Only
PSB-, CAB-accredited forwarders to get BOC passes
THE Bureau of Customs has agreed to
issue customs passes to seafreight and airfreight forwarders
as long as they are licensed by the Philippine Shippers'
Bureau (PSB) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB),
respectively. Based on a draft customs memorandum order
(CMO) proposed by the Alliance of Concerned Freight
Forwarders (ACFFO), the PSB and CAB will provide the
BOC a list of their accredited forwarders. The BOC will
issue a customs memorandum circular based on such list.
Forwarding companies, however, still need to apply for
customs passes for their employees with the BOC Enforcement
and Security Service. In a meeting last Wednesday among
the BOC, PSB and port users, including officials of
the Airfreight Forwarders Association of the Philippines
(AFPI), Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders
Association (PISFA), ACFFO and the CAB, BOC legal division
chief Atty. Reynaldo Umali agreed to do away with the
separate accreditation. The CMO is being issued so that
freight forwarders may continue transacting with the
BOC after July 21 when Customs Administrative Order
(CAO) No. 3-2006 is fully enforced. CAO 3-2006 operationalizes
Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004
at the Bureau of Customs. Under the draft CMO, customs
passes to freight forwarders will only be issued for
the purpose of "transacting business with the BOC
in relation to their freight forwarding operations such
as but not limited to filing and amendments of manifests
and loading of shipments at airport warehouses."
The passes do not give the bearer "authority to
process import and export shipments which are deemed
exclusive to the BOC-accredited customs brokers and
their duly authorized Customs Representatives or personeros
pursuant to CAO 3-2006." PSB, which regulates seafreight
forwarders operating in the Philippines, earlier opposed
another accreditation for forwarders at the BOC, saying
this will only add to government bureaucracy. This sentiment
is shared by PISFA, the national organization of freight
forwarders. PISFA and AFPI, meanwhile, reportedly want
bearers of customs passes to be allowed to represent
importers and exporters at the BOC. The two associations
said they will submit a separate proposal embodying
such suggestion. The groups are again set to meet on
Wednesday (June 28) to discuss counter proposals and
the final draft of the CMO. They may also approve amendments
to CAO 3-2006 involving the continued employment of
customs brokers and customs representatives by companies,
to which the BOC has agreed.
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina)
is planning to put a ceiling on the number of ships
allowed to ply a particular route to reduce vessel queuing
time and lower logistics costs. "We will be limiting
the entry of vessels in routes now being serviced by
too many vessels. The number will depend on the optimum
capacity of the port per day," Marina administrator
Vicente Suazo said in a recent interview. "It will
also mean more routes will be serviced because of the
diversion to unserviced links," he added. Marina
is coordinating with the Philippine Ports Authority
on how many vessels major ports can accommodate per
day particularly in major ports such as Pier 15 in South
Harbor, the North Harbor, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Cagayan
de Oro, General Santos and Davao. These ports control
70% of the country's local and foreign shipments. "We
have to limit business cost to the lowest possible figure
so that we can maintain, if not reduce, rates,"
Suazo said.
THE Manila International Container
Terminal (MICT) was once again the top revenue source
of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) as the company
contributed P683.48 million or 36.26% of the agency's
P1.88 billion gross revenues for the first four months
of the year. PPA data showed that MICT contributions
were followed by government-owned ports at P550.65 million
or 29.22%; private ports at P239.79 million or 12.72%;
Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI)'s South Harbor at P176.11
million or 9.34%; other income at P144.20 million or
7.65%; and fund management income at P90.51 million
or 4.80%. In terms of total 2005 PPA earnings of P5.92
billion, MICT contributed P2.1 billion. For last year,
MICT remittances amounted to 35.48% of the agency's
gross revenue followed by government ports at P1.42
billion or 24.08%; private ports at P1.10 billion or
18.66%; ATI's South Harbor at P611.64 million or 10.33%;
other income at P417.15 million or 7.05%; and fund management
income at P260.57 million or 4.40%. The PPA also said
the agency's port revenue for the month of April amounted
to P470.07 million or P0.54 million higher than last
year's revenue for the same month. The 0.12% increase
was attributed to higher collection from arrastre and
stevedoring income. Total expenses for April alone increased
P12.02 million or 6.55% more than last year's. The PPA
attributed the increase to higher dredging costs and
administration expenses.
THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority
(PEZA) reported a 15% jump in approved investments
for the first five months of the year from P18.41
billion last year to P21.17 billion this year. Based
on a PEZA report, there were 196 projects approved
so far this year, 77 more than the 119 approved in
the first five months of last year. PEZA also reported
that exports of locators in ecozones rose 10.47% in
the first four months of the year to $10.66 billion
from $9.65 billion in the same period in 2005. The
figure is consistent with the government's target
of attaining an 8-10% increase in export receipts
for the year. PEZA locators accounted for 72% of total
merchandise exports for the period which was recorded
at $14.75 billion. Ecozones are home to various electronic
and semiconductor manufacturing firms which account
for a huge chunk of our exports. According to the
report, a significant jump was recorded in investments
in information technology projects at P3.55 billion,
higher by 103.5% from P1.75 billion in the previous
year. The number of IT projects registered was also
more than double at 46 from 20 last year. In its last
board meeting last May 24, the PEZA approved 19 ecozone
locator projects with investments of P1.85 billion.
These projects, once operational, would generate an
average export sales of $97.38 million annually and
jobs for 4,505 workers. Of the 19 approved projects,
five are IT projects amounting to P593.35 million.
Last year, investments from economic zones rose 33%
to P67.15 billion from P50.5 billion in 2004, exceeding
the 10% growth target for the year. The bulk of those
investments is re-investments of export-oriented manufacturing
companies that are already in the Philippines. Expansion
projects of electronics and semiconductor companies
comprised the bulk of these investments. For 2006,
PEZA sees better investment performance as it anticipates
more projects coming in from other non-traditional
investment sources.
KEPPEL Philippines Marine, Inc. (KPMI)
will build other kinds of vessel in its shipyard,
not just tugboats and landing craft. In its recent
stockholders' meeting, the company said its shipyard
in Batangas will focus this year on the production
of a steel structure for an affiliate involved in
the construction of an offshore rig. All orders for
tankers and tugboats will be handled by the Cebu facility
while its shipyard in Subic will be marketed to major
shipowners from Japan, Taiwan, and Europe. Last year,
Keppel Batangas repaired and dry docked 104 vessels
compared with 124 in the previous year. The number
of foreign vessels repaired, which contributed more
than half of Keppel's overall revenues, increased
to 52 from 45. KPMI and its subsidiaries posted higher
revenues of P385.4 million for the first quarter,
42.33% higher from the same period in 2005. The increase
was attributed to higher revenue from shipbuilding
and five more high-value shiprepair jobs in 2006.
Foreign vessels accounted for 66.35% of the shiprepair
revenue. Net profit for the quarter jumped 33.77%
to P53 million from the same period in 2005 due to
higher sales and improved margins.
The operating profit of P51.1 million was also up
55.64% from 2005's figure. Investment and net interest
income dropped from P4.5 million in 2005 to P1 million
in 2006 due to foreign exchange transaction losses
recorded during the period as a result of the strengthening
of the Philippine peso against the US dollar. The
share of results from associated companies during
the quarter grew P1.4 million due to better results
of Subic Shipyard and Consort Land.
A Japanese International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) report showed that Philippine yards
built more tonnage for export than for domestic use.
From 1999-2003, local yards built ships of over 776,236
gross registered tons for export compared to 54,564
GRT for domestic use. Majority of the exported ships
are bulk carriers and big passenger ferries ordered
by European and American shipowners interested in
expanding and renewing their fleet. Most of the vessels
were built by Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu and
FBMA Marine, Inc., two of the largest shipyards in
the Philippines. JICA said the two were able to build
the large vessels as their yards are well equipped,
well manned and large enough to handle such orders
aside from having sufficient contacts to secure foreign
orders. Building large ships, JICA added, proved profitable
for the yards. The agency earlier said most local
yards are interested in building fishing boats, barges
and doing repair work rather than building larger
ships for domestic use. From 1999 to 2003, the report
said fishing boats constructed had a total of 18,808
tons or 34.5% of the estimated 54,564 gross tonnage
built for domestic use. This was followed by barge
building at 13,959 tons or 25.6%; general cargo ships,
6, 948 tons or 12.7%; tankers, 5,160 tons (9.5%);
bancas, 3,102 tons (5.7%); passenger ferries, 2, 252
tons (4.1%); patrol boats, 1,619 tons (3%); landing
craft transport, 1,513 tons (2.8%); tugboats, 184
tons (0.3%); vessels of unspecified categories, 53
tons (0.1%); and, speedboats and sport craft, 32 tons
(0.1%). The majority of local shipyards are small
to medium in size, lack equipment and machinery needed
for large construction so they tend to build more
fishing craft and barges.
The smaller craft are also more profitable to make
since there are more orders for them than for large
ships. Local ship operators prefer to buy cheaper
second-hand vessels from China, Japan and South Korea.
Even if they have facilities and equipment for shipbuilding,
local yards likewise opt for repair jobs as they offer
better returns.
NEW projects worth $173 million were
approved in April and May by the Subic Bay Metropolitan
Authority (SBMA). "This is an indication that
the Subic Bay Freeport continues to gain the confidence
of more local and foreign businessmen and continue
to attract more investors to locate here," SBMA
Chairman Feliciano Salonga said in a statement. Salonga
disclosed that in April and May, a total of 27 new
projects were approved by the Board or 21 in April
and 6 in May. "About 98% or $169.5 million are
foreign direct investments (FDIs). The rest of the
$3.4 million are investments of Filipino businessmen.
We now have approved a total of 669 new projects with
a cumulative committed investment of $3.5 billion
since 1992," he added. According to SBMA Administrator
Armand C. Arreza, among the 27 new projects that were
approved, ten are tourism-related projects, seven
engaged in services, six in the warehousing industry,
and four in manufacturing. "We are trying to
maintain a broad spectrum of opportunities here in
the Subic Bay Freeport to be able to cater to a broad
spectrum of workforce," Arreza said. Topping
the list of the 27 new projects as the biggest in
terms of investment value is Delta Production Philippines,
Corp., infusing $155.7 million. The company will engage
in the manufacture, trade and rental of aluminum scaffoldings
and rental of machineries for ship repair. Committing
$12 million and the second biggest investment is Yienson
Manufacturing Corp which will manufacture, import
and export semi-finished and finished goods.
Subic Executive Lofts Condominium Corporation will
establish and operate condominium hotels with a committed
investment of $1.5 million, the third top investment
in April and May. Fourth is Cover & Pages Corp,
which is infusing $1.02 million to render printing
services. The new projects approved in April include
Interisland Resorts and Services, Asiapro Cooperative,
Bonzette General Merchandise, Suntech International
Corp., Shengkai Corporation, Florenz Store, Capital
Exchange Ventures, Winstar Subic Display Corporation,
Mango Valley Corp., Transtotal Solutions, Inc. Century
Peak Corporation, Janvy's CafŽ, J.P. Automobile
Technique Subic Corp., AMTI Computers Subic Inc.,
F.A.C.E. Logistics & Distribution, Inc. Freeport
Meathouse Inc., Tito Pak's Grilled Chicken & BBQ,
and Velvet Greens & Blooms, Inc. Six new projects
approved in May are Jorgman Construction and Development
Corp., Jamecca Insurance Brokers, Inc. Mechatro, Inc.,
Unitec Subic Inc., and Freeport Elite Resort, Inc.
