Rules and Regulations to Implement the Provisions of Republic Act No. 9515 ( IRR of RA 9515 )

October 17, 2011

MARITIME INDUSTRY AUTHORITY

RULES AND REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9515, "AN ACT DEFINING THE LIABILITY OF SHIP AGENTS, IN THE TRAMP SERVICE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"

Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9515 entitled "An Act Defining the Liability of Ship Agents in the Tramp Service and for Other Purposes", paragraph 2, Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 474 and Section (i) of Executive Order No. 125, as amended, the following rules and regulations to implement said Republic Act are hereby promulgated:

SECTION 1. Objectives. — To provide administrative sanctions against ship agents in the tramp service for its failure or inability to perform their duty under Section 2 of Republic Act No. 9515.

SECTION 2. Coverage. — These rules and regulations shall apply to all ship agents in the tramp service who offer services required for the facilitation of the ship's entry, stay and departure in the port.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in Republic Act No. 9515 and these rules and regulations, below are the definition of terms:

a. MARINA refers to the Maritime Industry Authority, an attached agency of the Department of Transportation and Communications.

b. PSB refers to the Philippine Shippers Bureau under the Department of Trade and Industry.

c. Ship Agent shall mean the person entrusted with the provisioning or representing the vessel in the port in which it may be found.

d. General Agent shall mean a ship agent appointed by the ship owner or carrier in the liner service for all voyages and covered by a General Agency Agreement whereby the agent assumes the role and responsibility of its principal within the Philippine territory including, but not limited to, solicitation of cargo and freight, payment of discharging of loading expenses, collection of shipping charges and issuing/releasing bills of lading and cargo manifest.

e. Tramp Agent shall mean a ship agent appointed by the ship owner, charterer or carrier in the tramp service for one particular voyage whose authority is limited to the customary and usual procedures and formalities required for the facilitation of the ship's entry, stay and departure in the port and does not include the assumption of the ship owner's, charterer's or carrier's obligations with the shipper or receiver for the goods carried by the ship. cADTSH

f. Tramp Service shall mean the operation of contract carrier which has no regular and fixed routes and schedules but accepts cargo wherever and whenever the shipper desires, is hired on a contractual basis, or chartered by any one or few shippers under mutually agreed terms and usually carries bulk or break bulk cargoes.

g. Liner Service shall mean the operation of a common carrier which publicly offers its services without discrimination to any user, has regular ports of call/destination, fixed sailing schedules and frequencies and published freight rates and attendant charges and usually carries multiple consignments.

SECTION 4. Liability of the Ship Agent, General Agent and Tramp Agent. — The responsibility or liability, if any, of the ship agent, general agent and tramp agent shall continue to be governed by the pertinent provisions of the Code of Commerce. Provided, that in case of the tramp agent, his liability shall not extend to the obligations assumed by the ship owner, charterer or carrier with the shipper or receiver of the goods carried by the ship: Provided, further, that it is the duty of the tramp agent, however, to assist the shipper or receiver in making cargo liability claims against the ship owner, charterer or carrier.

SECTION 5. Complaints and Procedure. — The shipper or receiver in making cargo liability claims against the ship owner, charterer or carrier can file their written complaints with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), following Part II of MARINA Memorandum Circular No. 74-A, as amended.

SECTION 6. Imposition of Sanctions. — After due notice and hearing, the following applicable administrative sanctions shall be imposed to agents:

	Violation		Sanction/Penalty
		Violation		Category
			Single	Partnership/
			Proprietorship	Corporation
1.	Complaint for non-	First	P10,000.00 +	P15,000.00 +
	assistance in making the	violation	warning	warning
	shipper or receiver in
	making cargo liability claims
	against the ship owner,
	charterer or carrier
		Second	P15,000.00 +	P20,000.00 +
		violation	suspension of	suspension of
			the Certificate of	the Certificate of
			Registration for 30 days	Registration for 30
			or until such time	days or until such
			that penalty has been	time that penalty has
			settled	been settled
		Third	P20,000.00 +	P25,000.00 +
		violation	suspension of	suspension of
			the Certificate	the Certificate of
			of Accreditation	Accreditation for
			for 60 days or	60 days or until
			until such time	such time that
			that the penalty	the penalty has
			has been settled	been settled

SECTION 7. Repealing Clause. — All rules and regulations inconsistent with this IRR are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 8. Effectivity. — These Rules and Regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication once in a newspaper of general circulation.

October 17, 2011 at Manila, Philippines.

(SGD.) EMERSON M. LORENZO, CESO VAdministrator

(SGD.)ATTY. PEDRO VICENTE C. MENDOZADirector

SECRETARY'S CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the foregoing Rules and Regulations to Implement the Provisions of Republic Act No. 9515, "An Act Defining the Liability of Ship Agents, in the Tramp Service and for Other Purposes" has been approved by the MARINA Board during its 215th Regular Meeting on October 17, 2011. SHAcID

(SGD.) ATTY. VIRGILLO B. CALAGActing Corporate Board Secretary

Published in The Manila Times on May 31, 2012.