CUSTOMS Commissioner Alberto Lina
will reportedly sign this week the Customs Administrative
Order (CAO) that will align customs procedures to provisions
of Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.A
source from the Professional Customs Brokers Association
of the Philippines, Inc. (PCBAPI) told PortCalls the
guidelines, to be released by Customs "anytime
soon", will be implemented starting January 2006.
"This was disclosed by Customs deputy commissioner
Roberto Geotina during the 11th National Convention
of PCBAPI last Thursday," the source added.The
CAO will define rules with regard to clearing procedures
and other transactions with the BOC. Once signed by
Lina, the order will go through final approval by the
Department of Finance, after which a memorandum order
will be issued.
The source claimed the final draft of the CAO contains
a provision that specifically mandates corporations
will no longer be allowed to offer brokerage services.Early
last month, the logistics sector warned the BOC it cannot
prohibit corporations from customs clearance activities
as this will go against the provision cited in the law's
implementing guidelines."Only the Philippine Regulatory
Commission can decide the fate of corporations on the
practice of customs brokerage because the issue is about
the profession. The BOC is clearly not affected by the
law," the logistics sector claimed.
Port Users Confederation, which represents the sector,
has already presented its proposed amendments on the
CAO to the bureau.In a related development, a source
from the Semiconductors & Electronics Industries
in the Philippines (SEIPI) Traffic Managers Association
(SETMA) said the Insurance Commission has cancelled
all registration of insurance/bonding companies late
Thursday.
"This means all insurance companies are, in effect,
not in business unless renewed," the source said.
The source added all bonds issued have also been invalidated,
thus disallowing brokers from releasing shipments using
bonds, including surety, warehousing and re-export bonds.
Releasing will only be allowed using a cash bond or
domestic letter of credit.
PETRON CORP. has cancelled its multimillion
oil cargo-handling contract with Herma Shipping and
Transport Corp. due to alleged syndicated oil theft
at sea worth hundred of millions of pesos.The giant
oil firm, represented in court by lawyer Vicente Chuidian,
cancelled all its contracts pending resolution of several
cases it filed against the shipping line with the Manila
Regional Trial Court.
Herma Shipping is engaged in the tankering business
and operated by sportsman Hermie Esguerra.
Chuidian said Esguerra is not only facing charges of
oil theft and a multi-million peso intra-corporate law
suit, but also for attempted bribery and for stealing
important Petron documents.
Petron filed the oil theft charges against Esguerra
and 11 of his personnel after operatives of the Philippine
National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection
Group raided M/T Bocaue, one of Esguerra's oil cargo
vessels for the alleged stealing 11, 870 liters of Jet
A-1 fuel.
The raiders, accompanied by Petron officials and representatives
from the Manila sheriff's office, boarded M/T Bocaue
shortly after the vessel failed to unload its entire
oil shipment at the Petron Pandacan depot in February
this year.Petron later upgraded its charges to large-scale
estafa and intra-corporate lawsuit after investigators
found Esguerra's personnel allegedly stole hundred of
millions of pesos worth of Jet A-1 fuel at sea in the
past five years.Esguerra has denied all charges.
THE Philippine International Seafreight
Forwarders Association (PISFA) last week elected its
new set of officers for the 2005-2007 term.
Elected to the board were: Rico Brizuela of Asia Ocean
Services; Dominador De Guzman of Skyland Brokerage;
Joey Castro of Accord Shipping; Barbie Rivadeneira of
Pacific Concord; Nelson Mendoza of Eagle Express; Irene
Manguiat of Transmodal; Vee Natividad of Seaswift International;
Benny Anunciacion of Seajet International; Rose Su of
UTI Global Logistics; Marilyn Alberto of Kintetsu; and
Josie Yap pf Philippine Genesis.
The new board of directors will elect among themselves
the officers for the next term.
THE government was recently urged to
strictly enforce provisions of Republic Act 8794 on
the maximum permissible single-axle load limit to make
roads safer for transport.The law, otherwise known as
the Act Imposing a Motor Vehicle User's Charge on Owners
of All Types of Motor Vehicles, specifies the required
load capacity of trucks on certain roads to avoid over
loading.
Enacted five years ago, RA 8794 has yet to be fully
complied with because of alleged inadequate government
resources and a strong lobby by some truckers seeking
higher load limits. This petition is being waged even
if the Philippines has the most liberal load limit of
13.5 tons per axle. Thailand and the United States have
load limits of 9.1 tons per axle; the European Union,
11.5 tons per axle; and Denmark, ten tons.
Concerned groups are claiming overloaded trucks are
responsible for the "faster than normal" wear
and tear of roads, translating to heavier costs in maintenance
and repair.Data from the National Center of Transportation
Studies reveal an average 970,000 road accidents occur
yearly. Of this number, about 120,000 were caused by
overloading (trucks).
Overloaded trucks have often been referred to as "killer
monsters on the loose."Early this year, the Confederation
of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) said
the law was an impediment to its proposed rate increase
of 20%. It cannot finalize the new rate matrix until
the final load limit is identified.
"The new rates (for trucks) will be adjusted based
on the weight limit, which will be imposedÉ the
truckers have to ensure that the rate adjustment will
compensate for the weight that they are no longer allowed
to carry, resulting in lesser yields," CTAP said.
ICTSI
Brazil unit invests $17 million for equipment upgrade
INTERNATIONAL CONTAINER TERMINAL SERVICES,
INC.'S (ICTSI) Brazil unit is investing a total of $17
million for equipment upgrade to enhance port productivity.
Tecon Suape, S.A. manages and operates the Suape container
Terminal located in Pernambuco, Brazil. It services
Hamburg Sud's 5,500-TEU vessel Monte Rosa, which is
the biggest container vessel to dock in Brazil's port.
Only a few ports in Brazil have the adequate infrastructure
to accommodate large vessels like Monte Rosa, said Tecon
CEO Sergio Kano.
"We have a controlling depth of 15.5 meters to
service vessels like Monte Rosa. We also have the most
modern equipment to load and unload containers,"
he noted.
