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Monday, February 06, 2006
PPA revokes order classifying cargoes as dangerous
THE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) has admitted it may have gone overboard when it classified as dangerous all export goods that are shipped in fumigated wooden crates.
The administrative order issued by the PPA last December has been withdrawn after top ports officials met in a dialog with their counterparts from the quarantine arm of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
The PPA had required the exporters to put the crates on aeration soon after fumigation to free the crates of toxins. It also urged the Export Development Council (EDC) to tell the exporters to follow the right aeration procedure.
The EDC, presided by Philippine Exporters Confederation president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., and PPA have met to discuss the order.
Protest
Exporters in Metro Manila and nearby provinces protested last December when the policy was announced by the PPA.
In accordance to the PPA order, the authority put stickers saying “dangerous cargo” on crates of fumigated cargoes including shipment of fresh fruits. The PPA held shipment classified as dangerous in a designated area at the Manila port for appropriate aeration prior to loading.
The new scheme was criticized by exporters who believed that the “mislabeling” of Philippine goods caused shipment delays and additional costs.
The policy is one of the government’s efforts to comply with international standards of health and safety.
The BPI was tasked to subject all wooden crates used in packaging export goods to fumigation or other internationally accepted mode of treatment to rid them of pests.
According to BPI’s Larry Lacson, the labeling, withholding and aeration at the port can be avoided if the cargo is fumigated and aerated within the exporters’ premises.
But the PPA, deciding that after fumigation the wooden crates became toxic, classified those cargoes as dangerous and held them in sections of the pier with other shipment that had similar classifications. (Philexport News and Features)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 6, 2006 issue)
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