|
TWO
industry associations are all set to fight the P0.10
levy to form part of an oil-spill fund when they meet
government officials next month.
Officials of the Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport
Association (Philpesta) and the Association of Tanker
Operators of the Philippines (Atophil) said they will
present their respective stand during a government
workshop on April 10 and 11.
The
officials of the two industry groups, who asked not to
be named, said they expect the workshop to take up the
implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9483,
or the Oil Pollution Management Act.
Last
week, the Department of Justice cleared the way for the
implementation of the law when it issued an opinion that
this will not overlap with existing international
regulations, such as the Civil Liability Convention of
1992 and the International Oil Pollution Convention.
Like the
two conventions, which hopes to fund the cleanup and
rescue activities in the event of oil spills involving
member-companies, the local law also has the same
initiatives only that the money will be sourced from the
tankers.
“We will
have to make better implementing guidelines [of the law]
first. I want all possible conflict areas cleared first
before fully enforcing the law,” Transportation
Undersecretary Maria Elena H. Bautista said.
Bautista, however, said the levy that the government
will impose on the tankers will have to stay as provided
for in the law.
RA 9483
seeks to implement a P0.10-centavo levy from the freight
rates to form part of the oil-pollution fund for every
liter for every movement of oil. It, likewise, requires
oil firms to contribute to the fund once 150,000 tons of
oil is delivered to them.
Both
tanker groups and oil companies have joined forces in
opposing the levy imposition, which they said will
either kill the businesses of the tanker operators or
unnecessarily
jack up the prices of oil. |
