North Harbor
truckers seek another rate increase
North Harbor truckers seek another rate
increase
NORTH Harbor truckers are seeking another round of rate increase
with the continuing surge in oil prices.
Truckers explained that the 16% rate increase implemented
only in February has been rendered insignificant with fuel
prices surging almost P4 per liter since then.
“We are after the rate increase and only the rate increase
as other measures such as lifting the truck ban and the single-ticketing
system will have no significant effects on our business,”
Alliance of North Harbor Truckers (ANHT) head and Allied Transport
Group (ATG) president Lino Costales told PortCalls.
Members of ANHT include ATG, Integrated North Harbor Truckers
Association and WGA Trucking.
“We are now seeking immediate negotiations with the
Distribution Management Association of the Philippines (now
known as Supply Chain Management Association of the Philippines
(SCMAP) to discuss the possible increase,” Costales
said.
“We cannot carry the brunt of the spiraling cost of
fuel considering there are also considerable increases in
truck spare parts that add to our overheads,” he explained.
Costales, however, did not give details of his group’s
proposed rate increase but hinted it could be higher than
the last rate one.
Diesel, the most common fuel used by trucks, increased some
30% in the last couple of months from P32 per liter to about
P39.50 per liter now. The price is still expected to go up
as prices of oil in the world market continue to reach all-time
highs. The increase could have been greater if not for the
strong performance of the local currency.
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SC junks brokers’ petition
on RA 9280
THE Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a brokers’
association petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO)
against implementation of certain provisions of Republic Act
9280 by Bureau of Customs and the Department of Finance (DOF).
In its decision, the SC said the Professional Customs Brokers
Association of the Philippines (PCBAPI) failed to recognize
judicial hierarchy by going straight to the High Tribunal
even as the association failed to convince the court of the
issue’s utmost importance.
Beyond the PCBAPI plea, there is a pending petition before
the Court of Appeals related to the implementation of RA 9280
and Customs Administrative Orders (CAO) 3-2006 and 3-2006-A,
which operationalize the law at the BOC.
The petition has cuffed the hands of the BOC, eventually leading
to the agency’s status quo order involving the way customs
transactions are handled at the bureau. The situation has
forced PCBAPI to seek the aid of the SC on the implementation
of the law.
In its petition filed before the SC last month with prayer
for a TRO, mandamus and damages, PCBAPI, with the backing
of the Visayas-Mindanao Customs Brokers Association and the
National Confederation of Customs Brokers of the Philippines,
said SC intervention is needed to restrain the BOC and the
DOF from implementing the accreditation system under the CAOs
and from enforcing certain provisions in Sections 6 and 27
of RA 9280.
PCBAPI also sought the full implementation by the BOC, DOF,
the Professional Regulatory Board for Customs Brokers (PRBCB)
and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of RA 9280
minus the questioned provisions.
CAOs 3-2006 and 3-2006-A and Customs Memorandum Order (CMO)
6-2006 require prior BOC accreditation for all customs brokers
before exercising or practicing their profession while provisions
in Sections 6 and 27 of RA 9280 allow single proprietorship
and exporter-corporations registered with the Export Development
Council to in effect practice the customs broker profession.
CAO 3-2006 and CMO 6-2006 further authorize corporations to
practice the profession in what PCBAPI describes as open and
public competition with professional brokers in violation
of the provision of the law on corporate practice.
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Higher EU exports hinge on compliance to
supply chain security rules
EXPORTS to the European Union (EU) face a
decline if the Philippines fails to comply with new security
measures being enforced by the EU to secure the supply chain,
according to EU Ambassador to the Philippines Alistair MacDonalds.
Speaking before Philippine Export Confederation members and
other industry stakeholders in a forum hosted by the Department
of Trade and Industry last week, MacDonalds said the EU is
willing to subsidize or grant financial assistance to emerging
or developing countries such as the Philippines to ensure
compliance with the new security initiatives.
“The Philippines is one of the major supply chain players
for goods in and out of EU. We want to continue trading with
the Philippines since we believe it has tremendous potentials,”
MacDonalds stressed.
“We know that its inability to comply with such security
initiatives resulted in the decline in its exports to Europe...
we believe that extending help to the country will bring back
the glow in its Europe exports just like in the 1990s when
(exports) increased more than seven fold,” MacDonalds
added.
Last year, the EU extended a 1.3-million euro grant to the
Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) for its initial compliance
with some EU regulations particularly on automation. The EU
is also set to extend another 6.5 million euros in technical
assistance in line with the BOC’s national single-window
and trade facilitation programs.
Recently, the EU adopted Regulation 1875/2006 aiming at increased
security for shipments entering or leaving the EU. The measure
is aimed to produce faster and better-targeted customs controls
that facilitate legitimate trade but tighten minimum security
and safety requirements.
At the start of the year, an Authorized Economic Operator
(AEO) system has also been introduced. This means that reliable
traders that meet specified criteria can obtain facilitations
from security measures and also ask for simplifications as
provided for under customs rules.
Next year, the EU will implement a mandatory requirement for
traders to provide customs authorities with advance infor-mation
on goods brought into or out of the EU customs terri-tory
24 hours prior to loading.
The EU is the country’s third-largest export market
next to the US and China. Exports to the region in the 1990s
grew 6% annually but have been dec-lining by the same percen-tage
in recent years.
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Reaccreditation of CCBI as APO recommended
THE Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc (CCBI)
remains the accredited professional organization for brokers,
according to the Professional Regulatory Board for Customs
Brokers (PRBCB).
PRBCB chair Constantino Calica told PortCalls that while CCBI’s
accreditation expired last year, the board has not recommended
accreditation for any of the two brokers’ associations
wanting to be the next APO.
The PRBCB has in fact recommended to the Philippine Association
of Professional Regulatory Board Members, Inc (PAPRB) CCBI’s
re-accreditation as APO for the next three years.
Calica said the accreditation papers are awaiting the signature
of PRC officials.
The PAPRB was deputized by the Professional Regulation Commission
(PRC) to receive and evaluate the completeness of documents
submitted by APOs in the renewal of their PRC accreditation.
“It’s still CCBI. We have not accredited any other
association as new APO for brokers,” Calica stressed.
“Hopefully, this will clear the issue with regard to
the fate of CCBI as APO,” Calica said.
CCBI became the top choice as APO for customs brokers after
PRBCB rejected outright the application of another association,
the PUC Customs Brokers Association, arguing it is not an
association of brokers but of brokerage houses barred under
Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.
On the other hand, the application of the Professional Customs
Brokers Association of the Philippines Inc, CCBI’s closest
competitor for APO status, and its allies—the National
Customs Brokerage Association of the Philippines, and the
Visayas-Mindanao Customs Brokers Association— have not
been acted upon by the PRBCB.
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APL vessel is first to call at Subic’s
NCT-1
APL vessel is first to call at Subic’s
NCT-1
SUBIC Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC) recently serviced
its first vessel at the newly opened New Container Terminal-1
(NCT-1) at the Subic Bay Freeport. American President Lines’
(APL) 1,200-TEU vessel Eagle Excellence arrived at the NCT-1
from Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
Photo shows Aurelio Garcia (far right), SBITC General Manager,
and Armen Manlapat (fourth from left), SBITC Terminal Manager,
presenting commemorative plaques marking the milestone vessel
call to Cecille Bitare, (third from left), APL Regional Manager
for Operations; Miodrag Rozmamic (fifth from left), Eagle
Excellence Vessel Master, and Leah Constantino (second from
left), APL Subic Branch Manager. Ferdinand Hernandez, Subic
Bay Metropolitan Development Authority (SBMA) Senior Deputy
Administrator for Operations, witnessed the ceremony.
NCT-1, a new container terminal constructed by SBMA in cooperation
with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation, is envisioned
to become a major maritime hub in Southeast Asia. Subic Bay
International Terminal Corp is a subsidiary of Interna-tional
Container Terminal Services, Inc, a leading developer of international
ports and terminals with a global port network spanning 11
countries in four continents.
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