The Philippine Ports Authority has opposed a proposed Customs administrative order that seeks to establish temporary storages for overstaying and abandoned cargoes at Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port, saying the PPA and not the Customs bureau is responsible for providing warehousing and storage services as well as fees for the same.
PPA assistant general manager Hector Miole said a Customs draft will diminish the jurisdiction of the port authority and will allow the BoC to impose rates for storage services in identified Customs facilities and warehouses.
“Allowing the BoC to issue guidelines on storage and the rates would result in having two guidelines on the same subject matter issued by different government agencies,” he said. “It is PPA’s position that the proposed CAO on CFWs should be limited to the guidelines for establishing, maintaining and operations of CFWs only, without reference as the provision of warehousing or storage services. Providing for this delineation is useful for the efficient and effective operations within the port, as it will create transparency between the different legal regimes operating inside the port premises.
Miole also rejected the BoC’s plan to declare the CFWs as “part of Customs premises” since these facilities are under the PPA.
Miole said that section 2.5 of the draft order “may imply that the BoC will issue guidelines for storage rates as well.”
He said that Section 804 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act provides that the BOC may impose an annual supervision fee to operators of CFWs and Customs bonded warehouses but not for warehousing and storage services.
“CMTA has neither repealed nor superseded the jurisdiction of port authorities over port operators, such as those who provide warehousing or storage services. The BoC’s authority over the warehousing or storage service providers is for enforcement of customs and tariff laws. BoC does not, however, provide for the said services as this is a function of the port authority or the port operator, as the case may be,” Miole said.
“The guidelines for the applicable storage period, the rates, as well as violations thereof are functions that are still lodged with the concerned port authorities,” he added.
The proposed CAO, which will implement Section 307 of CMTA, has been widely criticized by various stakeholders who warned that the order will only encourage corruption and lead to higher prices of goods in the long run.
“PPA is of the view that the BOC may exercise its authority over CFWs for purposes of enforcement ofCustoms and tariff laws. The issuance of guidelines as to storage period, rates, and penalties are operational concerns of a port, and the same do not necessarily involve customs enforcement,” he said.
Althea Acas, project manager of the BOC’s CMTA-Implementing Rules and Regulations Project Management Office, denied that the draft CAO will erode the foundation of the PPA.
“The PPA’s responsibility will not be diminished by the said CAO. In fact, it will both aid the Bureau of Customs and the PPA in the effective management of cargoes in case of abandonment or overstaying goods,” Acas said.
“The Bureau of Customs is still focused on the collection of duties and taxes. The establishment of a system for temporary storage of goods reinforces the mandates of the Bureau. This system will promote trade facilitation and will in fact support the importers or stakeholders in the processing of the cargoes before the Bureau disposes them when left abandoned or overstaying in the warehouses or container yards,” the Customs official added.