A total of 1,173 companies are engaged in air and sea freight forwarding in the Philippines as of September 2015, according to latest data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).
No comparable figures are available.
Of the total, sea freight forwarders account for 68.6% or 805 companies and the rest (368) are air freight forwarders.
CAB data show that of the 368 air freight forwarders, dominant are companies engaged solely in international air freight forwarding with 67% or 247 air cargo forwarders, while 102 do both international and domestic freight forwarding. Forwarders handling purely domestic air cargoes number only 19, or 5% of the total.
On the other hand, the DTI-Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau’s (FTEB) latest data show that of the 805 sea freight forwarders, 70% or 562 are international sea freight forwarders, while only 6.3% or 51 forwarders offer domestic services. A total of 137 or 17% are engaged in both international and domestic sea freight forwarding, while 55 or 6.8% handle balikbayan (personal gifts) box shipments.
Meanwhile, FTEB advises shippers and consignees to report or submit complaints regarding balikbayan box shipments, together with a copy of the waybill, cargo receipts, and supporting documents. This is part of DTI’s drive against erring freight forwarders.
In its latest advisory, FTEB said it has blacklisted KabayanBox Express Service due to pending complaints. KabayanBox joins 44 other blacklisted international freight forwarders with no local counterparts and with pending complaints.
Meanwhile, 11 unaccredited freight forwarders were blacklisted for having pending administrative complaints, while 44 unaccredited ones have been formally charged.
Complaints against seven unaccredited sea freight forwarders have been endorsed to the Department of Justice or city prosecutor offices. Furthermore, two accredited freight forwarders were slapped with formal charges, and three others were served a petition for revocation of accreditation. – Roumina Pablo
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