Cargo customers warned of fly-by-night forwarders

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine International  Sea-freight Forwarders Association (PISFA-Cebu) has warned the cargo customers, specifically the Overseas Filipinos Workers (OFWs), to be careful in sending their boxes or packages, as number of fly-by-night cargo forwarders has increased in numbers.

This is one of the thrusts that will be addressed by the newly-revived PISFA-Cebu while the legitimate players in the forwarding services have already been affected by the existence of the illegal forwarding businesses that "victimize" mostly Filipinos who are sending “balikbayan” boxes to their families in the Philippines.

PISFA-Cebu vice president Carmel de Pio-Salvador said that OFWs should be careful in choosing their forwarders in sending packages going to the Philippines as reports of lost boxes have been raised in the recent months.

According to Salvador, there are a lot of forwarding companies having active marketers in other countries, particularly in the areas where there are a lot of Filipinos working and residing, like the Middle East, which do not have legal license or their businesses in the Philippines.

“There are those forwarders who only operate at home and only uses individual partners abroad. Most of these packages are not received by the families here. Although some packages arrived intact,  large number of boxes are lost due to bogus operations,” said Salvador.

Salvador, who owns one of Cebu’s largest forwarding companies, the Global Carrier Phils., Inc., said that senders abroad  or the receivers here should first see the legality of the forwarding companies they are dealing with and always ask for the contact number of their “destination agent” in the Philippines and their business licenses.

“It is important, that before they send something to the Philippines, they have to know the legality of destination partner of their forwarding they are sending the boxes with. There are a growing number of unlicensed forwarding businesses that only operate at home,” she said.

“Lets not be fooled only because they are offering cheaper rates, always check the legality of the forwarding business,” warned Salvador.

  Aside from asking the legality of the business and their destination agent in the Philippines, Salvador said Filipino “balikbayan boxes” senders should also check if the company is a member of the Department of Trade and Industry-Philippines Shippers Bureau.

“We are cautioning the public of the existence of the fly-by-night cargo forwarders  before sending something. They must check the legality of the company with the Department of Trade and Industry,  and other important licenses and legalities,” added Salvador.

Besides, she said legitimate cargo forwarding business also offer different incentives by the Philippine government, such as the importation of second-hand cars owned by returning residents to the Philippines.

Legally, she said importation of second cars is not allowed, but this incentive is given to “balikbayans.”

Late last year, the PSB has released list of identified blacklisted cargo forwarders operating in different countries, such as the US, Europe, Middle East, and United Arab Emirates.- /JMD (FREEMAN)