Shippers' councils call for all inclusive rates

Shippers' councils from three countries, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong decided all surcharges to be included in the rates, to activate the so called, "All-In-Rates" contract, anticipating that all the affected shipping companies to accept it.

The 21st Tripartite Shippers' Council Meeting was held in the Hong Kong Convention Center for three days from May 27 to 29. Participating shippers' representatives included those from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Also, as the Korea Shippers' Council repealed the introduction of one-way oil surcharges imposed by airliners, each shipper's council resolved to monitor the surcharges on air transportation.

In addition, each country shippers' council agreed to push to link their web sites together to further develop e-commerce in Asia, and share information.

During this tripartite council, the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), the Intra Asia Discussion Agreement (IADA), as well as shipping lines such as OOCL and P&O Nedlloyd, held their first official discussion with the shippers' council and agreed to improve relationships between shippers and shipping lines.

In the mean time, the next meeting will be scheduled to be held in Japan in June 2002. The Tripartite Shippers' Councils meeting is held in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong on a rotating basis every year in order to offer information on each country's activities and further cooperation amongst them.