Handling charges of refrigerated containers at Ctg Port reduced
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Jasim Uddin Haroon
The government has decided to reduce the handling charges of refrigerated containers at the country's premier Chittagong port, which might help bring down prices of the imported perishable items.
The refrigerated containers are used for carrying perishable items, including apple, orange, fish, onion, ginger and dates.
The government has decided to cut handling charge of such a container by US$ 2.0 to $9.0.
The importers used to pay $5.0 for electricity, $4.0 for monitoring and $ 2.0 for pre-treatment inspection (PTI).
Mohammed Amirul Haque, senior leader of Chittagong Port Users Forum and FBCCI director told the FE that any reduction of charges would definitely be welcomed by the trade bodies.
"I think it will have an impact on the retail prices of the perishable items as it will help reduce cost of doing business in the country," he added.
Senior accounts officer of the CPA Ilias Reza told the FE over phone Wednesday that the port authority had dropped the PTI charge for handling of the refrigerated containers following a plea from the shipping agents.
The PTI is usually done by the officials of the shipping agents.
The new rate of the handling charge will be effective after seven days of publication of the gazette notification.
However, official sources said the gazette notification might be released later this month.
The handling of refrigerated containers has been growing at the port mainly due to the increased demand for fruits and imported fishes.
Apart from this, tight vigilance in the border areas has also contributed to the rise in the use of refrigerated containers by the importers.
The CPA handles around 50,000 containers a year. The port has a capacity to store a total of 317 refrigerated containers.
As on Wednesday, some 270 such containers were lying at the port, port sources said.
The government has decided to reduce the handling charges of refrigerated containers at the country's premier Chittagong port, which might help bring down prices of the imported perishable items.
The refrigerated containers are used for carrying perishable items, including apple, orange, fish, onion, ginger and dates.
The government has decided to cut handling charge of such a container by US$ 2.0 to $9.0.
The importers used to pay $5.0 for electricity, $4.0 for monitoring and $ 2.0 for pre-treatment inspection (PTI).
Mohammed Amirul Haque, senior leader of Chittagong Port Users Forum and FBCCI director told the FE that any reduction of charges would definitely be welcomed by the trade bodies.
"I think it will have an impact on the retail prices of the perishable items as it will help reduce cost of doing business in the country," he added.
Senior accounts officer of the CPA Ilias Reza told the FE over phone Wednesday that the port authority had dropped the PTI charge for handling of the refrigerated containers following a plea from the shipping agents.
The PTI is usually done by the officials of the shipping agents.
The new rate of the handling charge will be effective after seven days of publication of the gazette notification.
However, official sources said the gazette notification might be released later this month.
The handling of refrigerated containers has been growing at the port mainly due to the increased demand for fruits and imported fishes.
Apart from this, tight vigilance in the border areas has also contributed to the rise in the use of refrigerated containers by the importers.
The CPA handles around 50,000 containers a year. The port has a capacity to store a total of 317 refrigerated containers.
As on Wednesday, some 270 such containers were lying at the port, port sources said.