Laguna Gateway gets CY-CFS certificate of authority from BOC

• The Bureau of Customs on August 22 granted Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal a Certificate of Authority to operate a container yard-container freight station

• This is the second COA for the company after it was received a customs facility and warehouse COA in November 2017

• LGICT is the first CFW outside Metro Manila issued a CY-CFS COA under CMO 18-2022

• LGICT general manager Carmela Rodriguez said the CY-CFS service will complement the existing CFW container yard of LGICT and “affirms our value proposition as [a] one-stop-shop logistics hub in Southern Luzon”

Laguna Gateway Inland Container Terminal, Inc. (LGICT) has been granted by the Bureau of Customs a Certificate of Authority (COA) to operate a container yard-container freight station (CY-CFS) on August 22.

This is the second COA the company has received; the first was as a customs facility and warehouse (CFW) secured in November 2017, LGICT general manager Carmela Rodriguez told PortCalls in an email.

Rodriguez noted LGICT is the first CFW outside Metro Manila granted a CY-CFS COA, in keeping with Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 18-2022.

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CMO 18-2022 provides rules for the establishment, supervision, operation, and control of CFWs. Under the CMO, CFWs are facilities—such as CY-CFS—for temporary storage of goods established and authorized by BOC.

Rodriguez said the CY-CFS service will complement the existing CFW container yard of LGICT and “affirms our value proposition as [a] one-stop-shop logistics hub in Southern Luzon.”

She added that with the new COA, LGICT can now serve customers south of Manila, such as those in Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas, for their import and export requirement thru a consolidation shipment.

Rodriguez said LGICT as a CY-CFS will not only support the regional requirements of South Luzon stakeholders but will also help them save on logistics costs “from cargo pick-up and delivery given our CFW proximity as compared to Manila off-dock warehouses.”

She added, “Our operations will also assist to reduce the trucks and foot traffic since activity will be decentralized from Manila.”

Established in 2015, LGICT is a 21-hectare dry port/inland container depot with an annual capacity of 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) located in Barangay San Cristobal, Calamba City, Laguna, situated near the economic zones in Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, and the eastern front of Cavite.

Located in between Manila and Batangas, Rodriguez said LGICT has provided support for industry stakeholders as a storage and handling facility, as well as through other services such as trucking, live reefer plug-in, container repairs, off-dock empty returns, ISO tank pre-heating, and equipment leasing.

She noted LGICT has so far reached its annual highest volume of 140,000 TEUs, still leaving “much room to accommodate and serve our customers.” – Roumina Pablo