THE National Transport Commission has established guidelines around stevedore charges to enhance the transparency of transport operator levies across the container freight supply chain.
Released on 31 March, the National Voluntary Guidelines for Landside Stevedore Charges outlines protocols for communication on the introduction or increase of charges to collect and drop off containers.
According to the National Transport Commission, “the guidelines aim to complement, build on or replace any existing provisions”.
They intend to promote enhanced transparency across the national container freight sector when changes are made to corresponding charges.
The Container Transport Alliance Australia has welcomed some elements of the guidelines but has argued that certain protocols “don’t go far enough”.
CTAA director Neil Chambers suggested the guidelines themselves do not promote the need for strengthened government and industry action on terminal interface productivity improvements to offset rising landside charges.
“There is a real need for state governments to now embrace the protocols contained in the national guidelines by putting in place adequate arrangements to ensure that all container stevedore providers abide by the guidelines,” Mr Chambers said.
He highlighted several beneficial guidelines, including the provision that landside charges should only be changed once per annum on an annual review date nominated by the individual stevedore company.
Mr Chambers said another positive guideline is that which provides stevedore companies must issue a notice of intention to the appropriate department prior to changing or introducing a charge.
The notice must be published on the company’s website 60 days prior to the proposed date of change.
Elements that CTAA considered to have fallen short include a footnote allowing stevedoring companies to change their charges more than once per year, effectively overriding the aforementioned protocol.
“For example, we’ve experienced multiple increases per annum at Victoria International Container Terminal in Melbourne, despite the Victorian Government’s Voluntary Pricing Protocols being in place,” CTAA said in a statement.
“This has included VICT’s latest COVID Recovery Tariff of $3.97 (+GST) being implemented with no notice period just one month after their general landside tariff increases from 1 January 2022.”
Additionally, CTAA said industry is still seeing container terminals increasing their charges without providing 60 days’ notice, as specified in the guidelines.
The alliance also noted there is still no formal mechanism for landside stakeholders to have meaningful negotiations with the container stevedores on landside fee increases, and no opportunity to understand how the revenue collected will be channelled into landside infrastructure.
“If the guidelines aren’t seen to be working on a voluntary basis, then CTAA will continue to advocate for direct regulation of stevedore landside charges,” Mr Chambers said.
