Port reforms eyed to fix core functions

To address concerns earlier raised, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) is developing new policies to streamline procedures and prevent the use of ports as storage facilities, ensuring that local ports are primarily utilized for cargo movement.

“We are coordinating with the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to ensure that importers do not delay filing their importation entries. We are gradually reviewing our processes within the PPA and the BoC,” PPA general manager Jay Santiago said over the weekend.

Santiago noted that some importers have been waiting up to a month to file import entries for unloaded cargoes, adding that filing an entry is a crucial first step in the processing with the BoC.

He pointed out that some importers delay filing to save on storage costs, which are significantly lower at ports than in private warehouses.

“They pay only P700 a day (per container). For a month, that totals P21,000, which is minimal compared to the overall value of the shipment,” he explained.

Rice, farm goods take up space

According to PPA data, as of the end of September, the agency has provided the Department of Agriculture (DA) with a list of 20 consignees who failed to withdraw over 500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of rice and other agricultural products at the Manila ports.

In a letter dated 1 October, Santiago informed Agriculture Secretary Francisco, Tiu Laurel, about the inventory of unclaimed shipments of pork, chicken and onions that have exceeded the 30-day dwell time despite having received BoC clearance.

To address the issue of overstaying containers, the PPA has instructed the head of operations and engineering at Asian Terminal Inc., the terminal operator for Manila South Harbor, to report these containers to the BoC for appropriate action in line with the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which governs abandoned containers.

Holiday preparations

In preparation for increased demand during the Christmas season, the PPA has ramped up its monitoring of inventories for pork, chicken and onions.

The agency provided the DA with a comprehensive inventory of these shipments at the Manila ports as of 30 September, which includes 135 TEUs of pork, 101 TEUs of chicken and 24 TEUs of onions.

The PPA noted that 21 containers of pork have remained at the port for over 30 days following BoC clearance, with five containers exceeding 1,000 days in dwell time.

For chicken shipments, 22 containers cleared by the BoC are still at the port, with 12 exceeding 600 days in dwell time.

Additionally, four onion containers are still awaiting On-Line Release System clearance, which provides electronic release instructions for import shipments generated by the BoC’s electronic-to-mobile system.