The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has corrected errors in its newly issued order that amends how foreign currency exchange rates (FCER) are prescribed and applied to dollar-denominated port charges.
The port authority recently issued an errata to PPA Administrative Order (AO) No. 05-2017, explaining that “errors were inadvertently included” in the published new order that took effect on May 31.
AO No. 05-2017 covers all PPA port charges prescribed in U.S. dollars and paid in the equivalent Philippine peso.
For vessel charges, the errata states that the daily FCER prescribed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and disseminated by PPA’s Commercial Services Division (CSD) “shall be the rate to be used daily” to determine the peso value of dollar-denominated port charges that are due to PPA per calendar day.
Previously, the order was worded as “the FCER issued by CSD (based on the daily exchange rate) prevailing at the time of vessel departure shall be used in determining the peso value of dollar denominated port charges due to PPA.”
PPA also replaced Annex A of AO No. 05-2017 with revised sample computations that are intended to guide stakeholders.
The amendment is meant to adopt a real-time FCER in computing foreign-denominated PPA port charges and to provide a uniform basis for applying the U.S. dollar-Philippine peso conversion rate, said PPA.
Port charges included are charges on vessel such as port dues, dockage-at-berth, dockage-at-anchorage, and lay-up fee for foreign vessels; charges on cargoes such as wharfage on containerized and non-containerized foreign transshipment cargoes; and storage charge for containerized and non-containerized foreign transshipment cargoes.
AO No. 05-2017 says the FCER to be adopted is the daily rate prescribed by the BSP-Treasury Department. The effective daily rate of exchange obtained from BSP at 10 a.m. will apply from 10 a.m. of that day to 9:59 a.m. of the following day.
Since BSP does not issue FCER during weekends, the order said the applicable rate for Saturdays and Sundays will be the rate issued on the immediately preceding Fridays. During holidays, the rate applicable is the immediate preceding day rate.
The order said CSD is responsible for advising all port management offices of the effective rate of exchange. The advisory will be sent via email or the free instant messaging application Viber, or uploaded to the PPA website.
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