Trade
Undersecretary Mary Jean T. Pacheco said that the proposed law, when passed,
would help remove unnecessary charges
being imposed by international shipping lines.
The
committee handling the bill has already convened a technical working group, Ms.
Pacheco told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a budget
hearing last week. Asked for an estimate on how much costs should fall, she
said: “There are various charges, but if
those are going to be removed, that would decrease logistics costs by so much.”
“If the logistics cost comes down, whether import or export, it will
definitely (lower prices)… every reduction in the cost will, at the end of the
day, lower the prices of goods,” she added.
Under the proposed law, the Maritime
Industry Authority will be given the authority to regulate charges imposed by
international shipping lines.
“These
charges (collected by shipping firms) are what the exporters and importers are
saying are highly irregular and excessive. So you could just imagine what will
happen if these charges are gone,” she added.
The
measure was named a priority by business groups like the American Chamber of
Commerce of the Philippines.
“This is
one of the most important policy requests by the industries, and we are really
hoping that this will be pursued because the President already signed the
executive order that removed pass-through fees. Now we also need to address the
high international shipping charges,” Ms. Pacheco said.
She said
several bills could be consolidated into the final form of the International
Maritime Trade Competitiveness Act, including House Bill 10507 filed by Rep. Rufus
B. Rodriguez on June 6.