PPA’s container monitoring system aims for digitalization, transparency

FILE PHOTO: Trucks transporting containers with imported items are prepared to leave a port in Manila, Philippines May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

MANILA, Philippines — The Trusted Operator Program – Container Registry and Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS) project of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) will regulate and provide transparency for all stakeholders, said  PPA’s project partner Shiptek Solutions founder and CEO Eugenio Ynion.

Ynion said cost of logistics is one of the major factors in the rising price of commodities. One root issue is the “unreasonably high surcharges imposed by shipping carriers,” like peak season surcharges, container imbalance fees, and container deposits collected from importers.

“These truths that are not visible to everyone, but have had a major impact on consumer prices today,” said Ynion.

“Fortunately, this is a problem that the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has started to address since pre-pandemic but why has it yet to be implemented today? Simple, it’s because the regulatees are regulating the regulators.

In an interview with ANC, PPA General Manager Atty. Jay Santiago said the agency has been receiving complaints from importers regarding the container deposits charged for the inbound containers of shipping lines.

The PPA TOP-CRMS aims to address the following:

● Lower the cost regarding container usage, at P980 per container in a container deposit of 10,000-30,00 per container.
● Make sure to monitor traffic of containers both inbound and outbound and they are returned within the regulatory period of 90 days. There’s a limit of how many days containers are allowed to stay in the country. More than 90 days, they become dutiable and taxable by the BOC. We need to identify all of these containers, where they are, and to make sure they are returned to the shipping lines.
● As an off-shoot of this project – there are a lot of complaints about the lack/ deficiency of container yards within the vicinity of the ports. The purpose of this is that we are able to control and manage the traffic of these containers through the establishment of container yards/empty container depots outside of metro manila. Primarily in the areas of Bulacan & Laguna.

Ynion explained that the project will “definitely regulate the prices imposed on the cost of logistics,” but will “affect a lot of the traditional practices that the regulatees have been doing ever since.”

“This is why service providers like the shipping lines and truckers are trying to stop the project from being implemented, but are we to let the regulatees regulate the regulators?” said Ynion.

“It seems that the TOP-CRMS is not to impose any cost that will negatively impact the businesses of these service providers, but rather create transparency for all stakeholders that will enable the government to question and regulate surcharges to be imposed unreasonably,” he added.

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/MUF