Container storage firms oppose PPA’s proposed tracking system

Ten off-terminal container-storage yard operators in the country expressed deep concern over the planned container monitoring and tracking system of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), going as far as accusing the agency of trying to destroy small players in the container storage industry.

In a statement sent to the Inquirer on Saturday, the ten container yard operators identified themselves as the Sea Container Depot Corp., TBS Container Depot, Inland Container Depot, Brightpoint Logistics Corp., E-Safe Container Depot, Golden Box Container, Movers and Managers Container Depot, TMS Container Depot, Oceanbox Container Depot and NTC Container Depot.

“We are deeply concerned about the devastating impact on small industry players of the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS) and Empty Container Storage Shared Service Facility (ECSSSF) that the Philippine Ports Authority is planning to implement,” the group said in a statement.

“We believe the policy is counter-productive and detrimental to the industry and to the country as a whole,” they added.

The group said the staging areas that would be put up under PPA’s plan would render their facilities useless and unprofitable, leading to their closure and the loss of hundreds of jobs. They pointed, in particular, to the two staging areas in the provinces of Bulacan and Laguna where empty containers will stay while awaiting re-exportation as threats to their operations.

There was no reason to put up those staging areas so far from the port’s vicinity to address long queuing time of trucks in container groups, they added, saying that such issues were already addressed under their current truck appointments system.

“There is no congestion and heavy queuing of trucks at our container yards. So, they cannot and should not use that to justify the necessity for the staging areas 50 to 100 kilometers away from the country’s main port,” the group said.

The group also expressed fear that they would lose the ability to negotiate with the shipping lines under the TOP-CRMS, citing that the PPA will serve as a “middleman” between them and the shipping lines and importers.

“The proposed system that will require off-dock depots to register under one system will create a monopoly where multiple service providers will be at the mercy of the winning and favored bidder. This will defeat our rights to negotiate freely the terms and conditions of each of our transactions with our valued customers,” they said.

They also assailed what they characterized as PPA’s attempt to supersede the law which grants the Bureau of Customs (BOC) jurisdiction over them.

“Aside from usurping the inherent power of the Bureau of Customs to monitor all imported containers, laden or empty, inside and outside the ports, PPA has again flagrantly encroached on another Customs jurisdiction in regard to off-dock container yards,” they said. “Under the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, we are considered facilities under the jurisdiction of the [BOC]. The PPA has no legal authority to accredit off-dock and off-terminal facilities, since this is a function of the BOC,” added the group. INQ