WTSA Adopt Documentation Fee

Container shipping lines in the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization A
greement (WTSA), citing costs for preparing and transmitting shipping
documents in the U.S. to Asia trade lane, will introduce a $25 per bil
l of lading documentation fee, applied to all tariff and applicable se
rvice contract cargo, effective September 1, 2000.
The fee is intended to address the increased costs of processing more
complex documentation required in both the U.S. and in Asian countries
; training and retaining skilled documentation staffs, and upgrading e
lectronic systems for the future to provide services such as electroni
c bills of lading, online filing of documentation with a range of dome
stic and foreign government agencies. Lines also anticipates increased
preparation and transmittal activity as a result of recent U.S. legis
lation making electronic signatures legally acceptable in commercial d
ocuments.
WTSA lines further noted that the westbound transpacific is among the
few remaining trade lanes where some form of documentation fee has not
already been adopted.