THE
Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently issued an order that
provides a mechanism ensuring the performance by importers/and
or surety companies of certain obligations guaranteed
by warehousing bonds. Customs Administrative Order
(CAO) No. 12-2003 covers any and all warehousing shipments
for which bonds have been issued as guarantee for
the performance by the importer of certain obligations
due the BOC.
The bonds are those issued by surety companies accredited
by the bureau to guarantee the export of goods or
the manufacture of raw materials into finished products
for export and ensure the payment of their corresponding
duties and taxes. The order ensures the immediate
liquidation of the warehousing entry upon the performance
of such obligations, and the subsequent cancellation
of the corresponding bond. The directive aims to expedite
its collection or take appropriate action against
importers and surety companies issuing bonds in the
case of non-performance of due and required obligations.
Under CAO 12-2003, the warehousing entry shall be
liquidated upon the performance of obligations by
the importers.
Following
full liquidation, the corresponding bond will be cancelled.
The performance of obligation by the importer may
take the form of the following: exportation of imported
goods or finished products manufactured from raw materials
imported under bond within the prescribed period;
or payment of taxes and duties on goods imported under
bond in accordance to existing regulations. The payment
made by the surety company in exchange of the obligations
incurred by the importer will be considered as ground
for the cancellation of the bond.
On the issue of warehouse entry liquidation, BOC said
the importer may liquidate the covering warehousing
entry by filing a statement of liquidation 30 days
upon exportation of the finished products under bond.
For exportations whose liquidation was submitted beyond
the 30-day period prescribed, there will be a surcharge
of P1,000 or 2% per month of the payable taxes and
duties.
The
statement of liquidation, to be filed with the Operating
Division, must contain the warehousing entry number,
articles, quantity, volume and value. It must also
be accompanied by supporting documents proving the
exportation of the raw materials. The Operating Division
will be responsible for the liquidation of the warehousing
entry once verified. If liquidation is partial, the
operating division shall return subject warehousing
entry to the Warehouse Documentation and Records Division
for recordkeeping. Bonds are cancelled once the liquidation
is complete. The Operating Division shall forward
the warehousing entry, the statement of liquidation
and the supporting documents to the Bonds Division
for bond cancellation.
The
bond cancellation will be completed in five days after
notification of the importer and the surety company.
THE Philippine Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has commended government
for promoting the Strong Republic Nautical Highway
(SRNH). In a speech at the recent PCCI joint general
membership meeting and induction of officers, newly
elected president Noemi Saludo said the association
has been getting good feedback on the operations of
the SRNH roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ports since the
project's implementation middle of last year.
"Now… the movement of
goods can be undertaken from Mindanao to the Visayas
and to Metro Manila at the least transport cost,"
she said. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo thanked
PCCI for acknowledging the benefits brought about
by the SRNH. "I thank her (Saludo) for acknowledging
the transport cost of products from Mindanao to Luzon
has gone down in many cases like 30% because of the
SRNH," she said.
PCCI also expressed appreciation
for the government's 'Sulong Lending' program for
small and medium enterprises which amounted to over
P20 billion last year. For 2004, the association will
look further into issues relating to trade and tariff,
especially those involving the World Trade Organization
and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. Saludo said PCCI
will also create an advocacy program that will promote
infrastructure development projects with private sector
participation.
"This will also entail
our active participation in the effective utilization
of the Overseas Development Assistance funds and support
for the effective implementation of the build-operate-transfer
scheme to develop the transport system," she pointed
out.
INTERNATIONAL Container
Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is among seven terminal
operators shortlisted from 14 bidding to run a container
transhipment facility at India's Cochin Port.
The seven move into the
final round for qualification after the 14 bidders
responded to the Cochin Port Trust's (CPT) global
notification to bid for the proposed International
Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) to be set up
at Vallarpadam Island in India's southwestern state
of Kerala.
Besides ICTSI, the others
are the Port of Singapore Authority; Dubai Port International;
APM Terminals; P&O Ports; Adani Exports; and India's
Larsen and Turbo Ltd, according to an online report
in Exim India. The seven are bidding for the container
terminal project on a build-operate-transfer basis
which would also involve revenue sharing
with the Cochin Port Trust.
Among the new concessions
made for the winner of this latest tendering process
will be the 10-year operation of the existing Rajiv
Gandhi Container Terminal (RGCT) at Cochin. The port
trust hopes to develop the new ICTT, in part as an
alternative to the deep water transhipment terminal
at the Sri Lankan port of Colombo.
According to Indian
government economic data, nearly 70% of containerized
cargo destined for India is shipped via Colombo, Singapore,
Dubai and Salalah in Oman. The Indian government has
been pushing for private investment throughout its
port infrastructure as it struggles to modernize its
port facilities and inland connections. Indian ports
have also developed a bad reputation for protracted
labor strife, inefficiencies and congestion. Port
trust officials met various trade union officials
two weeks ago in a bid to secure their support. Although
expressing support for the project, the unions were
concerned over the public-private partnership for
the
new terminal, according
to a report in the Business Standard.
The port trust expects
to award the contract by end-March. The next stage
will see price bids opened on March 10 followed by
presentation to the Port Trust Board on March 15 followed
by the government on March 17.
The terminal project
will also see a number of related infrastructure improvements
undertaken, including in the first phase a deepening
of the draft at the existing RGCT to 12.5 meters.
PIATCO:
SC decision brings greater strain on national budget
THE Supreme Court's (SC)
decision on the Philippine International Air Terminals
Co. Inc. (PIATCO) case may bring additional burden
on the government's budget, according to PIATCO vice
president for Public Affairs Moises S. Tolentino,
Jr.
In a statement, Tolentino
said that with the SC ruling, the government will
now have to produce the funds needed to run the Ninoy
Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. This
move, he noted, is exactly what the Build-Operate-Transfer
(BOT) law wants to avoid.
"In fact, that ruling
would put the government in a far worse situation...
for it would also assume the burden of maintaining
the facility and taking the risks for operational
reverses," he said.
IACS
members tapped as recognized security organizations
under ISPS Code
The Maritime Industry
Authority (MARINA) recently accredited eight members
of the International Association of Classification
Societies (IACS) as registered security organizations
(RSO). RSOs are required under the International Maritime
Organization's International Ship and Port Facility
Security Code.
The Code, effective July
2004, provides for a standardized and consistent framework
for evaluating risk that would enable IMO member governments
to counterbalance changes in threat with changes in
vulnerability for ships and port facilities by determining
appropriate security levels and corresponding security
measures. MARINA adiministrator Oscar M. Sevilla signed
the agreement with IACS members American Bureau of
Shipping, Bureau Veritas, Det Norske Veritas, Germanischer
Lloyds, Korean Register of Ship, Lloyds Register of
Shipping, and Nippon Koyi Kyokai of Japan.
Carlos Salinas, president
of the Filipino Shipowners Association, witnessed
the signing.
