully in the cross-border trade within BIMP-EAGA,” she stressed.

Since its establishment in 2019, the BARMM has been working to formally revive the age-old barter trade exchanges between the region and BIMP-EAGA member countries.

BIMP-EAGA was established in 1994 to spur development in the remote and less developed areas of the four member countries.

The subregion covers the entire sultanate of Brunei Darussalam; the provinces of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and West Papua of Indonesia; the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia; and the entire Mindanao and Palawan province in the Philippines. 

BARMM comprises the provinces of Maguindanaodel Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato.    (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)