Eight off-terminal and off-dock container storage facility operators in the Philippines are urging President Marcos to scrap the implementation of the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS) and the Empty Container Storage Shared Service Facility (ECSSSF).
The TOP-CRMS is one of the two digitalization programs of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) that uses technology technology for up-to-date container tracking that allows customers, carriers, freight forwarders, and shippers to access the status of their cargoes and containers.
The ECSSSF, on the other hand, is the partnership being pushed by the PPA under the TOP-CRMS to give the importers real-time information on private off-dock yards with available spaces for their cargoes and containers.
In a statement, the off-terminal and off-dock container storage facility operators said the TOP-CRMS was not fully studied.
"The stakeholders and concerned organizations were not fully apprised and consulted of the PPA plans and were not given the opportunity to present and air their side. We further submit that the PPA has no legal authority to accredit off-dock and off-terminal facilities, since this is a function of the Bureau of Customs,” the group said in a letter to the President.
The open letter was signed and issued by eight off-dock and off-terminal facility operators such as the Sea Container Depot Corp., TBS Container Depot, Inland Container Depot, Brightpoint Logistics Corp., E-Safe Container Depot, Golden Box Container, Movers and Managers Container Depot, and TMS Container Depot.
The group raised two issues in opposing the TOP-CRMS--the first was that the program will be a duplicity of the modernization in the Bureau of Customs, and second, that it will "destroy small players in the container storage industry."
“Under the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, we are considered facilities under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). The PPA has no legal authority to accredit off-dock and off-terminal facilities, since this is a function of the Bureau of Customs,” the letter read.
“We are deeply concerned about the devastating impact on small industry players of the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS) and Empty Container Storage Shared Service Facility (ECSSSF) that the Philippine Ports Authority is planning to implement,” it added.
The group said the proposed staging areas under the new policy can effectively render their facilities useless and unprofitable. This can lead to their permanent closure, leaving hundreds of employees jobless as the country is yet to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
The group added that under the TOP-CRMS and ECSSSF, the PPA will put up two staging areas in Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna where empty containers can stay while awaiting re-exportation.
The operators explained that their current system such as the queuing system and truck appointments already addressed and lessened the queuing time specifically during peak seasons.
“There is no congestion and heavy queuing of trucks at our container yards. So, they cannot and should not use that to justify their decision to put up staging areas 50 to 100 kilometers away from the country’s main port under the TOP-CRMS and ECSSSF. Off-dock depots are the source of supply for containers used by our exporters, a vital cog in our economy. The TOP-CRMS will add additional costs to exporters,” they stressed.
The operators also feared that they would lose their ability to negotiate with the shipping lines and that the program will create a monopoly.
"This will defeat our rights to negotiate freely the terms and conditions of each of our transactions with our valued customers. Hence, this is violative of the Philippine Competition Act and the Philippine Constitution proscribes monopolies and exclusivity in the operation of public utilities,” they said in their open letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Lastly, the operators said it is not true what the PPA had earlier said that it costs additional P6,000 to return an empty container, saying the return of an empty container is in fact free of charge.
PPA General Manager Jay Santiago earlier said that claims that the TOP-CRMS will put container yards out of business is inaccurate and is part of the disinformation drive to divert the issue that the program will reduce logistics cost and address port congestion.
He also urged the critics to read the draft of the Implementing Operational Guidelines of the TOP-CRMS.