Freight forwarders urge action against “unfair” charges by shippers

KUALA LUMPUR: Federation of Malaysian Freight Forwarders (FMFF) has urged the authorities to take actions on unfair practices and charges imposed by shipping lines.

FMFF president Alvin Chua said the charges were imposed without consulting industry stakeholders and against the grain of best industry practices.

“We believe that China Ocean Shipping Company Ltd (Coscon) is abusing its dominant position and call upon Malaysian Competition Commission (MYCC) to institute an immediate investigation into Coscon’s practices,” Chua said in a statement today.

He said the current practices by shipping lines reflected “the convenience and impunity of implementing any practice, without any regard for the users”.

This added to the general malaise of importers in Malaysia, using international shipping services, it added.

FMFF proposed that the Customs Department to set conditions on charges and best practices when renewing shipping agents’ licences.

“Similarly, port authorities under the Port Authority Act can licence shipping lines and set conditions in the licences issued.

“We have the avenues to regulate the shipping lines and we must do it before the situation worsens.

“We strongly urge the relevant ministries and relevant agencies to stop pussy footing with shipping lines and start protecting the interests of our importers and exporters,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chua said the Transport Ministry and Port Klang Authority had declared that there would no longer be any need for container deposit, with the availability of three instruments.

They are non-cheque deposit, container ledger account (CLA) and icargo+, for shipping lines to choose, in lieu of container deposit requirement.

He said other shipping lines would be emboldened to come up with similar unfair practices and charges if the situation was not quickly contained.

Source: NST