The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has reacted angrily to news that the Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) will impose a congestion charge of US$145 per TEU on westbound cargo from Asia to the UK next month.
"This industry anachronism is making the most of its current exemptions from aspects of competition law, hitting UK importers in the pocket at this, their busiest time, and doing nothing to remove the issues that the FEFC claims to want to resolve," said BIFA director general Peter Quantrill.
According to the FEFC's own figures, said Mr Quantrill, cargo carried into the UK by FEFC lines has increased by more than 15 per cent year-on-year after eight months of 2007, averaging 485 TEU a day.
"Based on those additional TEU figures alone, the surcharge will add costs of just over US$70,300 per day, or US$25.7 million per annum, that someone is going to have to pay," said the release.
Mr Quantrill dismissed FEFC's claims that the congestion charge was required to recover costs incurred by lines from chronic congestion at the UK's major terminals and inland terminals.
"If nothing else, next year's ending of the conferences' cartel-like arrangements holds out the best prospect in decades of a real shift in the balance of commercial power from carrier to customer," he said.
"This industry anachronism is making the most of its current exemptions from aspects of competition law, hitting UK importers in the pocket at this, their busiest time, and doing nothing to remove the issues that the FEFC claims to want to resolve," said BIFA director general Peter Quantrill.
According to the FEFC's own figures, said Mr Quantrill, cargo carried into the UK by FEFC lines has increased by more than 15 per cent year-on-year after eight months of 2007, averaging 485 TEU a day.
"Based on those additional TEU figures alone, the surcharge will add costs of just over US$70,300 per day, or US$25.7 million per annum, that someone is going to have to pay," said the release.
Mr Quantrill dismissed FEFC's claims that the congestion charge was required to recover costs incurred by lines from chronic congestion at the UK's major terminals and inland terminals.
"If nothing else, next year's ending of the conferences' cartel-like arrangements holds out the best prospect in decades of a real shift in the balance of commercial power from carrier to customer," he said.