Shippers in Vietnam are celebrating a decree by Hanoi that forces all containerlines to publicise all of their charges including surcharges, in a unprecedented transparency move that could see rates tumble in what has traditionally been an expensive place to ship from.
Local shippers have hit out in recent months over a series of new surcharges. However, Hanoi’s demand to get lines to publicise all of their charges has kicked off a storm of protest with local media reporting CMA CGM, MSC and APL have already made their objections known to the Ministry of Transport.
Last year the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association accused foreign shipping lines of issuing unreasonable surcharges. Foreign lines account for around 90% of all boxes imported and exported from the Southeast Asian nation. On routes to the US and Europe, the figure stands at 100%.
A report from the Ministry of Finance showed that of the VND77.12trn ($3.52bn) that boxlines made in 2013-2014, more than VND26trn ($1.18bn) came from surcharges.
