Ginsi asks members not to pay shipping fees
Ginsi asks members not to pay shipping fees
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Importers (Ginsi)
directed all of its members on Thursday not pay the terminal
handling charge (THC) imposed by foreign shipping companies.
Amirudin Saud, the chairman of the association, said that the
so-called THC, which was first introduced during the Gulf War in
1992, was no longer relevant.
"The charge is not only very costly for Indonesian importers
but it does not make sense any more," he told a media briefing.
Amirudin said that shipping companies grouped in the Overseas
Shipowners' Representative Association (OSRA) first imposed the
THC on cargoes shipped from Europe and the United States to Asia
in 1992 during the Gulf War. The charge was introduced to offset
the higher operational costs incurred by cargo ships heading from
Europe or the United States to Asia during the war, when vessels
were forced to reroute their journeys via Africa to avoid the
conflict zone.
Amirudin said that the shipping companies had lifted the
charge for all other Asian countries, except Indonesia,
immediately after the war ended. "This is discriminative
treatment for Indonesia," he said.
According to him, GINSI has been asking the Ministry of
Transportation and Communications since 1995 to help settle the
matter but there had been no concrete action taken.
The charge has now reached US$155 per container from just $50
per container when it was first introduced.
Amirudin estimated Indonesian importers had paid a total of
US$2.7 billion as a result of the handling charge since the Gulf
War.
Amirudin also called on importers not to pay the Indonesian
Port Surcharge (IPS) which will be imposed by local and foreign
shipping companies beginning next month.
He said that the surcharge which would cost US$25 for every
20-foot container, and US$40 for a 40-foot container, would be
imposed following the government's recent move to raise the
stevedoring fees charged to shipping companies by 30 percent.
(02)