China sets sights on Cavite A truck carrying a China Cosco Holdings Co. container exits a container port in Shanghai, China in this recent photo. China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., China’s biggest shipping company, plans to invest $3 billion to develop a shipping complex at Sangley Point in Cavite, the Philippine government said. The investment, if realized, would bolster the Southeast Asian government’s efforts to lure overseas investments in a bid to spur economic growth and create employment. --Bloomberg

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) said that it will soon give accreditation to any of the four third-party entities applying to assist the agency in processing import and export documentation, among others.

Customs deputy commissioner Alexander M. Arevalo, the chairman of the accreditation committee, wrote the four aspiring service providers last Monday to clarify reports that the agency had already finished its accreditation process.

The four aspiring service providers are Cargo Data Exchange Center Inc. (CDEC), Crimson Logic Philippines, e-Konek Pilipinas, and InterCommerce Network Services (INS).

“Although there is one among the four prequalified value-added service providers that appears to be ahead in the stages of accreditation, the BOC accrediting body…has yet to receive the technical report on the results of the live test run and then deliberate on the findings for possible recommendation to the Commissioner and for implementation thereafter,” Arevalo said in a letter.

The same document said CDEC and CrimsonLogic are still undergoing systems testing, the first of the series of tests that they need to pass, by the BOC’s system integration contractor, Unisys Philippines.

On the other hand, E-Konek, a company led by two former heads of the government’s tax agency—Alberto Lina and Guillermo Parayno—revised its system. 

Meanwhile, INS has completed most tests including the volumetrics testing which qualified the firm to conduct the three-day live testing from June 15, 18 and 19. The results will determine BOC’s endorsement for the firm’s provisional accreditation.

The accreditation committee will meet Tuesday BusinessMirror reported last week, citing industry sources that BOC is set to accredit INS this month and later on CrimsonLogic.

INS said in a statement to shippers that the company is “confident that InterCommerce would soon be given its probationary accreditation as the first VASP,” citing its live test run conducted last week and processed transactions of 80 customs brokers and 600 importers.

On the other hand, CrimsonLogic, a subsidiary of a Singapore firm, has already been marketing its services to various shippers.

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) said that it will soon give accreditation to any of the four third-party entities applying to assist the agency in processing import and export documentation, among others.

TOKYO—Japan’s shipyards, the world’s third-biggest by tonnage for new contracts, received 46 percent fewer orders in the first five months of the year after a surge of business last year ahead of a regulatory change didn’t repeat.