Business groups are asking for the scrapping of an order issued by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) prescribing the registration and monitoring of containers, saying this will add to the undue cost burdens of businesses and consumers.
In a statement, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. , Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines and four networking committees of the Export Development Council said they have written PPA administrator Jay Daniel Santiago on Jan. 10, 2023 expressing their “vehement opposition” to the implementation of PPA Administrative Order 04-2021 and its Implementing Operational Guidelines on the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry and Monitoring System (TMP-CRMS).
The TMP-CRMS will only bring regulatory burden to all affected stakeholders while violating the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law, the groups said.
The trade groups recommended instead for PPA to make sure its systems interoperable with those of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other stakeholders.
They also reminded PPA of the EODB Law requirement to conduct a Regulatory Impact Assessment prior to the issuance of any proposed regulation of “reducing transport logistics cost to sustain the country’s economic recovery.”
“It is with great dismay that the arguments and opposition that we, along with the brokers, truckers, the shipping lines and other affected stakeholders, had expressed in meetings and position papers submitted last year on this policy seemed to have fallen on deaf ears when the PPA proceeded with this latest IOG,” the groups said.
The groups added the order, since its issuance in late 2021, has been opposed by stakeholders as it would “negatively impact port operations and disrupt the delicate balance of commerce at the port.”
PPA AO 04-2021 sets the policy for the registration and monitoring of containers entering and leaving PPA ports, including the scheduling, loading, unloading, release and movement of all containers.
It aims to generate a record of accountability to “enable PPA to monitor the movement of containers from the time of entry, discharge, return and storage, and re-export,” purportedly to prevent smuggling. The groups doubted the order would help prevent smuggling because it only covers the ports managed by the authority.
In their letter to Santiago, the groups said the order directly encroaches on the function of the BOC, which is given the task to monitor the movement of containers inside and outside the port.
They added BOC monitoring supplements the E-TRACC, a real-time monitoring system of containerized cargoes. The BOC is also implementing the container identification and accountability program of the World Customs Organization Cargo Targeting System, which requires all foreign shipping lines operating in the Philippines to submit in advance their container and import shipment information.
“Unlike the monitoring mandate being performed by the BOC which covers all ports in the country, the TOP-CRMS project does not include Off-Dock Container Depots, among others.
This puts in grave doubt the capability of the PPA to effectively and efficiently achieve this objective,” said the letter.
Other than the container insurance cost of P980 plus value-added tax (VAT), there will also be a service fee of P3,520 plus VAT per container for use of the staging facility beyond the first three days. This is in addition to the accreditation fees to be paid by the shipping line, trucks and insurance companies.
“Ultimately, all these costs will be passed on to the end consumer,” the groups said.
They also questioned the legality of PPA’s jurisdiction to accredit and allow the establishment and operation of an off-dock staging facility which they said falls under the jurisdiction of the BOC.
The trade groups pointed out the issues against the deposit fee are now being successfully addressed by the Container Ledger Account system implemented by the Association of International Shipping Lines.
In effect, they said, “PPA is already arrogating upon itself the role as a regulatory body of the international sea carriers, to which it is not.” Irma Isip
