Unfair business practices denounced!

I read with interest the story written by Ehda Dagooc in The Freeman Business section last Wednesday wherein the Cebu Furniture Industry Foundation (CFIF) virtually blamed the government for their steady and decline of 5% per annum. I have always believed in the dictum that government should help business and industry rather than regulate it to death. I picked up this story in the hope that for the year 2006 we can count on the Arroyo government to help support our furniture makers; after all, everyone is optimistic that next year will be a better year for the Philippines.

It is high time that the members of the CFIF sit down with no less than Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and the members of her cabinet to thresh out the irritants like the log ban at the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that help bring down our furniture industry. The Arroyo Cabinet should be reminded that Cebu is not alone in this business. It is a highly competitive industry involving our neighbors. The biggest competitor of them all, China! Maybe that meeting should be initiated by our political leaders and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) before it is too late and this industry would disappear.

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While the CFIF blames mostly the government for its woes, there are other problems that they are facing. Last week, my good friend, Mr. Victor Yuvallos complained to me about a nagging problem plaguing his company, which is also happening to many exporters. Since it's shipping, I referred this to our Shipping Editor Ms. Ruth Mercado who wrote about this case last Dec.14, 2005. But apparently, the problem has remained so Mr. Yuvallos emailed me about this problem. Here's his letter in full.

Dear Bobit, this is regards The Freeman Transport/Shipping section issue on Dec. 14, 2005. Maersk Sealand Corporate Affairs Manager Ms. Letty B. Franco, on her letter to us said that "It is not mandatory on the shipping line to notify clients of arrivals - it is part of our value-added tool afforded to clients." She is correct and we don't argue with that because our company has an Import/Export department with well-qualified staff whose duties and functions include monitoring incoming containers.

If we have survived in the last 20 years in business, it is because we have somebody in our organization monitoring the timely arrival of raw materials needed in our day-to-day production, which we don't entrust to the shipping lines. Our suppliers abroad also send notices of shipments and other relevant documents needed to release the cargo upon arrival.

In this case, our principal/supplier already sent the documents ahead of time for us to monitor and follow up the cargo. Our Import/Export department has also been calling Maersk-Sealand's office about the time the cargo should have arrived. Ms. Athena Ybanez from Maersk-Sealand informed us that our cargo has not yet arrived despite repeated follow-ups. I don't know what "value-added service" they are talking about because finally they sent us an arrival notice of our shipment a month after the container arrived in Cebu!

Another arrival notice was sent by Maersk-Sealand 19 days after the container arrived and a third container 20 days after it arrived. Because of this "value-added service" from Maersk-Sealand, our company incurred demurrage and penalties amounting to about P180,000. Why then did we incur such penalties and charges?

First of all you have pay the shipping lines destination charges before you can start the process of clearing the containers from Customs and these charges are reflected in the Arrival Notice sent by the Shipping line to the consignee. Without paying these charges, the shipping line will not release your cargo. You can never get your cargo even if you know that your cargo is already in port when the shipping line says it has not arrived.

With all the trouble we had gone through, not a single soul from Maersk-Sealand even bothered to look at the problem and give us a call. You cannot imagine such a huge conglomerate as Maersk-Sealand, reputed to be the largest shipping line in the world with a vision of ensuring reliable and comprehensive logistics coverage could turn a blind eye on our case. We can only hope and pray that through your mighty column, we can somehow open their eyes and that they may look at their customers at a different perspective.

Victor Yuvallos TEC Industries, Inc."

This is a very simple case of gross inefficiency by Maersk-Sealand and being fair to their clients. All they needed to do was tell their clients that their shipment was already in the Port of Cebu for a whole month! So, is it fair to let TEC Industries pay for someone's inefficiency? Now what is the Department of Trade and Industry doing about unfair practices like this?

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