A truck transports a 20-foot metal container inside the facilities of the Manila International Container Terminal in this February photo. The Philippine government ignored port users’ appeals to cut scanning fees for twenty-foot metal containers, asserting that the Bureau of Customs has been empowered by a law to impose such charges. --Roy Domingo

THE Philippine government ignored requests to reduce scanning fees for twenty-foot metal boxes—which contain imported goods and raw materials to be sold and processed by local businesses—asserting that the Bureau of Customs has secured an enabling law to impose such charges.

In an interview last week, Bureau of Customs Commissioner Napoleon L. Morales disclosed that he will try to convey the sentiments of port users who will shoulder the security fees to the finance department for consideration. However, Morales nonetheless said that supporting the position of the Port Users’ Confederation Inc. (PUC) would be a tough task for the bureau since doing so would leave the agency in charge of paying for the costs of maintaining such equipment and the loans which were used to acquire the scanners.  

“Show me the logic [of PUC’s position],” Morales said. “You are not the one paying, but you are complaining. All the other parties involved are not complaining, and you, the forwarders are the only one complaining.”

Morales added that the bureau will continue to collect scanning fees, which range between $25 to $50 per box, until the agency receives official word from Malacañang instructing them to stop.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s biggest business group, has written President Arroyo to defer the fees, echoing the sentiments of port users who have been asking for reduced charges months before implementation. The PUC is a member of PCCI.

In an earlier interview, the PUC recommended a fee of only $2 per 20-foot container and $4 for a forty-foot metal box. The group claimed that these would just be enough to pay for the loan to the Chinese government and maintain the equipment.

Port users also said that the customs bureau should only place the scanners at the ports where cargo volumes are higher.

According to the scheme approved by the PUC board last month, if government will roll out only 10 units of x-ray machines, and will only charge between $2 and $4 per container, it could repay the loans within 16 years.

THE Philippine government ignored requests to reduce scanning fees for twenty-foot metal boxes—which contain imported goods and raw materials to be sold and processed by local businesses—asserting that the Bureau of Customs has secured an enabling law to impose such charges.

THE Aboitiz group, whose business interests include banking, energy, and transport, said it is not interested in operating the Batangas Port, which is currently being geared to become an alternative to facilities in Manila.