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THIS
early, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seeks to crawl out of
the shadows of a controversial telecommunications deal
with the government of the People’s Republic of China,
citing the new project to check containers in ports is a
different story.
In a
paper sent by facsimile to BusinessMirror, the BOC’s
Enforcement and Security Services (ESS) office said the
‘nonintrusive’ container inspection system (NCIS) is not
the same as the national broadband deal that Philippine
and Chinese government executives inked this year.
“Definitely not,” the ESS document titled “FAQ on NCIS
Project” said.
To note,
the NCIS project requires exporters and importers to pay
$20 for scanning a standard 20-foot metal container and
$50 for a 40-foot box. The ESS said this payment system
would be handled by Chinese firm Tsinghua Tongfang
Nuctech Co. or Nuctech.
The ESS
said the BOC “deals directly with the Chinese
manufacturer [Nuctech].”
The
national broadband project, meanwhile, taps ZTE Corp.,
which some legislators said bagged the deal on
questionable circumstances.
The
P5.8-billion NCIS project involves buying 20 x-ray units
bought under a concessional loan through a
government-to-government Bilateral Framework on Economic
Cooperation between the Philippines and China.
The ESS
avers the NCIS project was given “the lowest interest
rate [2 percent] and no local borrower’s counterpart
funding requirement.”
Comparing it to the Philippine-China broadband project,
the ESS claims that ZTE “availed themselves of a
preferential buyer’s credit” and that “the contract
required a 10-percent upfront payment from the
Philippine government prior to local utilization.”
In the
NCIS project, local shippers are expected to shoulder
the cost of scanning goods in the Philippines’ main
ports.
The fee,
however, will only be levied until all scanning units
are installed in ports that include the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport, the Manila South Harbor, the
Manila International Container Port, and terminals in
Batangas, Cebu, San Fernando, Legaspi, Iloilo, Tacloban,
Surigao, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Subic Bay and
Clark Field.
Besides
complying with US security requirements, the project
aims to ensure that all shipments bound to the United
States are free from any radia- tion used for
manufacturing so-called “weapons of mass destruction.”
The
project, which involves the purchase, installation and
operation of another 20 mobile x-ray units in major
customs areas, would be funded from a loan from the
Chinese payable in 20 years, inclusive of a five-year
grace period.
The ESS
claims “[t]hese terms can not be matched by any
international lending agency…[w]hich shows the trust and
confidence china [sic] has in the Phil government fiscal
stability.” |
