Stakeholders and government agencies approve of the passage of a bill allowing foreign shipping lines to call at multiple Philippine ports, as long as the cargoes they carry are for foreign trade and have been cleared by the Bureau of Customs.
Senate Bill No. 2364 or “An Act Exempting the Carriage of Container Vans from the Provisions of Section 1009 or Presidential Decree No. 1464, Otherwise Known as the Tariff and Customs Code of 1978, and for Other Purposes,”, filed by Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, drew positive reaction from groups attending a Senate hearing held on Sept. 17.
SB No. 2364 allows a foreign shipping line arriving from a foreign port to bring its foreign cargo to the domestic port of final destination after the shipment has been cleared by the BOC at the port of entry.
Aquino said the bill “would allow importers and exporters to co-load on foreign ships going in or out of the Philippine jurisdiction.”
It also allows foreign cargo aboard a foreign vessel coming from a foreign port to be carried by another foreign ship calling at the same port of entry for transportation to the domestic port of final destination.
Cargo intended for export by a foreign vessel is also allowed to be carried “from its domestic port of origin through another Philippine port to its foreign port of final destination.”
Source: Philexport News and Features
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