Introduction

On 4 February 2021 the National Waterway Transportation Agency (ANTAQ) published Notice of Public Hearing 4/2021, soliciting feedback on a draft resolution which aims to:

  • standardise how container terminals provide basic services; and
  • establish guidelines for the provision of supplementary services.

Scope of draft resolution

The draft resolution will apply to port facilities that handle or store containerised cargo through a lease or other authorisation, including back-up port areas within ports.

The annexes to the draft resolution establish how port facilities must offer the following basic services, among others, and how such services must be charged:

  • use of port infrastructure for loading and unloading cargo – charged per hour or fraction of an hour;
  • mooring and unmooring of vessels – charged per vessel;
  • ship loading and unloading services (embarkation or disembarkation) – charged per container;
  • non-invasive inspections – charged per inspected container;
  • weighing of cargo – charged per container;
  • provision of special outlets for electricity consumption – charged per day or fraction of a day;
  • stacking or unstacking – charged per container;
  • storage of 20 foot containers for export – charged per container per day; and
  • storage of 20 foot container for import – charged per container per day.

General service and supply items that are unrelated to port activity and cannot be classified in ANTAQ's basic service groups need not be standardised.

The draft resolution establishes that port facilities must publish their current price list on their website, along with an explanation of how it should be used.

Port facilities may set different prices for services that are usually offered for sale together, provided that they are grouped together in the price list and that the sum of the prices of the individual services is less than or equal to the price of the package.

The price list must inform users that payments must be made within 30 days.

Responding to draft resolution

Feedback may be sent to ANTAQ via its website until 11:59pm on 31 March 2021.

ANTAQ will soon announce the date and time of a public hearing, which will be held either in person or online, depending on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.