So, they were just lying around?
“The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized over 160 empty containers at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) as part of measures to decongest the country’s major ports,” reports Edu Punay in The Philippine Star.
The report further explained: “The BOC’s MICP district collector, Elmir dela Cruz, cited Customs Administration Order 2-97, in relation to Section 2630 (f) of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, which allows the confiscation of shipping containers from abroad that have not been claimed after 150 days.”
Dela Cruz was quoted as saying, “These overstaying empty containers shall not be accepted or loaded in any Customs ports without a lawful permission from our office.”
The report said that “the BOC has also instructed all shipping lines, freight forwarders, private arrastre service providers to report or disallow the processing of the overstaying empty containers as these are subject to seizure proceedings.”
