The Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) Board of Directors are asking the industry players to promote Through Bill of Lading for the Naivasha ICD bound cargo to cushion importers against high demurrage charges likely to be incurred on delay in delivery of empty containers.
In an earlier interview, the Kenya Ship Agents Association (KSAA) said that there is lack of understanding on the difference between a TBL and Merchant Haulage procedures for import cargo, which would have huge effect on the transport cost.
The contract on international carriage of goods by sea has set clear guidelines on where the obligations of the shipping line commences and ends. Through Bill of Lading refers to a single bill of lading covering receipt of the cargo at the point of origin for delivery to the ultimate consignee at a named place in the hinterland, Embakasi Internal Container Depot (ICD) or Naivasha ICD in case of Kenya’s SGR.
In the Merchant Haulage Containerized cargo, the responsibility of the Shipping Line ceases upon discharge of the container at the Port. This is the point where the consignee takes delivery of their goods and is given a time frame in which to return the empty container to the Shipping Line.
Hence, when the Shipping Line hands over the container cargo to the consignee at the port, the consignee will need to sign a ‘Guarantee Form’ – indicating where and when they will return the container to.
For those using TBL at the ICDs, the responsibility of returning the container to the shipping line is minimized. The importer will need to adhere to the rules set out in the ‘Guarantee Form’ that the shipping lines issues when it hands over the container and the cargo to the consignee at ICD.
“The ‘Guarantee Form’ clearly indicates where and when they will return the container to and the numbers of days they have in which to honour this agreement,” KSAA Chief Executive Mr Juma Tellah said.
It should be noted that this time frame in which they must return the container is costed by the Shipping Line and included in the freight rate offered to the client. Once the consignee exceeds the ‘free days’ allowed, then the he is charged demurrage.
If the place of delivery on the ‘Guarantee Form’ is ICD, then upon delivery to that location, any storage accrued thereafter is on account of the shipping line.
In the Merchant Holding model, if the consignee returns the container at ICD yet the ‘Guarantee Form’ indicates ‘Mombasa empty depot’, then any storage time accrued by the empty container at ICD will be to the consignees account and not the Shipping Lines.
If the container is railed to ICDs or any hinterland destination, the merchant is liable to return the container to a named shipping line empty container depot, which means that he will incur the cost of transporting the empty container, either on road or rail.
SGR, which is rapidly gaining importance as a transport solution for large cargo consignments destined for Kenya and the region has to some extent succeeded in convincing shippers to adopt the TBL freight model.
The service whose operations are coordinated by Kenya Railways, Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Revenue Authority last year received a boost when Kenya Railways entered into an agreement with the leading shipping lines in calling at the port of Mombasa on use of TBL.
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