Terminal fees increase by 3pc

By CLARISSA MOI
TERMINAL operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) South Pacific says it has refined the verified gross mass (VGM) process and tolerance level to three per cent.
Chief executive officer Robert Maxwell said this in response to concerns raised by the Farmers and Settlers Association in regards to ICTSI’s recent implementation of the VGM.
VGM is the shipping container’s total weight, including its contents – measured using the equipment that meets the applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the State.
Farmers and Settlers Association president Wilson Thompson said ICTSI had implemented extra charges at the wharf for export containers as safety fees.
He said the implementation of the new fees would make the country’s products more expensive and mean less money to the farmers and exporters.
The PNG Exporters Association also raised similar concerns that the charge from the terminal operator was not in line with worldwide industry standards also noting that:
lTHE worldwide acceptable VGM weight tolerance was up to five per cent and not one per cent as indicated in the new rates; and,
lBY implementing a one per cent tolerance, this clearly deters exporters from providing their own VGM or using third-party weighbridges as the K400 per container fee (if the weight is out by one per cent) was both punitive and acts as an incentive to only use the terminal service, which in itself, was monopolistic.
“Whilst we thank ICTSI for providing a weighbridge and VGM service on the wharf, we strongly disagree with the one per cent tolerance,” the exporters association said in a statement. And after speaking with other industry bodies, we have confirmed this is not industry or best practice standard.
“Further, we also note that no other ICTSI terminal around the world is imposing one per cent tolerances.”
Maxwell also told The National that yesterday marked one month of the VGM implementation.
“We have coincidentally refined the process and tolerance level to three per cent and advised customers accordingly,” he said.
“Note that VGM is a requirement introduced in 2014 by the International convention for the safety of life at sea, and is designed to ensure safe stowage of containers on board vessels and prevent the consequences of container weight misdeclaration, which can be severe.”
ICTSI could not comment on the extra fees charged.
In Sept 2017, PNG Ports Corporation Ltd and the Government signed a 25-year terminal management agreement with ICTSI group to run the country’s international port facilities: the Motukea International Terminal outside Port Moresby and the Lae port which now trades as the South Pacific International Container Terminal.