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Temporary container yards and more frequent sweeper vessels are being eyed to ease port and container yard congestion
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Longer-term options include new legislation and new infrastructure to make goods flow less Manila-centric
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The measures are part of ongoing talks led by Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos
Short-term solutions such as temporary container yards and more frequent sweeper vessels, while long-term solutions such as legislation, are being looked at by the government to address issues on port and container yard congestion, according to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
BOC Office of the Commissioner deputy chief of staff Atty. Chris Noel Bendijo presented the options on November 6 at the bureau’s 7th Customs Industry Consultative and Advisory Council (CICAC) general assembly and 13th Central CICAC meeting. He said they are part of ongoing talks led by Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos. BOC has joined the meetings Abalos has called since October, where stakeholders raised congestion at Manila ports and the continued difficulty of returning empty containers.
What is already in place
- Longer inspection hours. On Oct. 30, BOC issued Office of the Commissioner (OCOM) Memo No. 118-2026. It extends hours at designated examination areas in Manila and other congested ports from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. to midnight, effective immediately, ahead of higher Christmas-season volumes.
- 24/7 quarantine stations. In response, the Bureau of Animal Industry ordered the veterinary quarantine stations at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and the Port of Manila to operate round the clock, in a Nov. 4 memo. Bendijo asked customs brokers to extend their own hours “to complement these extended work hours on the part of the government side.”
- Withdrawal of containers. BOC-Port of Manila and BOC-MICP called on owners to withdraw 3,598 containers as of Oct. 26. Of these, 1,683 had been released as of Nov. 4, and importers committed to clear the remaining 1,915 in a week or two.
- Container tracking. The service provider of BOC’s Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) System ordered 500 more electronic customs seals (ECS), to be deployed in the next few days. It also committed two more people to arm the seals during the extended hours. E-TRACC tracks the inland movement of containers in transit. Covered containers must carry an ECS, a GPS monitoring device, before leaving their starting point.
- June measures. A June BOC memo ordered the transfer of overstaying laden containers, faster assessment and processing, and deployment of sweeper vessels.
Short-term options under study
Ideas raised in the talks include strengthening inland terminals and lifting truck bans, the truck anti-overloading policy and pass-through fees that local government agencies impose on truckers.
“The purpose here is even if we expedite our processes inside the terminals, if the trucks are unable to move freely in the Metropolis or even outside, it will still create that congestion issue because the movement is regulated,” Bendijo said.
He said talks are looking at a “fixed duration within which we expedite the gating out of laden containers, allow our truckers free movement to their point of destination until they return, so that…the movement of goods can be faster.” This would create “wiggle room” in ports and yards.
BOC is also looking for properties to use as temporary yards. Bendijo said several private offers are still to be explored: a 100-hectare property in Bulacan, another in Cavite, and a third that would need extra clearing because of garbage issues.
Shipping lines have asked for the lifting of customs duties and taxes on overstaying containers. Bendijo said the lines have committed to send sweeper vessels, enter co-loading agreements and make domestic inter-island transfers if this is granted. “The intention here is for all of those overstaying containers to be re-exported so that our container yards can have a low utilization,” he said.
Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL) president Patrick Ronas said, in a Viber message to PortCalls, that the group has sought a moratorium or waiver since early this year. Since June, he said, shipping lines have sent 12 sweeper vessels, each able to carry 1,500 to 2,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.
“If we get the moratorium, this will open up for shipping lines to send sweepers and share space on the ship. Depending on the line and on the size of the vessels, they can come weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly. This of course does not take into consideration the usual vessel calls of lines that come to Manila regularly. They also have the capacity to load empties. As far as we are concerned, we want to match the number of loading based on what we discharge,” Ronas said.
He added that overstaying laden containers, especially those aged six to 30 days, occupy more than 40% of terminal space. If terminals, with the help of BOC, remove them, “we should be able to move the empties that are in the off dock depots to the ports to load on regular vessels and sweepers.”
Long-term solutions
- New infrastructure outside Manila. Bendijo cited the new airport in Bulacan and International Container Terminal Services, Inc.’s new South Luzon Container Terminal in Bauan, Batangas. “Obviously, the idea is to create more activity outside Metro Manila to reduce the utilization, to reduce traffic, and perhaps in that instance, the possibility of expanding our infrastructure, our road networks, etc.,” he said.
- A joint administrative order. BOC led the drafting of a JAO with guidelines on port and container management and on transparency and regulation of shipping and logistics charges. The Finance secretary has signed it, but other signatories have yet to approve. Bendijo said the aim is that, whatever happens with administrations, there will be “institutional powers” to deal with the issues.
- Legislation. Legislation “would be needed really to institutionalize” such solutions, Bendijo said. Several bills filed in earlier Congresses sought stronger government oversight of shipping charges, but only one passed third reading in the House. Bills in the current Congress are still at the committee level.
Industry wish lists
Bendijo also collated requests made by logistics service providers in the meetings with Abalos.
- Operations: longer hours for cargo inspection and release; streamlined accreditation; extending trucks-for-hire provisional authority from six months to one year; alternative return depots; a digital pre-advise portal; shorter intervals between sweeper vessel collections of empties
- Infrastructure: temporary centralized container yards; fixing vertical clearance on roads; regional port use and better links to inland terminals
- Policy and governance: harmonizing the 24/7 truck ban or lifting it for a limited time; a moratorium on checkpoints; rationalizing restrictive local ordinances; reviewing anti-overloading rules; clearer guidelines on truck impoundment and minor accidents, including confiscation of drivers’ licenses
Shipping lines, meanwhile, also asked for unrestricted terminal movements aside from the temporary lifting of customs duties and taxes on overstaying containers.
