DTI: only deal with accredited freight forwarders to send cargoes/packages Wednesday, April 17, 2013 The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) enjoins the consumers, businesses and particularly the overseas Filipinos to transact only with freight forwarders accredited with the Philippine Shippers’ Bureau (PSB) to avoid troubles in transporting their cargoes/packages especially balikbayan boxes. “Accredited freight forwarders can be trusted because they follow government standards that guarantee their capability to provide reliable service to their clients,” DTI Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Group (CWBRG) Zenaida Cuison-Maglaya emphasized. “They also observe a code of ethics in doing business, and have an insurance coverage in case of accidents and non-delivery,” Undersecretary Maglaya adds. As of 31 March 2013, there are 632 PSB-accredited freight forwarding companies: 422 are Non-Vessel Common Carrier (NVOCC); 590 are International Freight Forwarder (IFF); and, 157 are Domestic Freight Forwarder (DFF). The DTI-PSB received 153 complaints on non-delivery of balikbayan boxes shipped from various origins worldwide for year 2012. Of these, 60 have either already been delivered or picked up by the consignees through the assistance of DTI-PSB. Meanwhile, eight (8) cases were withdrawn by the complainants, 41 were referred to regular courts, four (4) were elevated for arbitration and 41 still for DTI-PSB’s disposition because additional information from the complainants are needed. According to Atty. Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba, PSB Director-in-Charge, non-delivery of balikbayan boxes usually occurs when foreign consolidators/ principal sea freight forwarders do not remit a portion of their collected charges to their accredited Philippine agents/ local sea freight forwarders to prompt the release and delivery of balikbayan boxes. “When necessary funds are not remitted to accredited Philippine agent/ local freight forwarders, the shipment or the balikbayan boxes with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will not be released and will not be delivered to consignees/ recipients,” Atty. Dimagiba explains. DTI-PSB records show that most incidents of undelivered balikbayan boxes involved freight forwarding companies without PSB accreditation. “DTI-PSB, as mandated by law to promote and protect the interest of the shipping public, helps to professionalize the freight forwarding industry by granting accreditation based on certain criteria to weed out those companies that are not yet ready and qualified to engage in the business,” Dimagiba stressed. “Therefore, DTI-PSB does not grant accreditation to freight forwarders who have pending or unresolved complaints at the time of their application,” Dimagiba disclosed. Atty. Dimagiba urges the public to file a complaint on the non-delivery, loss or pilferage of balikbayan boxes to DTI-PSB through email address, [email protected] or through a call at DTI Direct (02) 751.3330. For more information on the lists of accredited freight forwarding companies and those companies with complaints against them, click here.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:47:11 +0000
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