BIFA happy with FEFC’s U-turn on U.K. congestion charge

BIFA happy with FEFC’s U-turn on U.K. congestion charge

Related Stories •   FEFC lines lifting United Kingdom congestion charge

The British International Freight Association said Wednesday it “cautiously welcomes” the Far Eastern Freight Conference's decision to suspended the controversial $145-per-TEU congestion surcharge on westbound cargo from Asia to the United Kingdom that was introduced in December.
   'As we said at the time, congestion surcharges can do nothing to address the issues that the FEFC claims to want to resolve,” said BIFA Director General, Peter Quantrill. 'Although BIFA welcomes the decision, we note that the surcharge has been suspended rather than abandoned altogether and that the matter will be kept under review. Nevertheless, we are pleased that FEFC members appear to be listening to their customers on this occasion and hope that no attempt is made to reinstate the U.K. surcharge.
   'BIFA doubts whether the surcharge has had any impact on bringing about improvements to the port congestion situation that has apparently been detected by the FEFC. However, we welcome the fact that the FEFC lines now appear to concede that port congestion is a European-wide problem rather than one unique to the U.K.,' Quantrill said.