Screenshot from Anti-Red Tape Authority's presentation
MANILA – The logistics industry is expected to save some PHP1.92 billion with the streamlining of applications and fees for truckers.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) launched on Wednesday the Unified Logistics Pass (ULP), a single-window application and payment for trucking companies for all pass-through fees of ports, local government units (LGUs), and economic zones.
Citing the study of the World Bank, ARTA Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez said the current system costs the industry PHP2.23 billion for registering with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and getting pass-through stickers from different LGUs and ecozones where truckers ply.
But with the streamlining of all applications and fees, the cost for the logistics industry will be at around PHP378.8 million.
Perez said that through the ULP, the number of steps for processing the pass-through passes will be reduced by 73 percent and time of processing by 87 percent.
Under the ULP, truckers will be given a QR (quick response) code which can be easily scanned by port authorities, ecozones, and LGUs.
In this way, varying and separate ecozone stickers and LGU passes among others will be eliminated.
“This unified and streamlined process will be highly beneficial to the private stakeholders and to concerned government authorities alike as it is poised to streamline requirements for a unified QR code which shall facilitate easier movement and ease port-entry restrictions,” Perez said.
He added trucking companies will get the unified QR code once they apply for a certificate of public convenience from the LTFRB.
The Department of Transportation and the LTFRB will be the key implementing agencies of the ULP, with support and coordination from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Philippine Ports Authority, Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
ARTA’s development partners for the ULP are the Department of Science and Technology, USAID Grantee Regulatory Reform Support Program for National Development, World Bank, and DevCon.
Its cooperating partners are the Asian Terminals Inc., Manila Harbor Center, International Container Terminal Services Inc., and Manila North Harbor Port Inc. (PNA)
