ASIAN SHIPPER GROUPS CALL FOR CARRIER CONSULTATION

ASIAN SHIPPER GROUPS CALL FOR CARRIER CONSULTATION    Representatives of the Japan Shippers’ Council, the Korean Shippers’ Council and the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council have called for improved consultation between shippers and shipping lines following their 21st tripartite meeting on Monday and Tuesday in Hong Kong.
   The Japan, Korea and Hong Kong shippers’ councils said in a joint statement that there is currently “insufficient consultation between shippers and carriers.” They called for a more effective consultation mechanism to be open to shippers.    As a model, they cited existing practices between carriers and shippers in Japan, where price and surcharge issues are discussed before implementation by carriers.
   The Japan Shippers’ Council reported that it has established a “consultation solution” with carriers.
   Representatives of the Federation of ASEAN Shippers’ Councils and the Macau Shipper’s Association also attended the Hong Kong meeting.
   The Asian shippers’ councils repeated their objections to the use of surcharges by shipping lines, and to suggestions that these are not negotiable.
   “The ancillary charges are an integral part of ocean freight and shippers should include them in negotiation deals,” the shippers’ organizations said. “Terminal handling charges, as collected by shipping lines, pose a major problem with shippers, as there is little or no transparency as to what these charges comprise.”
   The Asian shippers’ councils said that terminal handling charges “should be incorporated into freight rates and shippers pay ‘all-in’ rates.”
   They reported that they have discussed the consultation issue for two hours with shipping line officials who attended the Hong Kong meeting, but did not disclose the outcome of those talks. The carriers’ representatives involved in the meeting were Al Pierce, executive director of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement; Ken-ichi Kuroya, chairman of the Intra-Asia Discussion Agreement; Bill Chang, managing director of OOCL (HK) Ltd.; and Eric Wong, general manager of P&O Nedlloyd (HK) Ltd.
   Concerning airfreight issues, the Korean Shippers’ Council said that it has succeeded in negotiating an exemption from the application of the fuel surcharge. Other shippers’ councils reported that they “had exercised a good monitoring of the airline fuel surcharge.”