GRTU, MMA war of words over port tariffs

The Malta Maritime Authority and the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprise (GRTU) are locked in controversy over the port tariffs announced by the MMA on Friday.

While the GRTU is saying that figures issued by the Malta Maritime Authority on Friday do not correspond to what importers and exporters are actually paying, the MMA is insisting that statements and figures published by the GRTU are clearly incorrect and misleading.

They only served to confuse the port industry at a time when the co-operation of all those stakeholders with genuine intentions of reducing port costs is needed, the MMA said.

The MMA on Friday published a schedule of the tariffs, which the Authority said indicated a reduction on the import and export of 20- and 40-foot containers by between Lm1 and Lm23. The new tariffs are to come into effect on Tuesday.

In a subsequent statement yesterday, the GRTU said that charges that traders are paying are very different from those published by the Malta Maritime Authority. The variances from the charges paid up to June 30 all show an increase and not a decrease.

The GRTU added that all charges actually paid by importers and exporters have increased and not decreased as claimed by the MMA.

For this saga to end, the GRTU said, the minister responsible for the ports must do the obvious: "get all parties involved round one table and make sure that they all sing from the same hymn book and they all sing the same song".

The GRTU also issued a table showing the tariffs as charged to businessmen, which it said, are all backed by receipts of payment up to July 28.

But in a counter-statement the MMA noted with disappointment that the costs and statements issued by the GRTU are erroneous for four fundamental reasons.

The GRTU made no distinction in the port charges as at June 30 between the Port of Valletta and the Malta Freeport. The industry is well aware that the port charges in both ports were indeed different for the several categories of cargo handled.

The port charges quoted by the GRTU as at June 30 are under-estimated. The port charges as at June 30 varied depending on the port where the cargo was handled and also since the previous FIOS charge of the ship agents was also different for both ports.

The charges as at June 30 quoted by the Malta Maritime Authority on Friday represent the average costs incurred by the importer/exporter. These average costs have been verified both with the industry and the ship agents. The cost reductions, which will become effective on Tuesday, are a consequence of discussions held this month between the MMA, the terminal operators and the Association of Ship Agents.

Therefore, the costs referred to as "today" by the GRTU do not represent the actual reduced costs that will apply as on the August 1.

The costs referred to in the GRTU press release as the new tariffs announced by the MMA on Friday are the previous costs that applied as at June 30 and do not reflect the cost reductions that will apply from next week, the MMA said.

The MMA also advised all constituted bodies to exercise due caution and prudence before rushing to make incorrect statements when any clarifications may be easily obtained from the authority.

The MMA said it however fully agreed with the GRTU that it is time that all port stakeholders should sing from the same hymn book and that they all sing the same song for the benefit of the industry, the workers and the consumer.