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The Department of Transportation, through the Civil Aeronautics Board, and the Department of Trade and Industry are drafting a memorandum of understanding for one accreditation system for sea and air freight forwarders
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Once the unified system is in place, air and sea freight forwarders need not go to two different offices for accreditation, as there will be a single application form and single set of requirements, steps, and fees for that purpose
The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are drafting a memorandum of understanding for a unified accreditation system for sea and air freight forwarders.
Once the system is in place, air and sea freight forwarders would not have to go to two different offices to secure an accreditation, as there will be a single application form and single set of requirements, steps, and fees for accreditation, CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in a presentation during the Philippines Air Cargo Day on November 3. The event was organized by the International Air Transport Association, Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association Inc. (PMTLAI), and PortCalls.
Air freight forwarders register with CAB, an attached agency of DOTr, while sea freight forwarders register with DTI’s Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB).
In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Arcilla told PortCalls there seems to be a duplicity as there are two separate agencies regulating air and sea freight forwarders.
Under the unified accreditation system, freight forwarders operating as both sea and air freight can file for a unified accreditation in either CAB or FTEB.
Arcilla noted, though, that the procedures for the system are not fixed yet and no timelines have been set yet.
Arcilla said the unified accreditation system is part of the agency’s anti-red tape program and in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
Fernando Juan Perez, president of PMTLAI, had said earlier that his group had initiated talks for streamlining the accreditation/registration of freight forwarders. He said that CAB and FTEB currently have different requirements even though they are both registering the same business.
READ: PMTLAI eyes streamlined registration requirements for air, sea forwarders
Streamlining and decentralizing the permit issuance process and reportorial requirements across government agencies that deal with trade facilitation, transport, logistics and supply chain is also part of the “Ten Commitments of the Philippines Logistics Services Sector” signed by various industry groups, including PMTLAI, during the 1st Logistics Services Philippines Conference and Exhibit in 2018.
But even before the MOU, CAB had been implementing streamlining in applications and permits issuance.
For original applications for airlines, CAB has reduced the requirements to seven in 2022 from 26 before 2016. Requirements for renewal of permits were also reduced to five in 2022 from 21 prior to 2016, while processing time was down to three working days in 2022 from 10 working days before 2016.
Arcilla said CAB has deleted various requirements that ask for information the agency can already get from other documents or sources. CAB has also signed data sharing agreements such as with local government units and the Social Security System. He noted that this also ensures authenticity of the permits and certificates as they come from the source.
In April, CAB also implemented the online application for annual certificate to provide real-time updates of their applications and flexibility to stakeholders.
In August 2021, FTEB has launched the online issuance of Certificate of Accreditation for seafreight forwarders via DTI’s Integrated Registration and Information Systems, an online portal that facilitates the processing of FTEB frontline services. – Roumina Pablo
