MANY PORT SERVICES TO BE SUBJECT TO PRICE DECLARATION
Under the new regulations, port services are defined as services provided by service enterprises, maritime transport businesses, or representatives of maritime transport businesses. These services involve charging customers fees for facilitating the transportation of goods and passengers through seaports.
Services such as maritime pilotage, ship towing, container cleaning, and others at seaports will be subject to price declaration requirements starting in 2025 (Photo: Tạ Hải).
A notable feature of the new regulations is the inclusion of numerous port services that must now have their prices declared. These services include maritime pilotage; the use of berths, wharves, and mooring buoys; container handling; ship towing; handling of dry, bulk, and liquid cargo; mooring and unmooring of vessels; and the storage of goods at port warehouses (including container storage and storage of dry, bulk, and liquid cargo, among others).
Additionally, other services requiring price declaration include tallying, loading, and unloading goods at ports; preparing and issuing transportation documents for containers transiting through ports; sealing and unsealing of containers; container cleaning services (applied when goods soil containers, necessitating cleaning services); and environmental cleaning services, including the collection, sorting, and treatment of waste generated by vessels at ports.
The Vietnam Maritime Administration is responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular. If changes in price-determining factors result in service charges at ports falling below the minimum or exceeding the maximum rates set by the Minister of Transport, the Vietnam Maritime Administration will assess pricing plans and report to the Ministry of Transport for price adjustments as per regulations.
Additionally, the Administration will handle the receipt of price declaration documents in accordance with this Circular and other relevant legal documents.
Annually, the Vietnam Maritime Administration will comprehensively review the list of enterprises that have declared prices and report to the Ministry of Transport by December 5. It will also conduct inspections to ensure compliance with legal provisions regarding port service charges.
Ref: baogiaothong.vn
