ASIA/EUROPE CARRIERS INTRODUCE THC CHARGES IN CHINA

ASIA/EUROPE CARRIERS INTRODUCE THC CHARGES IN CHINA    Shipping lines of the Far Eastern Freight Conference and Mediterranean Rate Agreement are planning to introduce terminal handling charges for European shipments to and from Chinese ports, effective Jan. 15.
   The charge will be Renmibi370 ($45) per 20-foot container dry and Renmibi560 per 40-footer dry. For reefer boxes, it will be set at Renmibi410 ($50) per 20-foot container and Renmibi610 per 40-footer.
   The Far Eastern Freight Conference and the Mediterranean Rate Agreement said that the charge will apply to all
ports in the People’s Republic of China except those of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Yunnan. For those provinces and areas, the existing origin receiving charge of $141 per 20-foot container and $269 per 40-foot box will continue to apply, but it will be renamed as a terminal handling charge.
   The carrier groups said that the introduction of the terminal handling charge aims “to be more transparent in quotation of freight rates.”
   The charge will be payable by the shipper, unless other specific arrangements are made between the buyer and seller.
   “The practice of applying and collecting a terminal handling charge locally is an accepted international practice existing in all Asian countries and most countries worldwide,” the conferences said.