News

New port fees come into force

September 6, 2015 7:18 pm

New port fees and charges are being implemented by port authorities.

The increase ranges from 11% to as much as 600% for some services.

An improvement in services at port facilities since 2009 has resulted in the implementation of increase in charges and fees that were recommended in a review process.

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The Fiji Commerce Commission chief executive Bobby Maharaj says after a partial increase in 2009, Fiji Ports Terminal Limited and the Fiji Ports Corporation Limited were required to improve their services to get a further increment.

“So we did a review in 2013 to see how well they have position themselves from 2009 and then we carried out a follow-up audit in 2014 to see if in case the findings of 2013 has changed now. And what we observed is that there have been improvements in a lot of facets of ports operations.”

Maharaj says increases of fees by 500 to 600 percent are avoidable as they apply on the storage of containers at the port facilities.

He says companies that will clear their containers within three days will not have to pay this fee.

The Commission’s next intended review is in April next year however to get any increments the ports have to deliver in their investment plans.