The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is now coordinating with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in coming up with streamlined processes that would discourage importers from turning ports into storage areas.
PPA General Manager Jay Daniel Santiago initiated the move as he observed how consignees would circumvent the existing rules to take advantage of low storage fees in the country’s ports, particularly in two major ports in Metro Manila—the both the Manila South Harbor (MSH) and the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
In a normal process, importers would seek import entry clearance before the arrival of their imports in the country. But with the ports only charging P700 a day storage fee, some importers would resort to late filing of import entry to save cost.
The filing of entry signals the start of processing at the BOC.
Santiago explained that if importers, for instance, would delay the release of the cargo for one month, they would only pay P21,000 for 30 days at P700 per day charge.
“This is way cheaper compared to private storage fees so maybe this is fone to save storage or warehousing cost,” said Santiago.
“We are coordinating with BOC…for importers not to delay the filing of their importation entry. We are slowly reviewing our processes in PPA and in coordination with BOC,” he added.
The PPA initiated the streamlining of process for the release of cargo following the latest incident wherein it was found out that almost 900 container vans of imported rice were monitored to be stored at the MICT.
Following the discovery, Santiago raised alarm of its effects to the price of rice in the market since overstaying imported rice would create artificial rice shortage that would eventually jack up the rice price.
Lowering the price of rice per kilo, it was recalled, is one of President Marcos’ campaign promises and the almost 900 overstaying container vans have more than 20 million kilos of rice.
On Oct. 1, Santiago has already forwarded a letter to the Department of Agriculture that contains the list of importers with overstaying rice and other agricultural products.
What the PPA also wants to implement is the BOC’s strict observance of the disposal of overstaying cargos—which includes selling them to raise fund or donate to other government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Monitoring
Santiago said the PPA has already directed the head of operations and engineering of Asian Terminal Inc., the terminal operator of Manila South Harbor, to report the overstaying containers to the BOC for appropriate disposition in accordance with Section 1129 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act concerning abandoned containers.
“We believe having this information on a regular basis will help both PPA and DA identify trends, address any challenges promptly, and improve overall service delivery,” said Santiago.
Holiday demand
To prepare for the expected demand increase during the Christmas season, the PPA has also intensified its monitoring of pork, chicken, and onion inventories.
The agency provided the DA with a detailed inventory of these shipments at the Manila ports as of September 30 which include: 135 TEUs of pork shipments, 101 TEUs of chicken, and 24 TEUs of onions
The PPA reported 21 containers of pork have remained at the port for over 30 days, despite BOC clearance, with five containers exceeding 1,000 days in dwell time.
For chicken shipments, 22 containers cleared by the BOC are still at the port, with 12 of them exceeding 600 days in dwell time. Four onion containers have not yet received OLRS (On-Line Release System) clearance, which refers to the electronic release instructions for import shipment generated by the BOC’s electronic to mobile system.