THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has blacklisted 32 local cargo forwarders and their 28 foreign counterparts following rising complaints of undelivered balikbayan boxes.

The DTI on Oct. 16 identified the following local freight forwarders as having no accreditation with the department’s Philippine Shippers Bureau, and as having been the subject of complaints on undelivered packages:

-         2GO Express Inc.;

-         Aerosend

-         Alas Cargo Phil

-         Associated Consolidation Express

-         Dausan International Forwarder

-         FACF Parcel Delivery

-         FRS Philippine Freight Services Inc

-         International Cargo Forwarder

-         J.J. Transglobal Brokerage

-         JAR Cargo Forwarders

-         Mail Plus Cargo Carriers

-         Manila Broker

-         Maru Cargo Logistics Phil

-         R&M Cargo Services

-         Rodah Cargo Manila

-         South Atlantic Cargo Inc

-         Trico International Forwarding (Phils) Inc

-         VCG Customs Brokerage

The following companies, while accredited, have been blacklisted and subject to DTI show cause orders because of complaints on undelivered balikbayan boxes:

-         D’ Winner Logistics Phil. Inc

-         LCSN Express Movers Inc

-         MC Plus Inc

-         Transtech Global Phil Inc

-         Wide wide World Express Corp

On Oct. 31 the DTI blacklisted eight more Philippine firms:

-         ABS-CBN Global Cargo Corp

-         Gen Ex Cargo

-         Jonar Cargo

-         Joseph Glenn L. Galo

-         Pacific Logistics International Cargo

-         Pentfast

-         RDN Marketing & Cargo Forwarder

-         REN International Services

Accredited cargo forwarder RRG Freight Services, meanwhile, is now one of two companies that have been issued show cause orders by DTI-PSB due to complaints regarding balikbayan boxes.

The PSB also advised OFWs to stop doing business with the following foreign principal/cargo consolidators for reports of undelivered balikbayan boxes and other violations.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

-         Al Rodah Marine Cargo

-         Cityline Cargo

-         Dagupan Cargo Packaging Services

-         Express Link Cargo Services

-         Smooth Express

United States of America (USA)

-         AAA Cargo Express Inc.

-         ABS-CBN Star Kargo

-         Aerosend

-         Alas Cargo

-         Associated Consolidations Express (ACE Cargo)

-         FRS Philippine Freight Services, Inc.

-         Shipping Express

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

-         Cargo Net Worldwide Services formerly FAL-World Express Cargo

-         Fil Asia Cargo Forwarders Philippines

-         Global Cargo

-         RJM Freight Cargo Forwarders

-         WRJ Freight Forwarders (A Division of Al-Zagel Cargo)

Singapore:

-         Hagibis Express Pte. Ltd.

-         Maru Cargo Logistics (s) LLP

Ireland:

-         Maharlika Enterprise Cargo Services

-         SCRL Cargo

Other countries:

-         Bayanihan Express in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

-         Dausan International Forwarder in Australia

-         Ford Cargo Internationaal (FCI) in Hong Kong

On Oct. 31 the DTI added six more foreign principals/consolidators to the blacklist:

-         Jasim Yaseen Al-Delam Air Cargo Services (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

-         Pacific Logistics International Cargo (Kuwait)

-         Philand Ynterlink Ltd (United Kingdom)

-         Pentagon Cargo Inc (United States of America)

-         REN International (United States of America)

-         Star Xpress Forwarders (United States of America)

“Overseas Filipino workers who will send their balikbayan boxes and their consignees in the Philippines should book their packages only with reliable and PSB-accredited freight forwarders and Philippine agents to ensure that their packages will reach their destinations,” said Victorio Mario Dimagiba, DTI-PSB director-in-charge, in a statement.

“Senders may verify the company name of the Philippine sea freight forwarder counterpart at www.dti.gov.ph, or they may visit our Philippine Consulate offices abroad,” he said.

Dimagiba said foreign principals and cargo consolidators overseas must have local counterparts that are accredited by the DTI-PSB if it is a sea cargo forwarder and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines if an air cargo forwarder.

He also warned cargo senders from abroad against very low door-to-door rates that some foreign principals offer. “With low rates, they [foreign principals] do not have enough funds to bear the cost of transporting cargoes, and they fail to remit delivery funds to their Philippine freight forwarders, causing the shipments to be abandoned at the ports and not being delivered to consignees,” the DTI official said.

“For consignees in the Philippines who have not received their packages from freight forwarders, they may contact DTI (02-751-3330) or go to PSB office to file an immediate claim or complaint,” he added.