Customs Brokers Act of 2004
faces amendment
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9280 or the
Customs Brokers Act of 2004 may be subject to
amendment in view of five controversial provisions
it contains, one of the law's authors said.
In a recent meeting with the
Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport)
and other concerned agencies, Senator Ramon
Magsaysay, Jr., who co-authored the legislation
with senators Aquilino Pimentel and Ralph Recto,
said the controversial provisions were not included
in the original proposal.
The five provisions are: the
Scope of Practice of Customs Brokers (CB); Acts
Constituting the Practice of CB Profession;
Prohibition on Unauthorized Practice of CB Profession;
Prohibition on Corporate Practice; and Prohibition
on Financing Activities.
Magsaysay said the provisions
"may have been inserted during the bicameral
proceedings without their knowledge". He
added the "real intent of the original
bill was to professionalize the customs brokers
profession."
Magsaysay proposed the creation
of a technical working group for the immediate
finalization of the law's implementing rules
and regulations (IRR). The IRR, he said, must
"contain a three-year transitory provision
which provides the option to engage the services
of a customs broker."
The IRR is expected to be finalized
within the next two weeks.
The senator noted he is willing
to work on the amendment of the law within the
three-year transitory period.
Philexport, on the other hand,
said the implementation of the five provisions
runs counter to E-Commerce, E-Procurement and
World Trade Organization principles. For instance,
Section 6 of the law mandates that all import
and export documentation submitted to the Bureau
of Customs (BOC) must pass through brokers.
Magsaysay, an advocate of the E-Commerce law,
commented the law is unrealistic because it
prevents owners (importers/exporters) from "exercising
the right to represent themselves."
He said owners "should be
allowed to choose whether to engage the services
of a licensed customs broker or process the
documentation themselves through their in-house
brokers."
In the same meeting, Philexport
trustee Atty. Babes Sanchez described Section
27 of the law as "inconsistent and illogical".
The law, he said, in effect repeals amendments
of the Export Development Act, which allows
exporters to be represented by their trade association.
He said that the "most adverse implication
of the Act", is the "additional costs
for notarization and engagement of a customs
broker."
Magsaysay said the Philippine
Regulatory Commission (PRC)/customs brokers
should consider exempting exporters from coverage
of the law, as suggested by another Philexport
trustee, Diana Santos.
PRC chairperson Antonieta Fortuna-Ibe
said the IRR is being finalized through a series
of public hearings. Earlier, she said the commission
will suspend the implementation of the five
controversial provisions.
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New capitalization
requirement for freight forwaders still hanging
THE proposed Philippine Shippers'
Bureau (PSB) administrative order (AO) increasing
the minimum paid-up requirement for freight
forwarders is still up in the air pending the
submission of a new position paper from the
freight forwarding industry.
In a forum held last week, the
Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders
Association (PISFA) said it will incorporate
issues raised by the newly organized Alliance
of Concerned Freight Forwarders (ACFFO) into
its position paper. ACFFO represents non-PISFA
members.
"We have to wait for the
position paper which will be jointly submitted
by PISFA and ACFFO. Otherwise, we cannot move
forward with the amendment," PSB deputy
director Rene M. Cruzada told PortCalls.
The associations have organized
a working committee on the matter. PISFA president
Erich Lingad said his group will conduct a series
of meetings this week to come up its final draft.
As it stands, the draft AO proposes
raising the minimum capitalization to P5 million
for both non-vessel operating common carriers
(NVOCCs) and cargo consolidators from the current
P500,000 and P400,000, respectively.
There are also plans to collapse
into one category the present separate categories
of International Freight Forwarder (IFF) and
Breakbulk Agent (BA). Under the proposal, the
new category will have a minimum paid-up of
P3 million. The present paid-up requirement
for IFF and BA are P300,000 and P250,000, respectively.
Domestic freight forwarding firms
will still be required a minimum paid-up of
P250,000.
Under the draft AO, stockholders must also be
100% Filipino citizens. The proposed minimum
amount of insurance coverage is P5 million for
NVOCCs, P3 million for IFF, and P250,000 for
domestic freight forwarders.
The draft AO also contains amended
requirements for new applicants and penalties
and fines for non-compliance with PSB rules.
Cruzada said increasing the paid-up
capital requirement is justifiable since the
present requirements were put in place in 1997
when the average peso-dollar exchange rate was
only P26.
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SITC
opens Philippine service
CHINA-BASED SITC Container Lines
Co., Ltd launched over the weekend a Philippine
service in line with its plan to expand services
in South East Asia (SEA).
SITC chief representative in
South East Asia Mr. Ke Fei, in an interview,
said the service will pass through the ports
of North China, Hong Kong, Manila South Harbor,
the Manila International Container Port and
back to Hong Kong and North China.
The maiden voyage to the Philippines
from Xingang began last Monday with pure container
vessel, SITC Manila. The vessel can accommodate
up to 1,742 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU)
and has a gross registered tonnage of 21,049.
According to Ke, the carrier's
venture was encouraged by strong trade performance
in SEA as well as the need to expand its service
steadily into the area.
At present, SITC Container Lines
is expecting an annual turnover of 600,000 TEU
on the intra-Asia service, servicing over 30
coastal areas and international destinations
such as China mainland, Taiwan, the Philippines,
Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea
and Singapore using 23 container vessels.
In the SEA, the shipping line
also offers another service covering Central
China and Manila South Harbor and Thailand.
The Korean Straight Express service, on the
other hand, services the ports of Malaysia and
Singapore and also serves the growing Japanese
market with its Japan-Thailand Express service
through a service cooperation agreement.
The company is counting on support
from local enterprises for its Philippine service.
"As a newcomer, we will be anchoring our
service on the needs and requirements of our
clients. With the newest equipment, our punctual
service schedule, and reputable agent, Ben Line
Agencies Philippines. Inc., we are hopeful to
create a favorable market image in the shortest
possible time," Ke said.
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MARINA-Cagayan
anticipates resumption of MCT operations
MARITIME INDUSTRY AUTHORITY (MARINA)
Cagayan de Oro Regional director Marianito D.
Mendoza is hoping for the resumption of stalled
operations at the Mindanao Container Terminal
(MCT).
He clarified the agency is adopting
a hands-off policy on the matter, but disclosed
ships calling the region's premier gateway,
the Cagayan de Oro Port, is facing lack of space.
Mendoza noted 30% of the country's
foreign trade comes from Cagayan de Oro due
to its strategic location as window to products
from the Visayas and Mindanao.
"The port of Cagayan is
already highly congested so we need an alternative
port which will be able to accommodate the growing
number of trade volume in the region,"
he said.
The MCT is located within the
shoreline of Macalajar Bay. It has an annual
capacity of 270,000 twenty-foot equivalent units
(TEU). The international container port in Northern
Mindanao aims to serve points in the Asia Pacific
and the United States.
Mendoza is also worried over
the adverse effect of the stalled operation
on shipping operators within the area, considering
most have already expressed interest to invest
and acquire more ships with the recent enactment
of the Domestic Shipping Development Act of
2004.
An administrative case has been
filed against the local judge in Cagayan de
Oro who issued a temporary restraining order
(TRO) and eventually a preliminary injunction
against Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA),
operator of the MCT.
The TRO was issued by Judge Downey
Valdevilla of the Cagayan de Oro RTC Branch
39 on April 27, 2004, a few days after President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated the port.
The same court issued a preliminary injunction
a few days prior to the lapse of the TRO it
previously issued.
The petition was filed by private firm Oroport
Cargohandling Services Inc., citing unfair competition
and PIA's lack of authority to construct and
operate the port.
MCT is one of three major infrastructure
projects endorsed by the government for funding
under the Japan Bank for International Cooperation
special loan package in 1999. PIA provided the
15% government counterpart fund.
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Tough first half
forces distribution managers to think out of
the box
THE first semester proved to
be extremely challenging for the logistics sector
in view of increasing costs of labor, fuel,
and raw materials.
Distribution Management Association
of the Philippines (DMAP) president Ana Rose
Ochoa said the situation has pushed players
to become more resourceful and creative to maintain
business equilibrium.
"Companies cannot simply
pass on the increase to consumers. We need to
meet customer expectations," she said,
adding that the tough times have forced logistics
manager to give up their traditional ways of
operating.
Since the beginning of the year,
Ochoa said the sector has had to deal with rising
freight costs and toll fees, and worsening hijacking
incidents on top of more stringent customer
requirements.
She said DMAP has been consistent in pushing
collaboration with supply chain stakeholders
as a reliable weapon during such tough times.
"We have also collaborated
with government agencies, consistent with the
association's mission of providing a forum for
cooperation, consultation, exchange of information,
discussion of issues, concerns and ideas on
matters pertaining to distribution management,"
Ochoa pointed out.
So far, the association has participated in
the General Agreement for Trade Services seminar,
the Supply Link forum, and the initial meeting
for the World Bank project on Transport Sector
Review. It has also held dialogues with domestic
shipping lines to revive collaboration efforts
with the shipping industry.
This year, apart from collaboration
DMAP's thrust is on education, cost competitiveness,
innovation and membership revitalization and
expansion.
As early as September, Ochoa
reported the association has already carried
out projects designed to answer each thrust.
For education, DMAP has completed a series of
seminars focusing on basic shipping courses
and logistics performance measure. In addition,
it launched a post-graduate course on Supply
Chain Management in partnership with the De
La Salle University.
On cost competitiveness, DMAP
submitted position papers on the terminal handling
charge, and the implementing rules and regulations
for the Domestic Shipping Development Act.
"We have also participated
in Confederation of Truckers Association of
the Philippines meetings to clarify issues on
the truck ban, local government-imposed annual
fixed tax on delivery trucks, hijacking, unabated
increase in diesel and spare part pieces, exorbitant
toll fees and road limits," Ochoa said.
The theme for this year's DMAP
conference, "Supply Chain Innovation: Driving
Business Growth and Profitability" stresses
the logistics industry's role as an increasingly
important element in helping businesses enhance
the bottomline.
Through the conference, scheduled
September 16-17 at the EDSA Shangri-La, Ochoa
said DMAP hopes to assist companies achieve
business growth and profitability through the
application of international best practices
in logistics.
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Globe Telecom
offers BlackBerry for personal use
GOOD news for members of the
ports, shipping, transport & logistics industries
interested in knowing more about BlackBerry
following the two-part article on this new technology
solution featured last month in the PortCalls
ITinerary column.
Globe Telecom is now offering
BlackBerry solutions for personal use through
its G-Plans and G-Flex subscriptions in addition
to its initial marketing program that caters
to corporate clients.
The BlackBerry Internet Service
(BIS) is a component of the BlackBerry solution
that provides subscribers with the ability to
send and receive email from a BlackBerry WebClient
email address as well as integrate up to 10
external email accounts with their BlackBerry
handheld. BIS provides a secure, web-based interface
that enables subscribers to self provision their
email accounts and configure account settings
to meet their particular messaging needs.
The Blackberry Internet Service
can be used via the following handset models:
BlackBerry 6230, BlackBerry 7230 and BlackBerry
7730.
BlackBerry is a wireless connectivity
solution providing access to a wide range of
business applications on a handheld device:
wireless email, full phone functionality, SMS
capability, internet browsing, document attachment
viewing (such as Microsoft Office and Adobe
Acrobat PDF documents), full-featured organizer
with PC synchronization, and wireless access
to corporate databases.
It operates on Globe Telecom's
GSM/GPRS network and includes international
roaming capabilities. For corporate customers,
BlackBerry Enterprise Server software tightly
integrates with Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus
Domino or Novell Groupwise and works with existing
enterprise systems to enable secure, push-based,
wireless access to email and other corporate
data.
With regard to requirements of
system management and security which IT managers
and network administrators must implement, the
BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) is designed
to provide IT departments with simplified management
and centralized control of wireless handhelds
in a secure, scalable and flexible architecture
that leverages existing infrastructure and investment.
With end-to end security, email
is encrypted and remains encrypted at all points
between the user's email account (behind the
corporate firewall) and the user's wireless
handheld, thereby meeting strict corporate security
guidelines for company-confidential information.
With the Blackberry Enterprise
Server, wireless IT policies can be enabled
over the air for all Blackberry handhelds. For
lost handhelds, user's data can be wiped out
from the device remotely from the BES. Data
on lost Blackberry handhelds that are password
locked will be erased after the 10 incorrect
password tries.
The BlackBerry web site features
a simple self-test to find out if BlackBerry
is the all-in-one for you:
1. Do you receive time-sensitive
email, or more than 15 email messages per day?
2. How much time do you spend away from your
desk? Are you, or is your job, dependant on
email?
3. Do you need flexible ways to stay in touch
with friends and colleagues?
4. Would you benefit from having access to your
email and the web while on the go?
- Leo V. Morada
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