MANILA — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday denied reports of congestion at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
In a press conference, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said the yard utilization rate of all ports in the country is high.
“When I inspected our ports, the report of the port operators was that while the yard utilization is high at 94 percent, they said that there was still free movement in the port. When I checked, the container vans could still move,” Lapeña said.
The BOC, however, said they are addressing the concerns of port truckers on thousands of empty container vans or “empties” at the MICP container yards.
Lapeña said their measures include accrediting more container yards where shipping lines can store their empties.
The Pacific Roadlink Logisitics in Angat, Bulacan and the Laguna Gateway Inland Container Depot located in Calamba, Laguna have been approved as depots for unoccupied container vans.
The bureau is also crafting a customs memorandum order (CMO) that would limit the parking of the empties from 120 days to 90 days.
Lapena noted that failure to comply with the CMO, the parked empties will be treated just like a loaded container vans and companies will be charged with duties and taxes. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
