Importers’
accreditation may soon be in the hands of private sector
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is planning
to outsource importers’ accreditation to ensure greater
transparency in the process.
Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said he wants private
firms such as SGS or Dun and Bradstreet to conduct the inspection
prior to accreditation.
The accreditation fee to be charged by private companies will
be borne by importers, he said.
The Customs Accreditation Secretariat (CAS) under the Legal
Service is currently in charge of ocular inspection of importers’
premises and the processing of their applications, a function
previously performed by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation
Service (CIIS).
Recently though, the BOC chief ordered the CIIS, Enforcement
and Security Service and Legal Services to create a team to
determine the actual status of importers who apply for accreditation.
“I have ordered the creation of this body to make sure
all these three divisions will cooperate in determining the
actual status of importers who apply for accreditation,”
Morales said, adding that all divisions are involved in the
counter checking process.
The Customs chief is also looking at getting two of the country’s
biggest business associations the Federation of Philippine
Industries (FPI) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (PCCI) — long been asking for inclusion in
the accreditation process — to be part of it.
“We are ironing out the terms of reference for this
new process, but we are really going to include the FPI and
the PCCI,” Morales said.
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Forwarders hit bump in PSB accreditation
FREIGHT forwarders are seeking an audience
with the Philippine Shippers’ Bureau (PSB) to address
difficulties being encountered in the PSB accreditation process.
It may be recalled that the PSB has increased the capitalization
requirement for new players in the freight forwarding business
to P4 million from the previous P500,000.
Existing freight forwarders, however, have until end 2009
to comply with requirements.
Freight forwarding firms require PSB accreditation to transact
with the Bureau of Customs, among others.
“Our members are encountering difficulties in renewing
their accreditation with the PSB even it involves several
minor documents,” Philippine International Seafreight
Forwarders Association (PISFA) president Dexter Yu told PortCalls,
noting that while the difficulties may just be part of new
accreditation process birth pains, a dialogue would help smooth
the process.
“What we want is for PSB to have at least a little leeway
and continue to accept renewal requirements instead of rejecting
them outright if (the document) lacks minor details,”
Yu stressed.
“This way,” he added, “the process would
be enhanced as PSB and forwarders will just simply go through
the missing documents instead of going through the same papers
again and again.”
He said that if the situation does not improve, the movement
of cargoes will slow down, translating to higher logistics
costs.
Another forwarding group, the Alliance of Concerned Freight
Forwarders (ACFFO) shares the same sentiment.
ACFFO is proposing that instead of outright rejection of deficient
applications, the PSB issues a provisional certificate of
accreditation for a certain period of time, revoking the same
if the applicant fails to comply with all requirements in
time.
PISFA and ACFFO are documenting all renewal difficulties encountered
by their respective members for a future meeting with the
PSB.
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Ro-ro benefits underscored
THE Supply Chain Management Association of
the Philippines (SCMAP) sees roll on-roll (ro-ro) highways
as the road to an effective distribution system.
SCMAP said the introduction of ro-ro highways, also known
as the Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), effectively
cut in half transport cost and time.
But in order to further take advantage of ro-ro’s benefits,
the government should immediately address the issues of road
connections, adequacy of services, safety and security, and
conflicting regulations from local government units, SCMAP
president Cora Curay said.
Government should also regulate increases in freight and trucking
rates.
In a recent presentation at the 2nd SRNH conference held in
Cagayan de Oro City and attended by PortCalls, Curay enumerated
the benefits of ro-ro shipping.
“Ro-ro (services are) competitive… as (they are)
faster by one to two days compared to traditional shipping,”
she said.
“Ro-ro provides trucks with back-haul opportunities,
integrating inbound and outbound through joint collaboration
with producers, freight forwarders and consumers,” she
explained.
Ro-ro, Curay said, is also more freight competitive as the
rate is based on the lane meter and vehicle size rather than
cubic meter or container size in traditional shipping.
There is also no cargo classification in ro-ro as opposed
to traditional shipping where cargo is classified as A, B
or C.
In addition, ro-ro comes with lesser cargo handling and trucking
costs as it uses the same truck throughout the trip compared
to traditional shipping which requires different trucks per
destination and has different cargo-handling service charges.
Since the introduction of the SRNH in 2003, passenger, shipcall
and cargo throughput from ports part of ro-ro highways has
reached all-time highs.
Latest data show that the total cargo throughput passing through
the SRNH in 2007 reached 72,809,386 from 72,639,702 in 2006
while ship calls increased from 298,347 to 303,150 last year.
Passenger traffic reached 44,458,774 last year from 42,531,963
a year earlier.
The government is looking at expanding the reach of the SRNH
in the Eastern Seaboard outside of the existing Maharlika
Highway launched during the Marcos era.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also ordered the Development
Bank of the Philippines and the NDC-Maritime Leasing Corp
to facilitate the release of loans to applicants wishing to
operate in and out of the nautical highways to guarantee adequate
services.
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TNT trains eyes on expansion
TNT Express is targeting to expand its operations
in the Philippines by 30% this year by opening more branches
to expand coverage.
The company is expanding to leverage on the growing demand
for Philippine exports such as textiles, semiconductors and
electronic products, and shipments from the garments industry.
TNT is looking at a 20% growth in electronics shipments while
antici-pating a 16% increase in garments shipments.
It expects to penetrate the machinery industry, fresh tuna
exports, pharmaceutical business, secure transport issues
for electronics, and high-tech shipments for added revenue
and volume growth this year.
Overall, TNT eyes double-digit growth, which could be on the
high side if not for the foreign exchange and fuel issues.
Based on performance in the first two months of the year,
volume is already in the high-double digit.
The continuing strength of the peso is, however, weighing
on the company’s growth potentials, according to newly
installed TNT country manager Cetin Yalcin.
While the Philippine operation is doing very well, the foreign
exchange issue is its biggest concern, he added.
“Hopefully, the forex rate stabilizes in the future.
From our computation, a P45:$1 exchange rate will be best
for the company,” Yalcin told PortCalls in an interview.
“However, if the current trend continues and the peso
appreciates more coupled with the high fuel cost, then we
will be in for a tough year,” he admitted.
“None-theless, we will just continue to enhance our
market core strength which is in Europe, China and Intra-Asia
to cushion the impact of such issues in our Philippine operations,”
Yalcin said.
Earlier, TNT said the company will inject about 100 million
euros (approximately P6.5 billion) in the next five years
to strengthen its network coverage, connectivity and infrastructure.
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BOC meets April collection target
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) met its April
target collection, posting P21.76 billion and a surplus of
P30 million.
The amount is P4.56 billion or 26.5% higher than collection
for the same month last year.
Eight ports surpassed their individual targets, led by Ninoy
Aquino International Airport with a P348-million surplus.
Cagayan de Oro posted a P113 million surplus; Cebu, P60 million;
and San Fernando, P57 million.
The Manila International Container Port, Legaspi, Davao and
Clark ports exceeded their targets by P7.5 million, P0.5 million,
P0.4 million and P1.4 million, respectively.
On the other hand, seven district ports fell short of their
targets including the Port of Manila, by P1.65 billion, and
Batangas by P862 million. Iloilo was also P1.6 million short;
Tacloban, P9.7 million; Surigao, P4.3 million; Zamboanga,
P2 million; and Subic P91 million.
For the first four months of the year, cumulative collections
have reached P70.64 billion, up 23% or P13.22 billion from
last year’s January-April performance but down 3.9%
or P2.84 billion from the P73.48-billion target for the period.
Meanwhile, the BOC is in the process of reshuffling district
collectors.
The revamp will affect all 15 district ports regardless of
whether targets were met or not.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves recently ordered Customs
Commissioner Napoleon Morales to submit a list of three candidates
per port for the post of district collector.
“I think a reshuffle may do the bureau a lot of good
because it will promote transparency,” Morales said.
“This is a revenue-generating agency and we must ensure
that everyone is a performer. For those who do not perform,
the Lateral Attrition Board will have to decide (on what happens),”
he added.
“For performers, they may be moved to bigger ports while
for those who failed to perform… we will see,”
Morales said.
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VASP in marketing initiative for
SMEs among port users
A BUREAU of Customs (BOC)-accredited value
added service provider (VASP) is launching a marketing initiative
designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well
as individual stakeholders among port users become technology
ready to fully utilize e-Customs services.
Cargo Data Exchange Center, Inc (CDEC) disclosed it is now
a reseller of Neo personal computers and laptops specifically
for customs brokers, freight forwarders/cargo consolidators,
logistics firms and other stakeholders in the cargo transport
and logistics industry.
The initiative complements CDEC’s VASP services for
electronic lodgment of import declarations (consumption and
warehousing entries) and future service offerings that the
BOC will authorize VASPs to provide.
Leo Morada, chief executive officer of CDEC and Information
Technology columnist of PortCalls, said the marketing effort
will commence in the form of a sales promo offer that will
run from May 12 until May 30. During this period, customs
brokers and freight forwarders as well as logistics firms
may buy the latest models of Neo laptops at discounted prices
through easy and convenient payment terms.
The laptop models to be introduced to SMEs will be showcased
at the CDEC exhibit booth during the two-day 1st National
Conference on Safe Trade and Authorized Economic Operator
organized by the Aircargo Forwaders of the Philippines, Inc
at SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
“When CDEC started to introduce its eTrade VASP system
to customs brokers and freight forwarders during the last
quarter of 2007, we received numerous suggestions for us to
likewise assist potential clients acquire new PC hardware
so that SMEs and individual port users can maximize usage
of VASP services which are all Internet-based. Many of the
clients who talked to us generally use old model PCs with
expanded memory and hard disk capacity and some still running
Windows 98. It is precisely these client suggestions that
encouraged us to explore the possibility of establishing partnership
with PC hardware vendors,” Morada said.
He added, “What finally convinced us to push for this
initiative is the feedback we received from a number of international
shipping lines currently testing with CDEC eTrade VASP for
XML manifest submission that their web-based service offerings
are slow to gain client acceptance since many of their shippers
and customers are SMEs which lack the computer capability
required for such web-based services”.
As Neo PC reseller, CDEC will introduce the marketing initiative
to all SMEs, including clients of other VASPs. “This
is a value contribution of CDEC to all our port users regardless
of what VASP they use,” he stressed.
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National conference to give shape
to RP AEO model
THE Philippine model of the Authorized Economic
Operator (AEO) concept will be decided at the 1st National
Conference on Safe Trade and AEO being organized by the Aircargo
Forwarders of the Philippines (AFPI) on May 13-14 at the SMX
Convention Center.
An AEO status offers companies preferential treatment in
customs procedures. AEO is aimed at increased security for
shipments entering or leaving a particular territory. The
measures should produce faster and better-targeted customs
controls that facilitate legitimate trade but tighten minimum
security and safety requirements.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is urging the private sector
to take the lead in complying with the AEO, just one of a
slew of new international cargo security measures.
“The private sector is key to the country’s compliance
with the safe trade measures particularly the AEO status,”
BOC international affairs chief John Simon has said in several
speaking engagements.
“The BOC cannot make it on its own, the very reason
why we are asking the private sector to join the bureau in
this endeavor and jointly decide on the best possible measure
to take to guarantee our compliance with the measures,”
Simon said.
It is partly in response to this call that the AFPI has organized
the national conference, supported by the BOC and the World
Customs Organization.
The event highlight is the formulation of a proposed Philippine
AEO model. The conference participants will form groups to
help craft the Philippine model.
The conference also features international speakers who will
talk about their countries’ experience in implementing
various cargo security initiatives.
Andrew Jackson, chairman of the Customs Working Group of
the US-ASEAN Business Council, will give an overview on the
SAFE Framework of Standards and AEO concept, and discuss the
concept of Mutual Recognition and its Impact on SAFE Trade.
Thomas Corwin, program manager of the Customs-Trade Partnership
Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) under the US Customs and Border
Protection, will discuss results and lessons learned from
the program.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Craig J. Pinkerton and John
SH Kwak will provide the private sector view on C-TPAT.
The standards for implementing SAFE Trade and AEO in the
EU will be handled by Pierre Faucherand, Minister-Counsellor
of the Customs-EC Delegation.
Representatives from third-party validators SGS (Sten Bertelsen,
VP & Head for GIS, Government Supply Chain Security Program)
and COTECNA (Daine Eisold, VP, Supply Chain Security) have
also been invited to talk about whether third-party validation
is a partner in protection or a necessary evil. Panelists
from the private sector will join them to further discuss
the issue.
Salmah Hassan, Senior Director at the Royal Malaysian Customs,
and Shinji Taniguchi, Director, Office of Regional Cooperation,
Japan Customs and Tariff Bureau, are giving an overview of
their respective country programs.
Messrs Corwin and Faucherand will report on the US Mutual
Recognition with Other Countries while there will be private
sector reactors on the topic.
At the end of the conference, a Resolution of Support on
SAFE Trade and AEO will be received by Customs Commissioner
Napoleon Morales on behalf of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Commissioner Morales will also give the conference welcome
remarks.
Importers
The form the Philippine AEO model will take will be watched
closely by Super Green Lane (SGL)-accredited importers.
It has earlier been reported that the AEO will take the place
of the SGL, as the former has more stringent standards.
SGL importers’ association president Jimsy Macawile
told PortCalls his group sees “a big cost impact which
may be reduced if the BOC gives us this early their plans.”
“We have to be ready in all aspects, particularly finances,
once the measures are fully implemented,” said Macawile,
who is also the assistant logistics manager of Samsung Electronics.
“We are very much willing to work with BOC in this undertaking,”
he added.
Based on his group’s estimates, administrative costs
will increase by at least 2% upon implementation as a result
of additional training, documentation, audits and other requirements
of the AEO system.
To reduce the cost impact, SGL importers are proposing to
simply enhance SGL procedures instead of replacing them.
The association believes the existing procedure, when enhanced
and improved by adding greater safety and security measures,
could qualify as the AEO. This proposal, they said, comes
at a minimum cost because accredited stakeholders will just
simply comply with additional requirements instead of starting
from zero to secure accreditation.
The enhancement of the SGL system will also allow for proper
transition.
“Based on our own research, the SGL system is compliant
with AEO requirements except on the supply chain security
issue,” Macawile said. “The BOC in the meantime
should focus on the security issue to comply then slowly review
procedures for the eventual full migration to AEO, if the
BOC still deems this to be necessary.”
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SGS sponsors conference
SGS has signed up as a major sponsor to the
1st National Conference on SAFE Trade and AEO being organized
by the Aircargo Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc on May
13-14, 2008 at the SMX Convention Center.
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification,
testing and certification company. Recognized as the global
benchmark for quality and integrity, it employs over 50,000
people and operates a network of more than 1,000 offices and
laboratories around the world.
Photo shows AFPI president Jaime Roxas with SGS Phils Managing
Director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury at the sponsorship signing.
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