The legislation creating the Philippine Transportation Safety Board is nearing enactment after hurdling the House Appropriation Committee on Wednesday, 18 November 2020. The bill was previously approved jointly by the Transportation and Government Reorganization Committees. The Senate has earlier approved its version on the third and final reading.
The PTSB shall be a non-regulatory and autonomous agency attached to and under the general supervision of the Office of the President. It shall be the primary agency responsible for the conduct of impartial investigation on transportation-related accidents and incidents. The main
objectives of the PTSB are: (a) to improve transportation safety measures that will help in the prevention of transportation accidents and mitigation of dangers to human lives and property; and (b) to ensure the implementation of transportation safety standards. Continue reading Bill creating Transportation Safety Board nears enactment
Ms. Marilyn Alberto of the Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Assoc., Inc. (PMTLAI) said that the law of supply and demand affects airfreight pricing especially at this time of pandemic as flight frequency has been reduced. Following are some tips given by Ms. Alberto to ensure efficient shipping by air amid challenges:
The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) presented their proposed arrastre, stevedoring, and storage rates for out-of-gauge (OOG) cargoes, and arrastre rates for empty foreign containers during their 1 October 2020 public hearing.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) launched Program NEHEMIA for the Logistics Sector, making it the third sector launched among the five identified sectors under the program.
The ASEAN Wide Self Certification Scheme (AWSC) allows exporters, who have proven their competence, to be eligible for the preferential treatment under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) through self-certification. As such, application of the Certificate of Origin (CO) Form D is no longer required once an exporter qualified the Certified Exporters (CE) status. However, e-Form D and paper-based Form D will still be used by the exporters who have not acquired the CE status. This will bring practical benefits, reducing cost and shipment delays, in processing export cargoes even during non-work hours and weekends.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and National Resources defers the implementation of the General Effluent Standards (GES) under DAO- 2016-08. Said standards applies to all point sources of pollution, regardless of volume, that discharge to receiving body of water or land and shall be used regardless of the industry category.
The export industry remains resilient and optimistic to face the global health and economic crisis brought by the covid19 pandemic.
On the other hand, the government takes into account the challenges faced by the businesses; initiating programs to help address such concerns. Issues and concerns of exporters nationwide as well as updates on the regional Programs, Actions Plans and Policies (PAPs) are gathered from the recently concluded PEDP 2018-2022 Virtual Regional Consultations held this August 12, 19 and 26, 2020 for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The topmost concern raised is financial assistance specifically for medium-sized enterprises, with the approval of Bayanihan Act, the government thru the Department of Trade and Industry’s non-bank, lending arm – the Small Business Corporation (SB Corp) contributed to ease out the burden of these companies in need. They rolled out the SBCares program to help those micro and small business enterprises that have closed their businesses during the pandemic.
The online filing, processing, and payment of port charges and other related fees is now made mandatory through a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC). With the JMC, it is now mandatory for all port users to file their applications online for permits and clearances for the release of cargoes from PPA, BOC, and other port operators including International Container Terminals Services, Inc. (ICTSI), Asian Terminals, Inc. (ATI), and Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc. (HCPTI); and payment of corresponding fees shall be done through the accredited banks and payment channels.