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Shippers hit out at ‘exorbitant charges’

[ July 1, 2016   //   ]

Shipping lines and service providers, mainly in Asia and Africa,are imposing exorbitant charges for questionable “administration fees” and other “services” in connection with the new verified gross mass (VGM) rules, says the Global Shippers Forum.

The UK-headquartered GSF is calling for those charges to be withdrawn immediately and is currently a number of examples provided by its members and says it will be taking them up with the service providers

These include China where Kuhne and Nagel is charging a VGM administration fee for all K&N shipments booked in of US$12.75 for full containers if shippers are using the K&N electronic VGM system, or US$25.00 for manual data entry.

Similarly, OOCL Logistics says it will charge a VGM administration fee of $15 per document for all exports from China.

Grimaldi Agency Nigeria has told customers that they will weigh containers on departure at a cost of N20,000 (£53 approx) per 20 foot container and N40,000 (£106) per 40 foot.

In Sri Lanka, GSF members say that shipping lines are considering charging shippers $25 for submitting the VGM, and, in cases where the final weight differs from the booked weight, an additional charge of $50 for amending the VGM.

In the UK & Ireland, ports group DP World, which owns both Southampton and London Gatewa, is imposing a £1 charge for VGMs provided prior to arrival (rising to £3 after box arrival but before the 24 hour cut off).

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