The suspension of demurrage charges and adoption of the super green lane (SGL) process for Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza) shipments are two of the top recommendations from various port stakeholders to address logistics delays and higher transport costs stemming from the impact of the lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Marilyn Alberto,President of the Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association Inc. (PMTLAI), in an e-forum on April 15, called for the mandated suspension of demurrage charges for shipments stuck at the port, saying the charges are incurred due to slow department order issuances, bank processing and Customs clearance.

She also urged for the retroactive suspension of demurrage charges on all shipments affected as well as the extension of the free storage period from the current five days to 10 days. The Export Development Council, according to e-forum moderator Dr. Henry Basilio, has also sent a letter to the government similarly asking for a waiver of demurrage charges.

The suggestion was supported by Charlie Villasenor, chairman of the Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia, who said exporters and importers, rather than be penalized, “need to be incentivized” to remove their containers. Atty. Vincent Maronilla, spokesman of the Bureau of Customs, in the same dialogue responded that it is not the BOC but the Philippine Ports Authority which has exclusive purview over the terminal fees levied by port operators.

Nonetheless, he said, during their executive committee meeting on April 13, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero already instructed the agency’s representative to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to act on this request.