SIMIC

After meetings with US Port Envoy John Porcari, ocean liner companies and marine terminal operators, the two ports said the fee will not be considered before December 6.

"Since the fee was announced on October 25, the twin ports have seen a combined decline of 37 per cent in aging cargo on the docks. The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after another week of monitoring data," the communique said.

Under the temporary policy approved October 29 by the Harbour Commissions of both ports, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two categories: In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling nine days or more.

For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time.

The ports plan to charge ocean carriers in these two categories US$100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal.

Before the pandemic-induced import surge began in mid-2020, on average, containers for local delivery remained on container terminals under four days, while containers destined for trains dwelled less than two days, said the joint statement.