BIFA WELCOMES FUEL SURCHARGE U-TURN

On behalf of its members, the British International Freight Association (BIFA) – www.bifa.org - cautiously welcomes this week’s news that the Far Eastern Freight Conference (FEFC) has suspended the congestion surcharge of USD145 per teu that it imposed on westbound cargo from Asia to the UK, last month.

BIFA Director General, Peter Quantrill says: “As we said at the time, congestion surcharges can do nothing to address the issues that the FEFC claims to want to resolve.

“Although BIFA welcomes the decision, we note that the surcharge has been suspended rather than abandoned altogether and that the matter will be kept under review. Nevertheless, we are pleased that FEFC members appear to be listening to their customers on this occasion and hope that no attempt is made to reinstate the UK surcharge.

“BIFA doubts whether the surcharge has had any impact on bringing about improvements to the port congestion situation that has apparently been detected by the FEFC. However, we welcome the fact that the FEFC lines now appear to concede that port congestion is a European-wide problem rather than one unique to the UK.”