Sept
1 implementation of air cargo export surcharge likely
AIR cargo warehouse and ground handling
operators have deferred the implementation of the export
service surcharge to give freight forwarders more time
to advise their clients of the additional cost. In a
hearing at the Civil Aeronautics Board last week, the
operators said they are further pushing back the implementation
of the surcharge to September 1 from August 16. This
is the second time the implementation is being deferred
from the original date of June 1. "We think the
three-month deferment is enough for freight forwarders
to inform their clients about the increase," the
group, led by People's Aircargo and Warehousing Inc./GlobeGrounds
PAGS (Pair-pags), said in the hearing. Pair-pags explained
the export service charge is being increased by more
than 30% due to increasing export-related expenses.
It explained that importations, which have been subsidizing
export expenses in the past several years, have been
on the decline since 2004. For air cargo shipments more
than 100 kilos, an additional 33% export surcharge will
be implemented from the current P0.51 per kilo to P0.68
per kilo. Shipments below 100 kilos will be levied an
additional 35% from P0.34 per kilo to P0.46 per kilo.
The group admitted that the planned increase and its
implementation are not yet final as officers of both
warehouse operators and ground handlers are set to meet
yet again with air cargo forwarders and the Export Development
Council in the next few days to determine if the proposed
increase is justified. The Aircargo Forwarders of the
Philippines, Inc. (AFPI) argued it should not be burdened
by the added cost, saying it should be the airlines
which should worry about the additional surcharge. "Although
these are pass-on charges, freight forwarders should
not be burdened by this. They (warehouse and ground-handling
operators) should not look at forwarders to subsidize
the low imported cargo volume if the airlines rejected
their petition to increase charges," AFPI president
Cynthia Reyes-Tsui said.
This time, administrative
provisions of CAO 3-2006 under scrutiny
PORT stakeholders awaiting amendments
to Customs Administrative Order (CAO) No. 3-2006 will
have to wait a bit longer after the Bureau of Customs
(BOC) decided to take a second look at the CAO's Part
VI related to administrative proceedings. In a meeting
last week, BOC legal division chief Atty. Reynaldo Umali,
said he wanted to review the procedures, some of which
he deems are too strict. This decision came after the
BOC and the technical working group deliberating on
the amendments agreed in principle to the proposed CAO
changes involving the original issues on corporate practice,
employment of accredited customs brokers by companies
and accreditation of freight forwarders. The review
of the administrative procedures is not part of the
original concerns of the group. CAO 3-2006 implements
Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004
at the BOC. Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales earlier
issued a 60-day suspension prior to the CAO's May 21
implementation to ensure all issues are addressed. The
order is set to expire on July 21. The BOC and freight
forwarders, meanwhile, have verbally agreed on the scope
of the customs pass to be issued by the bureau to forwarders.
The pass is being sought to ensure freight forwarders
and their representatives may continue transacting with
the BOC after July 21. Under CAO 3-2006, only customs
brokers may transact business with the bureau, leaving
forwarders uncertain of their status at the bureau.
In a July 12 meeting between the BOC, the Philippine
International Seafreight Forwarders Association, Airfreight
Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc., Philippine Shippers'
Bureau (PSB), and Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), there
was agreement not to limit the use of the passes to
filing and amendment of manifests and loading of shipments
at airport warehouses, but to give the bearer authority
to process import and export shipments. The latter function
is hotly debated, as customs brokers contend only they
alone can perform such a function as this, they believe,
is an intrinsic part of their professional practice.
A source sitting on the technical working group said
the groups are expected to sign the final agreement
on the customs pass when they meet again on July 26,
or five days after the July 21 deferment lapses. Under
the proposed amendment to CAO 3-2006, the BOC will only
issue customs passes to freight forwarders accredited
by the PSB (for seafreight forwarders) or CAB (for airfreight
forwarders).
Meanwhile, delays in the issuance of
the final version of the CAO continues to weigh down
the case of Airlift Asia Customs Brokerage Inc. against
the BOC. The BOC did not submit a position paper to
the court and instead asked for a postponement of hearing,
the latest of which was to have been on July 11. Airlift
Asia said the BOC has asked the court to postpone the
hearing toward the end of the month to buy them time
to prepare their paper. In its petition, Airlift Asia
Customs Brokerage said CAO 3-2006 empowers the Customs
commissioner to issue another license for the practice
of customs brokerage inside the customs house, a provision
expressly repealed by RA 9280 which transferred all
powers for the licensing of customs brokerage to the
Professional Regulatory Board.
The petitioner claimed the basis for the issuance of
the CAO, Sections 602 to 608 of the Tariff and Customs
Code of the Philippines (TCCP), refers to general duties
and powers of the commissioner such as assessment of
revenues, prevention of smuggling, issuance of clearance
of vessels coming in and out of the pier under the jurisdiction
of the BOC. It said nothing in the TCCP sections expressly
empower the BOC to regulate the practice of customs
brokerage. It claimed the implementation of the CAO
would shut down Airlift Asia, affecting 20 or so employees
and 156 clients. Despite the schedule setbacks, Airlift
Asia chairman Rico Brizuela said his group is determined
to pursue the case.
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal
Services, Inc. (ICTSI) may be taking a second look
at the North Harbor after the Philippine Ports Authority
(PPA) decided to sell the port to a single operator
instead of to three operators as earlier proposed,
PPA general manager Oscar Sevilla revealed. "With
this new development, we will continue to woo ICTSI
to bid for North Harbor to have more credible players
bidding for the port," Sevilla said, adding that
Col. Edgardo Abesamis, executive vice president of
ICTSI, in a previous meeting has hinted that ICTSI
may change its stand with the new system in place.
ICTSI earlier said it was more interested in overseas
expansion. The firm operates Tecon Suape SA in Brazil
and the Baltic Container Terminal in Poland, both
of which performed well compared to the disappointing
performance of its local operations. Last year, ICTSI
also took over the container terminal in Naha, Japan
and in Madagascar in Toamasina. Last month, it bought
95% of Indonesia's PT Makassar Terminal Services.
ICTSI is looking at taking over three other ports
overseas specifically in the Middle East, South America
and China this year. ICTSI is also pursuing negotiations
with the Port Authority of Guam for the privatization
of the Guererro Commercial Port which was stalled
two months ago following the takeover of new port
authorities. Among the notable prospective bidders
to the 25-year North Harbor concession are Magsaysay-owned
National Marine Corp. and Lorenzo Shipping, and the
country's oldest domestic shipping operator, Negros
Navigation. PPA is privatizing North Harbor as it
has little funds of its own to modernize the facility.
It expects to earn an annual income of P200 million
from the move.
THE Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB)
has approved the request of Cebu Pacific to impose
higher cargo rates in its domestic flights. CAB hearing
officer Atty. Frederick Villarin said Cebu Pacific
will impose a 10% increase in domestic cargo rates,
an increase in valuation charge from P0.60 per P100
declared value to P1, and an increase in airway bill
issuance from P20 to P50. The airline will also impose
a minimum charge of P125, from zero to five kilograms,
and an increase in airway bill issuance fee from $2
to $3 for regional operations. Foreign airlines -
Eva Airways Corp., Thai Airways and Silk Air - have
also asked the CAB to impose a higher fuel surcharge
to recover costs related to fuel. A fuel surcharge
is a temporary relief granted to airlines to help
them offset losses incurred from higher jet fuel prices.
Fuel accounts for a third of an airline's operating
cost per passenger. It is the company's second-highest
expense next to labor. Jet fuel started going up in
2002 but local and foreign airlines only began asking
for an increase in fuel surcharge in 2004. Villarin
said Eva Airways plans to increase the fuel surcharge
on international passenger tickets from $30.40 to
$50.40 per international sector between Taipei-US/Canada/Europe/New
Zealand/Australia and Bangkok-Europe. Eva Airways
flies to more than 40 destinations on four continents,
including Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and
North America. For Silk Air, it wants to increase
the surcharge from $15 to $20 per sector for all its
flights except between Singapore and India and between
Singapore and China. Thai Airways, on the other hand,
wants to impose higher fuel surcharge on the following
routes: Thailand-Europe/Australia/New Zealand, from
$50 to $65; Thailand-Israel, $50 to $65; Thailand-transpacific,
$50 to $65; Thailand-Middle East, $25 to $30; Thailand-Korea,
$25 to $35l; Thailand-Taipei, $25 to $30; and, Thailand-Laos-Cambodia,
$10.
The Northern Mindanao Shippers Association
(NORMINSA) recently organized a two-day Export Shipping
Seminar in partnership with the Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI)/Philippine Shippers Bureau (PSB)
Region X at the Grand City Hotel, Cagayan De Oro City.
The event was spearheaded by Norminsa president Vic
S. Lagdamen, DTI's Prudencio T. Plaza, Jr and DTI
-10 officer in charge Linda O. Boniao; PSB head office
Deputy Director Rene Cruzada and Shipping Negotiation
Division Chief Clemente Paylango; Bureau of Customs
Export Division Chief Bellarmine C. Valencia; and
Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association
director Barbie Rivadeneira.
MERCHANDISE exports for May 2006
posted double-digit growth for the fourth consecutive
month as it rose 17.3% compared to the year-ago level.
This brings merchandise exports' growth for the first
five months of the year to 16%, twice the target of
8% for the whole 2006, according to the National Statistics
Office (NSO). The report showed that major export
commodities except forest products (-59.3%) increased,
led by mineral products (134.6%), petroleum products
(21.4%), manufactures (15.4%), and agro-based products
(3.4%). The sustained recovery of exports is being
supported by the double-digit expansion of semiconductor
exports (10.8%), with receipts accounting for almost
60% of the total export revenues. On a cumulative
basis, exports of semiconductors grew 18.8% on revenues
of $9 billion. The Semiconductor Industry Association
(SIA) reported that worldwide chip sales rose 9.4%
in May from the previous year. This follows the high
demand from US and European consumers for digital
music players and the latest mobile phones that can
surf the Internet and play videos. Aside from semiconductors,
other best performers in the manufacturing sector
are garments and chemicals, which posted a year-to-date
growth rate of 17.5% and 42.4%, respectively. The
US regained its spot as the country's top export destination
accounting for 18.1% of the total exports revenues
for May valued at $703 million. Japan followed with
a 17.3% share, and Singapore came in third with 9.1%
of the total.
NEGROS Navigation (Nenaco) recently
launched two new ports of destination, Coron and Dipolog.
Nenaco's M/S San Paolo will ply Coron every Thursday,
2pm while M/S Saint Ezekiel Moreno will travel to
Dipolog every Sunday, 3pm and Monday, 1pm. "We
would like to widen our reach and serve new routes
so we can cater to more travelers. Coron is a certified
tourist destination with its pristine beaches and
renowned dive sites. Dipolog meantime is a gateway
to Northwestern Mindanao," said Jose Manuel Mapa,
executive vice president for Sales and Marketing.
He added that with the new destinations, Nenaco hopes
to jump start its market expansion program which will
help improve the load factor of its vessels thereby
translate to a better bottomline. "With this
development, we are convinced that we can also help
prop up tourism and promote domestic travel just like
what we have consistently done in the past,"
Mapa said. In addition to the two new destinations,
Nenaco also launched the "RORO Express."
The service offers southbound passengers the convenience
of taking a Nenaco shuttle bus from designated pick-up
points in Baclaran, Cubao and Alabang going to the
Pier 2 terminal. The Nenaco shuttle bus will take
passengers straight to the pier minus the hassle and
the taxi fare. Those coming from Visayas and Minadanao
can also avail of the shuttle service and purchase
bus coupons at the front desk office onboard Nenaco
vessels. Nenaco also announced the introduction of
its pre-diamond anniversary fare reduction program
dubbed "TRIP Na TRIP Mo 'To, Ticket Sale."
Passengers bound for Visayas can now avail of the
P799 rate while Mindanao-bound passengers can enjoy
the P1,499 rate. The rates are inclusive of fuel surcharge
and VAT. The promo will run from July 15-21, 2006.
All tickets purchased within the promo period can
be used from August 1-31, 2006. Visayas destinations
are Bacolod, Iloilo, Roxas, Coron and Palawan while
Mindanao destinations are Cagayan de Oro, Iligan,
Ozamiz and Dipolog.
