There was an identified need to integrate and coordinate port planning, development, operations and regulation at the national level. Around this time, the Bureau of Customs had proposed to the Reorganization Committee and to Congress the creation of a separate government agency to integrate the functions of port operations, cargo handling and port development and maintenance to enable the Bureau to concentrate on tax and customs duties collection. Moreover, the World Bank, as a condition for the grant of a port development loan in 1973, stipulated the creation of a port authority to oversee the implementation of projects under that loan.