The Association of Off-Dock Container Yard Operators of the Philippines (ACOP) will no longer accommodate rebates starting the first day of January next year, the date when the new rates for off-dock container yards and container freight stations (CY/CFS) take effect.
ACOP president Alexander Ong told association members in a letter dated December 9 that “due to the imminent constraint to the industry, it was agreed during our special board meeting held last December 8, 2015 that no rebates will be accommodated on shipments withdrawn from the respective CFS warehouse commencing January 1, 2016.”
BOC recently released Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 41-2015 which prescribes the new uniform rates for CY/CFS that are set to become effective on the first day of next year. The rate adjustment was made in response to calls from stakeholders to update the 14-year-old rates that were prescribed in CMO 24-2001.
READ: BOC adjusts off-dock CY/CFS rates after 15 years
Off-dock CY/CFS rates have been an issue of contention for some time. There were complaints about the supposedly sky-high rates imposed by warehouses which some industry insiders traced to so-called rebates. These rebates are said to be either offered by warehouses to forwarders or requested by forwarders in exchange for exclusive business. Such alleged arrangements, industry players say, have eroded the BOC rate structure.
The customs agency said the new rates, crafted together with stakeholders, “will help level the playing field among the operators.”
READ: Hike in PH off-dock storage rates justified: PortCalls survey
Moving forward, the rates will also be automatically adjusted in proportion to “the rate of increase of the arrastre and wharfage promulgated by the Philippine Ports Authority,” according to CMO 41-2015. – Roumina Pablo
