Multimodal transport operators operating in the Philippines may have to wait until yearend before the government can decide which department to designate as the certifying body for such operators under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport.
Transport assistant secretary Dante Lantin, in an interview with PortCalls after last week’s 2nd Cargo Transport Forum, said the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) are still discussing which department should be in charge of the national body that would accredit multimodal transport operators.
This is because seafreight forwarders are currently under the DTI while airfreight forwarders are regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board, a DOTC-attached agencies.
Lantin said they are trying to set a meeting to determine whether seafreight forwarders may be transferred to DOTC-attached agency Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) so all freight forwarders are regulated by just one department (DOTC).
However, he noted this dialogue might not happen anytime soon because Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo has tendered his resignation and is staying on only until the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in November. Everyone will have to wait for Domingo’s replacement, Lantin said.
He said DOTC is willing to place regulation of seafreight forwarders under MARINA and is hoping this matter will be settled before the year is over. He noted seafreight forwarders have also been requesting for such transfer.
There are ongoing efforts to revise the MARINA charter so the agency can take over regulation of seafreight forwarders. Such efforts also include regulation of international shipping lines operating in the Philippines, specifically when it comes to their ability to set local charges.
In the meantime, the clock is ticking fast as the Philippines has to comply with the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Multimodal Transport in time for ASEAN regional integration by end of the year.
Under the multimodal transport agreement, signed in November 2005, “a multimodal transport operator of any member country shall be registered with the competent national body of his country.”
The national body is in charge of issuing a registration certificate that will authorize multimodal transport operators to operate in any ASEAN member country.
As early as 2006, the Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association in partnership with PortCalls conducted an information campaign on the ASEAN multimodal transport framework. Not much has been accomplished by government since then. – Roumina Pablo
READ: Changing Rules for Forwarding
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