THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), along with other business groups, strongly called for the immediate revocation of an order by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) that they say threatens the transport and logistics industries and the economy.
The business groups also urged the Office of the President and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to look into the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)’s issuance of Administrative Order 04-2021, saying it could negatively impact business and the country’s recovery.
In a news statement on Wednesday, PCCI said, “PPA’s order was already outside its mandate and only duplicates the functions of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).” Furthermore, PCCI said, quoting the business groups’ concern, “PPA did not conduct consultations with the concerned stakeholders prior to the issuance of the policy, which clearly violates the Ease of Doing Business Act.”
PCCI President George T. Barcelon said that PPA should cancel the order and invite all concerned stakeholders to a dialogue to address the issue.
“We are supposed to streamline our processes and not add burden by having redundant policies. How would we be able to attract investors and create ease of doing business if our policies are confusing,” Barcelon said.
The new policy enables PPA to implement the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS) and Empty Container Storage Shared Service Facility (ECSSSF), projects to track real-time movement of containers from the time of entry, discharge, return and storage, and re-export.
A fee of P4,900, exclusive of 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) per tagged container, will be charged for TOP-CRMS, which is a considerable amount, especially for the micro, small, and medium enterprises, the business groups said.
However, PCCI said in its statement, this measure is also being implemented by BOC through Administrative Order 08-2019, which institutionalized a container monitoring policy supplemented by the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC).
The group explained that not all containerized cargo passing through international ports fall under the authority of PPA, such as those administered by the Cebu Ports Authority, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Poro Point Management Corporation, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Phividec Industrial Authority, and Regional Ports Management Authority.
Furthermore, the PCCI said, the throughput of the Port of Manila (POM) and Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) is only 68 percent, which means that at least 32 percent of the total container traffic in Philippine ports is outside the jurisdictional control of PPA.
“This effectively usurps the authority of other independent port authorities and debunks the claim in the general description of the project that 98 percent of all container traffic goes through POM and MICT,” added PCCI.
Barcelon explained that consumers and businesses will ultimately be burdened by additional logistics costs due to the ad-hoc charges from using the system, and inefficiency in cargo flows. The process of tagging and untagging the tracking device on the containers, it explained, spells additional time and truck trips.
According to PCCI, The country’s ports authority is reportedly set to spend P980 million to implement TOP-CRMS and ECSSSF.
The business groups that signed a joint manifesto with PCCI are: Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport), Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines (SCMAP), The Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations, Alliance of Container Yard Operators of The Philippines, Association of International Shipping Lines, Inc., Confederation of Truckers Association of The Philippines, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc., United Port Users Confederation of the Philippines, Inc., Customs Brokers Federation of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc., Philippine Liner Shipping Association (PLSA), Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association, Inc. (PMTLA), and Philippine Ships’ Agents Association (PSAA).
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