Draft CAO establishes
Philippine AEO
THE Bureau of Customs will present a draft
order establishing the country’s Authorized Economic
Operator (AEO) or “C-TAPAT” program to delegates
of the 1st National Conference on SAFE Trade and AEO at the
SMX Convention Center today.
Presented by the Aircargo Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc
(AFPI) in cooperation with the World Customs Organization
(WCO) and Bureau of Customs (BOC), the two-day conference,
which opened yesterday, focused on the latest security initiatives
taken by the country’s major trading partners and their
impact on Philippine trade.
C-TAPAT stands for Customs-Trade Alliance to Protect and Accelerate
Trade. The name closely resembles the C-TPAT (Customs-Trade
Partnership Against Terrorism) Program of the United States.
The draft order seeks to enable the Philippines to comply
with its commitment to implement the WCO Framework of Standards
to Secure and Facilitate Trade. It paves the way for the establishment
of a voluntary certification program (C-TAPAT) that follows
the WCO’s AEO concept. The program aims to “help
certain economic operators in the international supply chain
adopt control measures to enhance the security of the chain.”
The US C-TPAT is also a trusted shipper supply chain program.
The proposed C-TAPAT will initially apply to importers already
accredited as Super Green Lane importers, then to exporters
and later on to other economic operators in the international
supply chain. Economic operators who want to join C-TAPAT
must have the following: security management systems in place;
risk assessment of their business operations; security measures
stipulated in this order should be included in the company’s
security policy, objectives and commitment; and procedures
for communicating security management information to all stakeholders.
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MCT sees 10% increase in container
traffic
THE Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) expects
more direct callers and a 10% increase in containerized traffic
once International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI)
takes over management and operations of the port by the end
of June. This was disclosed to PortCalls by MCT port management
chief Dante Clarito during the two-day RO-RO Conference reently
held in Cagayan de Oro City.
He noted that ICTSI can market MCT to its network of international
ports.
ICTSI currently operates ports in Ecuador, China, Syria, Georgia,
Colombia, Poland, Brazil and Madagascar, among others. It
is eyeing the operation of ports in other countries such as
Vietnam.
“We are very upbeat about our prospect for MCT once
ICTSI takes over next month,” Clarito said.
“We expect to increase the number of direct callers
to the port and increase cargo traffic by 10% starting this
year and complement our nearby government port in Cagayan
de Oro,” Clarito said.
He added that MCT is now courting Thailand’s RCL and
Singapore’s Pacific Eagle Lines Pte to call at the port.
“We are also pump-priming MCT’s infrastructure
in line with the Mindanao development program. If the volume
warrants, MCT will be expanding the terminal to double its
capacity as well as put in more cargo-handling equipment,”
Clarito said.
To date, MCT has three direct callers, namely Maersk, National
Marine Corp and Lorenzo Shipping Corp. It also handles the
shipments of Nestle, Pilipinas Kao, Del Monte’s wood
industry, Dole and other general cargo.
MCT, located in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, is a flagship
project of Mindanao. It is designed to accommodate an annual
throughput of 270,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. The berth
length is 300 meters (m with a depth of 13m below the mean
lower low level. MCT has two gantry cranes and four rubber-tired
gantries.
In its first year of full commercial operations in 2007, MCT
recorded a 100% jump in cargo volume to more than 80,000 twenty-foot
equivalent units (TEUs) from only about 38,000-40,000 TEUs
in 2006.
MCT, one of the most modern terminals in the area, was barred
from accepting local and international cargoes in the last
five years.
Oro Port, the cargo-handling operator of Cagayan de Oro, a
government port located nearby, succeeded in convincing the
court on the exclusivity of its contract to handle cargoes
in and out of Cagayan de Oro. The court lifted its temporary
restraining order in late 2006.
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Resumption of Batangas privatization in
the works, according to PPA
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is getting
ready to resume efforts to privatize the operation of the
Batangas Port.
“We are anticipating a favorable decision from the Supreme
Court involving the expropriation case of Batangas Port,”
PPA general manager Atty. Oscar Sevilla said in an interview.
“Based on our final oral arguments at the High Court
recently, I think the Supreme Court will reverse its earlier
decision pegging the expropriation fee of P5,500 per square
meter to its original rate of P500,” Sevilla said.
“Hopefully, the Court will come out of their decision
as soon as possible as the case really hampered the privatization
and operations of the port as well as affected some of PPA’s
revenue generation programs,” Sevilla added.
The port authority has issued an indefinite permit to operate
to Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI) in order not to further hamper
commercial operations of the port. ATI has been operating
the port since 2005. It is also one of the two eligible bidders
for the 25-year management and operations contract for Batangas.
The other bidder is International Container Terminal Services,
Inc (ICTSI).
In the meantime, financing for the improvement of ports nationwide,
including the one in Batangas, is dependent on the resolution
of the case. The Development Bank of the Philippines does
not want to release the remaining tranche of PPA’s P2-billion
bond float, arguing that the port authority’s ability
to pay will be affected if the SC upholds its earlier decision.
On August 24 last year, Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez
affirmed the earlier rulings of the Court of Appeals and Batangas
Regional Trial Court, which set the expropriation price of
the subject lots at P5,500 per square meter.
The SC also ordered the trial court to implement its final
and executory orders requiring the PPA to pay the respondents
the expropriation amount, or about P11.3 billion with 12%
annual interest from the date of expropriation on September
11, 2001 until fully paid.
Batangas Port is one of the 10 ports that the PPA wants to
raise to world standards by 2010. By 2008, Batangas is expected
to corner about 10% of the entire Asia-Pacific container traffic
estimated at 400 million TEUs annually.
Batangas Port has started full commercial operations after
additional cargo-handling muscle was installed late last year.
The upgrade included two quay cranes, four rubber-tired gantries
and a patrol boat.
With these new facilities, the PPA expects to lure back direct
callers such as American President Lines.
At the start of the year, the PPA, together with the Bureau
of Customs and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, has
started to aggressively market Batangas Port particularly
to international callers in the Asia-Pacific region.
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RP-flag vessels fight for more cargo
OPERATORS of Philippine-flagged vessels
continue to bat for a larger carriage share of the country’s
total foreign trade.
Since early 2000, the Filipino Shipowners Association (FSA)
has been clamoring for a more level playing field for its
members.
Latest figures from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina)
showed that though the figures have improved in favor of local
carriers, the bulk of Philippine exports and imports are still
shipped through foreign-flag vessels.
Based on Marina data, the share of Philippine-flag vessels
in import and export shipments made by the Government in particular
have increased by 58% and 96% in 2006 and 2007. Yet, this
represents only a small percentage of the total trade for
these years.
“Philippine-flag ships ranked only sixth in both exports
and imports among the different flag registries, carrying
a total trade value of US$1.19 billion last year,” Marina
said.
The amount is only about 1% of the Philippine exports and
imports in 2007 valued at $105.587 billion.
The top five slots last year were occupied by ships from Panama,
Singapore, Liberia, China and South Korea, data showed.
The preference for foreign-flag vessels remains despite the
enforcement of Presidential Decree No. 1466 which promotes
the use of Philippine-flag ships under certain exemptions.
Marina said the situation has affected the country’s
fleet size which has been shrinking since the 1990s.
FSA, the local shipowners’ group, claims that local
shipowners cannot match the bid of foreign carriers. Philippine
vessels are subject to 6% value added tax and 2% contractor’s
tax while the foreign-flag vessels are not. The group said
these taxes are inputted in the bid price, thus, increasing
its final value.
The FSA is also pushing for the shift in the shipping terms
from CIF (cost, insurance and freight) to FOB (freight on
board). Unlike in CIF, the group pointed out that the FOB
buyer can nominate the ship that will carry his cargo.
The FSA said the shift of preference from foreign- to Philippine-flagged
vessels will provide the local shipping industry a much needed
boost.
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CDEC to expand testing of electronic
XML manifest submission
CARGO Data Exchange Center, Inc (CDEC), a
customs-accredited value added service provider (VASP), is
set to expand coverage within this month of its ongoing testing
of advance electronic manifest submission using XML format.
Leo Morada, chief executive officer of CDEC and Information
Technology columnist of PortCalls, said this expansion will
focus on three areas: shipping line manifest, cargo consolidation
manifest and airline cargo manifest.
CDEC is one of the VASPs endorsed by the Association of International
Shipping Lines (AISL) to its members for testing of advance
electronic manifest submission using XML format required by
the new e-Customs system. During the past three months, testing
was conducted using sample main vessel manifest and co-loader
manifest provided by AISL members.
XML stands for Extensible Markup Language which is a flexible
way of creating common information formats for shared data.
Morada said CDEC testing will be expanded to include foreign
shipping lines which are not members of AISL and bulk agents.
The second area of expansion involves the electronic manifest
submitted by consolidators, freight forwarders and non-vessel
operating common carriers (NVOCCs).
Last January CDEC advised clients currently using its ACOS
electronic manifest submission service about the testing of
XML manifest submission through the CDEC eTrade VASP system.
“We are now finalizing preparations for our clients
to commence XML manifest testing using a modified testing
methodology specifically configured for consolidation manifest,”
he added.
The third area covers the airline cargo manifest. Morada said,
“In cooperation with a leading air cargo warehouse,
we met with several cargo airlines last February and invited
them to participate in our planned testing of electronic manifest
submission through CDEC eTrade VASP. The scope of technical
testing involves conversion of industry standard cargo manifest
format currently used by international airlines. This effort
is really part of the air cargo warehouse’s roadmap
towards compliance with the International Air Transport Association
(IATA) e-Freight Project and will include electronic manifest
submission to e-Customs system using XML manifest format.”
He said CDEC takes a proactive approach in preparing its clients
for the full implementation of the e-Customs system.
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Express operator urges careful study
of Safe Trade, AEO
DHL Express is calling on government to conduct
a thorough study on the recent SAFE Trade measures and Authorized
Economic Operator (AEO) concept adopted by member countries
of the World Customs Organization. It also suggested that
a dialogue with stakeholders be conducted to assess the effect
of these cargo security and trade facilitation measures.
Among the countries that supports SAFE Trade, a framework
of standards to secure and facilitate global trade, is the
United States which has signed into law the Security Accountability
for Every Port (SAFE) Act of 2006.
Meanwhile, the European Community and some countries in Asia,
such as Japan and Malaysia, have embraced the AEO concept
which promotes transparency, improved security and increased
efficiency in trade facilitation.
“A dialogue will allow industry players and the government
to assess the relevance and impact of the new global security
requirements against the country’s own needs,”
DHL told PortCalls.
“It is also important for the government to monitor
the security initiatives of its trading partners as a new
set of security requirements may have a negative impact on
Philippine exporters. The security requirements implemented
in one country is not necessarily applicable nor beneficial
to all markets,” DHL explained.
“Programs such as the AEO will definitely impact Philippine
businesses and industries, as they have (other businesses)
globally,” DHL added.
An ongoing two-day conference organized by the Aircargo Forwarders
of the Phils Inc is aimed at informing logistics industry
stakeholders of the various international security initiatives
that are in place. A comference highlight is the formulation
of the Philippine model of the AEO.
DHL Express is working with other parties in the industry
on a global and regional level to help facilitate a dialogue
with the authorities on SAFE trade and the AEO. It collaborates
with government security agencies, logistics and security-based
organizations and industry partners to enable them to meet
the latest cargo security requirements and set in place countermeasures
for the latest security risks.
DHL said it is looking forward to working with the authorities
in the Philippines on the same issues.
DHL said it prioritizes security in its systems and processes
by imple-menting advanced security measures to ensure efficient
shipment processes.
It is accredited by the Transported Asset Protection Associa-tion
for its reliable shipment handling.
The company is regularly audited to ensure it is at par with
global standards for end-to-end supply chain security and
for efficient facilitation of trade.
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