EXPORT manufacturing firms face acute delays in the delivery of their raw material inputs due to slow customs processing.
Logistics and electronics companies said lead times to clear cargoes at the ports have nearly doubled since the lockdown.
They urged the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to beef up their workforce and improve their systems as an immediate response to the delays.
Dan Lachica, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI), said it now takes seven days for manufacturing companies to take cargo deliveries of their inputs from the usual four, dragging turnaround time for production.
Level of production in some electronics companies has gone down to as low as 30 percent.
“Part of the backlog was caused by forced shutdown to disinfect after a COVID-19 (new coronavirus disease 2019) case (at the BOC). However, it would help to increase BOC coverage beyond skeletal levels and address the downtime with the automated system,” Lachica said in a text message.
Marilyn Alberto, president of the Philippine Multimodal Transport Logistics Association Inc. (PMTLAI) said due to the delay in customs clearance, their clients have to shoulder higher demurrage and storage charges.
Alberto said raw material shipments of one of PMTLAI’s clients located in an economic zone were stuck for close to a month at the port due to the delays in customs clearance.
Alberto said while the backlog on reefer vans has been addressed resulting to improved yard capacity at the ports, the delay is now being felt in the regular cargoes such as raw materials for export manufacturing companies.
The E2M (electronic-to-mobile) program has also been unreliable, Alberto said.
Alberto said logistics companies seek an extension of the free storage period for cargoes from five days to 10 days to avoid incurring higher storage and demurrage charges.
“We are not saying we are not going pay… We fear of bigger problems if the storage and demurrage charges are not addressed,” Alberto said.
She said collection of these charges should be suspended for cases that are pending at BOC.
“Those cleared by the BOC but continue to be unclaimed should be charged with fees. The free time should extended because it is not our fault that the approval process is taking so long,” Alberto added.
