Philippine government authorities are working on allowing imports of companies registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to be released directly to their respective economic zones to speed up cargo release and help ease air cargo congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the country’s premier international gateway, amid a shortage of cargo warehousing capacity.
Ferdinand “Perry” Ferrer, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said PEZA and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) are exploring the adoption of this system to help ease air cargo congestion.
Ferrer said the industry, particularly electronics and semiconductor companies, is working with the BOC, PEZA, brokerage firms, and other investment promotion agencies to ensure that air cargo is released in less than a day after arrival.
“Customs clearance is easy,” he said, but there is a lack of warehouse facility. Thus, the congestion of air cargo at the NAIA.
Ferrer said the situation is particularly worrisome because semiconductor imports require a turnaround time of only five days, meaning imported materials must be processed and re-exported within that period.
He noted that PEZA locators have no record of smuggling. In addition, PEZA ecozones have Customs clearance facilities within their zones, making them well-equipped to handle the direct delivery of cargo.
So far, interim measures, such as the use of additional warehousing space at the Duty Free Shopping Center along Sucat, have helped ease congestion.
According to Ferrer, the air cargo backlog of 3.2 million kilograms recorded between May and June has been reduced significantly to about 1 million kilograms.
However, cargo volume is expected to increase during the second half of the year, when shipments typically peak.
The congestion at PAIRCARGO resulted from the closure of Philippine Skylanders International’s (PSI) facility after New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), the airport’s private operator, reclaimed the premises for redevelopment in 2024.
Miascor also ceased operations at NAIA in 2018 after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) terminated and declined to renew its lease and concession agreement.
With the exit of PSI and Miascor, Customs-bonded warehousing capacity was left largely to PAIRCARGO and Cargohaus, a unit of AC Logistics. However, the two operators do not have sufficient capacity to handle the volume of cargo from the various airlines serving NAIA.
