A stakeholder in Mari
time Industry, Sir Sam Epiah has said that there is the need for Nigerian Shippers’ Council to remove monopolistic policies which give one Port over bearing competition edges far and above others in the nation’s seaports.
Epiah made the call during a maritime seminar held in Port Harcourt.
He said the current tariff structure of Ports in Nigeria are at variance with the schedule of applicable post concession rates.
The stakeholder however noted that prices reflect the diversity that exists in terms of services and service standards offered, as well as the operators offering them.
According to him, the result has been an opaque price structure that complicates ship operators and cargo owners Port choice, which softens Port competition and competition among service providers.
“Price level and price transparency are inputs to shippers’ choice of supply. Chain and transport mode but the complexity of our ports pricing scheme is striking and unfriendly to Port Users”, Epiah said.
He opined that Port charges and rates play very important role in the growth and prosperity of the Port, stressing that it influenced competition, investment decisions, development strategy among others.
He however suggested that there should be a normative costing principle whereby standard costs and standard tariffs can be derived which could be bench-marked for pitching the right tariffs for each sub-activity, adding that principal activity, as well as illegal collection of unofficial, and receipted charges within the port should be stopped.
The stakeholder also said since Ports are not the same physically and economically, there should be flexibility and allow each Port to negotiate prices and rates suitable to their activities and services.
According to him, a platform should be created for periodic review of rates, charges and services among the service providers and Port users.
“Pricing plays a prominent role in any Port and terminal. It is one of the determining factors to attract Cargo patronage to a Port”, Epiah noted and called on the Nigerian Shippers Council, the economic regulator and operators to take holistic views before taking any pricing decision, as it would facilitate shippers’ choice of Port and enhance the compe-tiveness of Ports and attract more traffic and profit.