Industry throws
support to WCO’s Safe Trade Framework
SUPPLY chain stakeholders forwarded last
week to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo their resolution
of support to the World Customs Organization Safe Trade Framework.
The resolution was the offshoot of the 1st National Conference
on Safe Trade and AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) organized
by the Aircargo Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc (AFPI)
in cooperation with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and
the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Signatories included the AFPI, Philippine International Seafreight
Forwarders of the Philippines, Port Users Confederation, and
the Philippine Exporters Confederation.
The document was received by Deputy Customs Commissioner Reynaldo
Nicolas on behalf of the President.
Under the resolution, President Arroyo was requested to task
the BOC to start fulfilling its commitment to implement the
WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global
Trade and to direct the BOC to implement as soon as possible
standards and other provisions contained in the WCO Framework.
In addition, the group requested the President to authorize
the BOC to work with other WCO member countries or Customs
administrations to develop mechanisms for mutual recognition
of AEO validations and accreditations and Customs control
results, and other mechanisms needed to eliminate or reduce
redundant or duplicated validation and accreditation efforts.
The group also requested President Arroyo to direct BOC to:
• establish a voluntary certification program consistent
with the WCO’s AEO program to help certain economic
operators in the international supply chain adopt acceptable
control measures to enhance the security of such chain;
• enhance BOC-Business partnership on trade security
and trade facilitation based on trust and mutual respect;
• establish accreditation procedures that offer certain
benefits and incentives to certain economic operators considered
as BOC’s trusted partners; and
• submit to the WCO an indicative timetable for the
implementation of the Framework of Standards suitable to its
capabilities.
A Customs Administration Order (CAO) covering compliance to
the Framework will soon be forwarded to the Department of
Finance for approval.
“We will comply. After the conference, we believe that
we have gathered all the needed information to come out with
the best model that suits our needs and that of our trading
partners,” Customs commissioner Napoleon L. Morales
said during his conference welcome remarks.
Under the draft CAO, C-TAPAT or Customs-Trade Alliance to
Protect and Accelerate Trade will be established as the country’s
AEO program. The name is a takeoff from C-TPAT or the Customs-Trade
Partnership Against Terrorism Program of the United States.
The proposed C-TAPAT will initially apply to importers already
accredited under the Super Green Lane, 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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PUC endorses anew RKC ratification
THE Port Users Confederation (PUC) is pushing
for the immediate accession of the Philippines to the Revised
Kyoto Convention (RKC) to reduce the cost of doing business
in the country as well as benefit from the expected surge
in cargo volume from participating countries.
In a statement of endorsement submitted to the Senate’s
Foreign Affairs Committee in its hearing last week, PUC president
Angelito Colona said the association is convinced that the
implementation of the RKC in the country will contribute to
international trade by developing harmonized, uniform and
simplified customs practices and procedures.
Colona said the accession is also expected to raise the level
of the country’s customs procedures to meet global standards,
fostering transparency and efficiency resulting to trade facilitation,
reduced transaction cost and better security.
“PUC is elated that the Philippine accession to the
RKC is under consideration by the Senate, and hopefully, the
ratification thereof shall some be forthcoming,” Colona
added.
“We therefore heartily and fully endorse the Senate’s
ratification of the country’s accession to the Revised
Kyoto Convention,” he said.
There are ongoing discussions being undertaken both by Bureau
of Customs (BOC) and representatives from the private sector
on the provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines
(TCCP), aligning them to provisions of the RKC.
Based on studies of the TCCP, the government only has to amend
at least 17% of the Code; the rest of its provisions are compliant
to the standards, transitory standards and recommended practices
contained in the RKC.
According to Colona, there is much interest from the private
sector in discussions not only on proposed TCCP amendments,
but also on bills that concern brokerage, warehousing, manufacturing
and export in order not to restrict the flow of goods and
reduce the cost of imports and exports.
To date, 56 countries have already acceded to the 1999 RKC
agreement. In Asean, except for Vietnam that has already acceded
to the Protocol, all are gearing toward adopting the treaty.
The BOC would have wanted to report the country’s compliance
to the RKC during the World Customs Organization meeting next
month.
The PUC is composed of exporters and importers on the one
hand and freight forwarders, logistics and supply chain providers,
integrators and customs brokerage companies on the other.
It has 25 member associations including the Semiconductors
and Electronics Industries of the Philippines, Philippine
Exporters Confederation, Inc., Aircargo Forwarders Association
of the Philippines, Inc., and the Philippine International
Seafreight Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc.
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ICTSI first-quarter income jumps 25%
INTERNATIONAL Container Terminal Services,
Inc. (ICTSI) reported a 25.2% increase in net income for the
first quarter of 2008 to P776.7 million from P620.3 million.
“The increase is attributable to the strong performance
of Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), Madagascar
International Container Terminal Services Ltd., (MICTSL),
Tecon Suape SA (TSSA) and Davao Integrated Port and Stevedoring
Services Corp. (DIPSSCOR),” the port operator said in
a report.
Consolidated income increased P1.7 billion, or 51.5% to P5
billion in the first quarter from P3.3 billion driven by new
terminals Ecuador Contecon Guayaquil SA (CGSA), Batumi International
Container Terminal LLC (BICT) and Tartous International Container
Terminal (TICT) that were added to the ICTSI portfolio.
The total consolidated capital expenditure for the year is
P11.625 billion, which will mainly be for civil works, systems,
improvement, and the purchase of major cargo handling equipment
of major terminals MICT, BICT, TSSA, and MICTSL and the new
terminals in Ecuador, China, Syria, Georgia and Colombia.
The expenditures will be funded internally, and through available
cash balances and loan availments from credit facilities.
In the first quarter, total expenses grew P1.4 billion, up
60% to P3.84 billion from last year’s P2.4 billion.
Of the total expense, P1.437 billion came from new subsidiaries
CGSA, BICT, TICT and SPIA.
Income before tax rose P266.7 million or 29.5% to P1.17 billion
in the quarter from P905 million attributed to the strong
performance of MICT, MICTSL, TSSA, and DIPPSCOR and effectively
managed operating expenses.
ICTSI develops, manages and operates container terminals in
the 50,000- to 1.5-million TEU per year range.
This year, the operator is looking at managing new international
ports, including in Vietnam, the Middle East, Latin America
and Europe.
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Road preservation to cost almost $3B
THE government is allocating $280.8 million
to preserve and maintain the national road network starting
this year.
A modest percentage of the amount will go to rehabilitation
of roads along the government’s roll on-roll off (ro-ro)
highway project.
Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane said
the construction, maintenance and upgrading of roads will
enhance the transit of goods and reduce fuel expenses and
eventually the market prices of products.
The improvement, which will be enforced through the National
Roads Improvement and Management Project (NRIMP) I, covers
works and services for road upgrading rehabilitation and widening,
bridge replacement, and landslide rehabilitation, totaling
approximately 450 kilometer (km) of roads and about 1,000
bridges on the arterial national road network.
“This is a long-term maintenance contract for a substantial
portion of the Strong Republic Nautical Highway, and provide
a substantial increase in the road maintenance program funded
by road users through the Motor Vehicle User Charge funds,”
Ebdane said.
Of the $280.8 million, $152.3 million will be for the five-year,
performance-based contracts for comprehensive maintenance
the arterial road network, including the ro-ro highway.
About $32 million will be used for preventive maintenance
of about 1,200kms of the national road network annually over
four years, through a sector-wide approach and mechanism for
reimbursement to the road fund while $2.8 million will be
for maintenance service.
According to a study made by the National Road Board (NRB),
road maintenance will need at least P8 billion a year, aside
from the P30 billion worth of road maintenance backlog since
the Marcos era, which has been slowly addressed by the government.
NRB said the country needs to maintain 29,000 national roads
and 180,000 local roads from Aparri down to Tawi-Tawi.
The agency is also set to open bidding for the NRIMP 2 project
in July, expected to be in place before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
steps down from office in 2010.
The NRIMP 2 project, with an approved loan of $232 million
from World Bank (WB), involves the improvement and upgrading
of 12 roads mostly in the Mindanao area, including the Surigao-Davao
Coastal’s Jct.; Bacuag-Claver section; Many-Mati section,
2.5A Surigao Prov Bdy-Lanuza and 2.5B Lanuza-Cortez; the Malalag
–Malita-JA Santos; Digos-Cotabato City; Cotabato City-Marawi
City and Landslide Risk Mitigation.
The scope of the Surigao-Davao coastal road project in Mindanao
involves the upgrading of 22kms of gravel road into a two-lane
concrete pavement, including re-blocking existing sections.
The Marcos Highway will undergo reconstruction of the 4.7km
eight-lane urban arterial highway and flood risk management
construction of 6 km box culvert drainage.
Also up for bidding are the construction of Magapit-Sta Ana,
in Luzon; Mindoro East Coast in Mindoro, the Zarraga-Ivisan
, bridges in Panay; the Bacolod-Kabankalan in Negros; and
the Marcos Highway in Manila.
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Urgent inclusion of truckers in fuel
discount program pushed
WITH weekly increases in fuel prices expected
until July, truckers are intensifying calls for their sector’s
inclusion in the fuel discount program for public utility
vehicles (PUVs).
Earlier this month, government approved a P2 per liter discount
on top of the P1 per liter discount given to PUVs to cushion
the impact of rising fuel costs.
Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines president
Col Rodolfo De Ocampo said their sector’s inclusion
in the program will prevent delays in the movement of goods,
especially food products, considering some truckers are already
eyeing reduced trips to cut fuel expenses.
“Being one of the major players in the movement of goods
nationwide that contributes to economic growth, the government
should consider extending the incentives to us and not only
to PUVs,” De Ocampo said.
“We expect a favorable decision particularly now that
the issue is known to the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo),”
he added.
According to De Ocampo, the move will mean savings of 16%
or P300-P500 per truck per one-way trip.
The price of diesel, the most commonly used by trucks, increased
significantly from P32 per liter at the end of last year to
around P43 per liter to date.
Cargo volume, meanwhile, nose dived 6.18% in the first two
months of the year due to the sluggish performance of both
foreign and local cargoes.
It does not help the truckers’ case that the Philippine
Ports Authority expects only mild increases of 2.5% to 5%
in cargo throughput for 2008.
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