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NTC accelerates on voluntary stevedore impost guidelines

Second of three-part industry consultation process about to proceed

 

The National Transport Commission (NTC) is making progress on its task to develop voluntary national guidelines for applying stevedore infrastructure and access charges at Australia’s container ports.

Transport and Infrastructure Council (TIC) of relevant ministers decided on the project in November and announced it in December, thereby signalling the normalisation without public consultation of an unregulated landside revenue stream for stevedores, based on trade and burdening an unwilling container transport sector with its collection.

The project’s development was hindered somewhat by the announcement’s timing being close to Christmas but the NTC has been working to make up lost time recently.

It is close to completing the first round of consultation with stevedores, representatives of the land transport sector, ports, shipping lines, importers and exporters, through more than 30 meetings over around 20 days.


Read how the largest states finally acknowledged the NTC project, here


NTC acting head of safety reform Ron Grasso, who has carriage of the project, tells ATN that, though the project’s focus and scope are narrow, “the broader context has been very valuable, and will inform the drafting of the guideline/protocol, which is already underway”.

“In the second phase of consultation, the plan is to share draft elements of the guideline/protocol that are relevant to each stakeholder cohort so we can test our assumptions and approach,” Grasso adds.

The process will lead a third round, with the NTC then is a position to see “what everyone can reasonably sign up to”.

 

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