Vietnamese exporters and importers have complained of foreign shipping lines imposing various surcharges to cover container security, workers' strikes, and container trade imbalance, Cargonewsasia reports.
An official from a Ho Chi Minh City-based garment company said his company, whose imports and exports add up to around 250 containers a month, has to pay more than 10 kinds of surcharges and any delay in payment leads to a fine worth millions of dong, reported the Tuoi tre online newspaper. He added that the surcharges were unfair.
Many other firms have complained about the imposition of a Container Imbalance Charge (CIC) since last month.
Since more containers are imported to Vietnam than exported, shipping firms have to return with empty containers, and thus new charges are added.
The CIC, at around US$60 for a TEU and $120 for a FEU, is mostly applied to imports from Asian nations, Ngoc Thuy, an employee of a logistics firm in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding that businesses have no choice but to pay.
A Singaporean shipping firm said the surcharge is collected also because of the congestion at Vietnamese ports, which cause increasing transport costs. Besides, an emergency bunker surcharge, hovering at one-third to half the CIC rate, is also charged local firms.
Importers of Chinese goods also have to pay a cost plus incentive fee to their Chinese partners.
It is estimated that Vietnamese importers pay charges and surcharges of around $578 per FEU. Exporters are, however, spared certain charges.
Thuy said surcharges are demanded for trivial things like covering workers' strikes at destination ports, container cleaning and security, currency adjustment, and others.
An official of Lien Anh Co, a ship broker, said that the domination by foreign shipping firms means they can impose or increase fees and surcharges without prior announcement or roadmap.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien urged the Export and Import Department, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other agencies to launch inspections into charges and surcharges demanded by shipping companies.
An official from a Ho Chi Minh City-based garment company said his company, whose imports and exports add up to around 250 containers a month, has to pay more than 10 kinds of surcharges and any delay in payment leads to a fine worth millions of dong, reported the Tuoi tre online newspaper. He added that the surcharges were unfair.
Many other firms have complained about the imposition of a Container Imbalance Charge (CIC) since last month.
Since more containers are imported to Vietnam than exported, shipping firms have to return with empty containers, and thus new charges are added.
The CIC, at around US$60 for a TEU and $120 for a FEU, is mostly applied to imports from Asian nations, Ngoc Thuy, an employee of a logistics firm in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding that businesses have no choice but to pay.
A Singaporean shipping firm said the surcharge is collected also because of the congestion at Vietnamese ports, which cause increasing transport costs. Besides, an emergency bunker surcharge, hovering at one-third to half the CIC rate, is also charged local firms.
Importers of Chinese goods also have to pay a cost plus incentive fee to their Chinese partners.
It is estimated that Vietnamese importers pay charges and surcharges of around $578 per FEU. Exporters are, however, spared certain charges.
Thuy said surcharges are demanded for trivial things like covering workers' strikes at destination ports, container cleaning and security, currency adjustment, and others.
An official of Lien Anh Co, a ship broker, said that the domination by foreign shipping firms means they can impose or increase fees and surcharges without prior announcement or roadmap.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien urged the Export and Import Department, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and other agencies to launch inspections into charges and surcharges demanded by shipping companies.