Philippine retailers frustrated as customs backups delay imports

Waits for products stuck in ports can last upward of a year

20240306N Manila port

Not being able to receive merchandise even though it has arrived at port is a common problem faced by retailers in the Philippines. (Photo by Hirofumi Yamamoto)

YUICHI SHIGA, Nikkei staff writer

MANILA -- Philippine customs snarls causing import delays that can last a year are giving retailers headaches, even as the government hopes to attract more foreign companies by amending laws protecting domestic industries.

A retail industry executive used a smartphone app to display on a map the berthing status of a number of ships waiting around Manila Bay recently.

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