Shippers seek rate and liability reform

A joint declaration of the European Shippers’ Council, Asian Shippers’ Group and the National Industrial Transportation League is calling for terminal handling charges to be reincorporated into ocean freight rates and for reform in ocean carrier liability.

The Tripartite Shippers Group supports “valid and impartial justification for all surcharges at all local, national and international levels,” saying such charges should not be used as mechanisms to impose general rate increases.

“Assuming the terminal handling charge is part of the overall freight, it should be collected from the party that pays the freight,” the group says. The group also reports that negotiations with the United Nation’s Working Group on Transport Law could result in a new convention on cargo liability.

The Tripartite Shippers Group supports the following shipper-friendly initiatives:

• Programs that identify high-risk cargo that threaten human life, infrastructure and the overall supply chain
• Technologies that supplement existing security efforts
• Automated advanced cargo manifest systems designed to move freight seamlessly
• Establishment of a Standard Security Framework that would involve major international trading partners
• Security measures that encompass and are compatible over all transportation modes.

Full details are available on the NITL website (www.nitl.org). LT

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