Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council welcomes Indian Shipping Minister’s intervention

The Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council welcomes the Indian Shipping Minister’s intervention to stop 25 different charges in the import export trade out of India.

Transparent transactions

The Shipping Ministry has succeeded in getting shipping lines and their agents to agree not to levy some 25 different charges that are typically not included in the so-called bill of lading but are arbitrarily collected from cargo owners, as the Government seeks to bring transparency in transaction costs of export-import (EXIM) trade.

A bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier or his agent to acknowledge receipt of a shipment of cargo.

India’s maritime administration, the directorate general of shipping, issued a circular on 7 September advising shipping lines/agents not to levy these 25 charges after a Government-appointed panel that included a representative from the Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) recommended such a step following a consensus among stakeholders.

CSLA is a body representing container shipping lines operating in India.

“In view of the consensus among the various stakeholders such as shipping lines, EXIM associations and trade bodies, the shipping lines are hereby advised that the charges as listed should not be levied by shipping lines/carriers/agents for the transportation of EXIM goods as a good/best practice,” Subhash Barguzer, a deputy director general of shipping wrote in the circular.

(Source: http://bhandarkarpublications.com/single_news.php?news_id=Vkcxd1RrNVJQVDA9.)