THE Philippine Association of Meat Processors, Inc. (PAMPI) has asked the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to revoke PPA Administrative Order No. 04-2021, which requires importers to pay for the registration and monitoring of containers.
In a letter to PPA dated Jan. 3, PAMPI said the administrative order imposed an additional “unjustifiable burden” on the industry, which is already having to deal with the high cost of raw materials and supply chain disruptions.
“We do not see how such a policy can contribute to recovery and growth of our economy,” PAMPI said in its letter signed by President Felix O. Tiukinhoy, Jr. and Vice-President Jerome D. Ong.
PAMPI said the policy will force the industry to pass on the cost of the charges to consumers.
The group also alleged that the PPA order amounted to “grave abuse of authority,” as the containers are not owned by importers but by shipping lines.
“The use of containers is paid to shipping lines by importers as part of freight costs. Therefore, requiring importers to pay the PPA for monitoring containers which do not belong to them, is unwarranted and abusive,” PAMPI said.
PAMPI also said that the PPA order duplicates a current cargo-tracking system put in place by the Bureau of Customs (BoC), for which importers are required to pay per container load.
The BoC system is known as electronic tracking of containerized cargo systems.
BusinessWorld solicited comment from the Department of Transportation, the PPA’s parent agency, but it had not replied at the deadline. — Ashley Erika O. Jose