THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is set to sign
a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agriculture
and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) that will help
curb smuggling of agricultural products.
Customs commissioner Napoleon Morales said the agreement aims
to set up a safety net against illegal importation of agricultural
products. It requires all importers to secure letters of credits,
documents against payment, and documents against acceptance
from the LBP which, in turn, will validate the issuance of
import permits from the Bureau of Animal Industry, of Plant
Industry and of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The agreement will facilitate information sharing and inter-agency
counterchecking among BOC, agricultural agencies and LBP to
synchronize the process of importing meat, poultry, fisheries
and other agricultural products into the country.
LBP will open a window to authorize banks to handle import
transactions of regulated agricultural commodities and assign
personnel to coordinate with the BOC on all agriculture and
meat transactions. They must submit reports on payment transactions
of importers and report irregularities to the BOC for appropriate
action.
The agreement also calls for the formation of an agricultural
consultative council that will monitor agricultural shipments,
and coordinate industry concerns and the proper valuation
of agricultural imports.
The poultry, hog, onion, vegetable, fishery, and rice and
corn sectors will be invited to the consultative council.
ÒWith the MOA and with the participation of local agricultural
industries, the BOC will be able to achieve the objectives
of revenue enhancement, trade facilitation and trade security,Ó
Morales said.
Infrastructure still major headache
of logistics firms
LACK of infrastructure continues to be the
major concern of logistics firms.
ÒSome of our projects were delayed as a result of the
poor facilities starting from the pier down to the roads and
bridges,Ó said Stefan Schmitz, chief operating officer
of Aboitiz Projects T.S. Corp., the heavylift business of
the Aboitiz Group.
He said such delays jack up logistics costs which are eventually
shouldered by end-users.
ÒHarbour Centre Terminals, Inc., which sits right beside
the Manila North Harbor, should be open to decongest the Manila
ports,Ó Schmitz said.
In addition to developments being undertaken by port authorities,
road conditions should be improved, he added. ÒInfrastructure
in the country needs to be improved first, such as finishing
elevated mass transportation system in Metro Manila, before
new developments follow.Ó
Earlier, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. general
manager Capt. Francis Andrews also stressed on the lack of
proper infrastructure in the country making ports inefficient
and logistics costs higher.
ÒWe all know that infrastructure upgrade is not in
high priority here as evident in the existing port system
in the country,Ó Andrews told port users, transport
executives and other industry stakeholders in a recent conference
hosted by APEC intermodal group.
ÒProper infrastructure and economics should work hand
in hand to have the cargo in the country move in a more efficient
manner,Ó Andrews stressed.
The Federation of Philippine Industries has said the infrastructure
budget eat up 5% of gross domestic product to ensure that
the country is at par with world standards.
“Unless the Government exerts its will to put vital
infrastructure projects in place at the soonest time possible
and spends the right amount, the Philippines will continue
to be a handicapped and a crippled player,” FPI president
Meneleo Carlos said at a recent distribution manager’s
conference.
SMALL- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs)
should improve their linkages either through acquisition or
joint ventures to become more competitive.
University of the Philippine professor Dr. Rizalito Gregorio
told SMEs and logistics stakeholders at a recent conference
that strengthening linkages will make services more efficient
and cost-effective.
ÒHaving a good linkage in and between firms is an advantage.
It will make your business more competitive compared to performing
all alone,Ó Gregorio said in his presentation, adding
that companies could enter into joint ventures for some services
and/or technology license agreements.
These, he said, are global practices as evidenced by international
carriers merging with or buying smaller firms to strengthen
links and cover more markets at less cost.
Gregorio said companies should, however, not focus on a single
link to maximize benefits. ÒIt is better combining
or eliminating some links or activities to ensure your company’s
optimum performance,Ó he explained.
For now, mergers and acquisitions as well as joint ventures
seem to be the domain of large firms, usually listed ones,
he said.
On top of excellent linkages, innovation and more inventive
marketing strategies will further guarantee improvement in
efficiency and service and cost effectiveness, Gregorio added.
Baltic
Container Terminal takes delivery of post-Panamax cranes
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services
Inc’s foreign subsidiary Baltic Container Terminal (BCT),
has taken delivery of two new post-Panamax cranes to boost
its cargo handling efficiency.
The two units, built by Kone Cranes and delivered in knockdown
form via barge from the port of Hanko, Finland, are the first
of their kind to be introduced into service at BCT and represent
a considerable step-up in the terminal’s quayside handling
power.
Each of the new cranes, which will be assembled on the terminal,
possesses a lifting capacity of 50/60 (under spreader / under
hook) tons, outreach of 46 meters enabling working of up to
17 rows of containers across on deck and a backreach of 20
metres.
The first of the two new units is expected to go into service
on December 15 and the second unit to be commissioned shortly
afterwards. Following full commissioning of both units an
existing old Paceco gantry will be retired from service.
Overall, the sizable new investments made this year, part
of a rolling $100-million investment program, will raise BCT’s
annual throughput capacity to 750,000 TEUs and consolidate
its position as the premier container handling terminal in
Poland.
“The two new cranes underline our ongoing commitment
to providing a premier service at BCT. They are the latest
in a series of investments that take us well past the mid-way
point in our $100 million investment program and enable us
to meet all the current and future needs of our clients; shipping
lines and freight forwarders alike,” said Hans de Jong,
chief executive officer of BCT.
ASEAN focus should be on high-value
exports: study
CEBU CITY – Member economies of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should focus
on high-value exports and reassess strategies to further strengthen
their economies, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU).
The study, funded by DHL Express, said focusing on high-value
exports is an advantage for Asean countries to compete with
the likes of China and India, which outgrew almost the entire
Asian region in terms of exports. It also showed where Asean
countries stand today and how they measure up as a trade bloc,
in terms of high-value exports, against the European Union
(EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Entitled Asean Exports: Today, Tomorrow and the High-Value
Challenge, focused on the seven largest economies within the
Asean trade block — Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar — also known as
the Asean 7. It examined the state of exports in these countries
by breaking them down into two categories: high-value goods
and low-value goods.
ÒAsean 7 has been a successful exporter of high-value
goods, bases on the study which shows their High Value Export
Indicator reflecting 51.3% , trailing slightly behind NAFTA
at 54%,Ó according to Scott Price, DHL Express Asia-Pacific
chief executive.
Price added that as a trade facilitator in this region, DHL
is confident that the study not only provides insightful information
to Asean governments and policies makers on the state and
performance of their export sector, but also offers solutions
on how to overcome challenges being faced by the Asean trading
bloc.
One of the key findings of the study is that China has not
only outpaced Asean in high-value exports as early as 2003,
but it has also overtaken Asean as the biggest exporter in
Asia since 2004. Against this backdrop, Asean governments
would have to review their trade facilities to meet the challenges
ahead.
The report recommends that the Asean trade bloc encourage
ongoing economic restructuring, principally to drive up productivity,
raise technological know-how and facilitate entry into new
industries in the high-value goods export category. Other
considerations for the future include harmonizing trade and
customs procedures to further encourage growth in high-value
exports.
EIU Asia-Pacific Editorial Director Charles Goddard said Asean
was eclipsed by China trade-wise but continues to be a formidable
trading bloc growing at 5-6% per annum.
However, Goddard said, while the Asean trade growth continues
to trump most other developing countries, its percentage growth
is still low compared to what have been recorded in China
and India.
In the Philippines, 77% of exports are high value despite
the country not being known as a technological leader. Goddard
said the reason for this is the underdeveloped or under performing
low-value goods export compared with its Asean counterparts.
This, he said, could negatively affect the country’s
trade in the future.
He said the Philippines should start developing its low-value
goods export to arrest the expected fall in high-value goods
exports expected in the next three to five years.
