Level of container handling charges remains unclear

Any increase in the tariffs charged for containers going through the Freeport can only be attributed to higher charges by the shipping agents or the stevedores, the chairman of the Malta Maritime Authority, Marc Bonello, and the Federation of Industry's director general, Wilfred Kenely, said yesterday.

However, the director general of the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, Vince Farrugia, denied that stevedores have upped tariffs, claiming the charges had not been increased for the past 20 to 25 years. The charges vary from Lm26 to Lm50, depending on the type and size of the container.

While Dr Bonello and the Freeport's director of operations and IT, Alex Montebello, say the tariffs charged by the Freeport since July 1 have gone down by five per cent, Mr Farrugia is claiming that these have actually gone up since the beginning of the month.

Dr Bonello said total import charges for 20-foot containers going through the Freeport should have gone down to Lm129.86 from Lm137.13 while those for 40-foot containers were supposed to go down to Lm216.21 from Lm217.22. On the other hand, costs for 20-foot containers for export should have gone down to Lm80.67 from Lm83.85 while the export charges for 40-foot containers went down to Lm124.41 from Lm136.85.

"I have been inundated with accusations that we increased port charges, but in fact we have not, and I am prepared to face anyone about it," Dr Bonello said.

He explained, however, that the total charge could only have gone down if shipping agents and stevedores kept to the same charges they had in place before July 1.

Still, Mr Farrugia argued that charges had not gone down. For 20-foot containers they had increased by 3.3 per cent while in the case of 40-foot containers the increase stood at 6.6 per cent.

More serious, in his opinion, are the increases in export rates - a 28 per cent increase for 20-foot containers and a 13 per cent increase for 40-foot containers, something which was a big blow to local businesses. He expressed the hope that the Freeport charges - which, he said, were still under being negotiated - would go down.

Dr Bonello explained that while the fees charged by the Freeport were regulated - a point backed by Mr Montebello - both shipping agents and stevedores worked in a liberalised market, and they could, therefore, raise their charges.

The FOI is collecting invoices from its members, examining each one and sending them to the MMA, in an attempt to determine where the increase in cost is coming from, Mr Kenely said.

Dr Bonello said that over the past weeks the authority had held discussions with the shipping agents' association to establish guidelines on the rates for different types of containers. He added that some importers were claiming that the agents were abusing of the current chaos and increased their charges by as much as 80 per cent.

It would be extremely serious, he said, if all shipping agents increased their rates. This would be almost tantamount to a cartel, and the government would have to step in. He was prepared to publish the agreement reached with the association if he concludes that it had no control over its members.

Meanwhile, following a meeting with stevedores yesterday evening, Mr Farrugia said these were giving the government until Friday to open the cash and clearance office at Customs, in Valletta or else launch a wave of actions as from Monday. The GRTU is in favour of the cash office being transferred to Valletta to create a kind of one-stop shop for hauliers. Mr Farrugia said discussions with the Freeport were in deadlock.

Attempts to contact the president of the Association of Shipping Agents, Ernest Sullivan, yesterday were unsuccessful.