THE Transpacific Westbound Rate Agreement (TWRA) will impose a destination container yard (CY) charge of HK$1,760 per 40 foot or 45 ft container and HK$1,250 per 20 ft unit from January. The decision was taken at the recent owners-level meetings in Taipei. TWRA's destination CY charges for Taiwan will be set at a rate of NT$5,705 (about HK$1,597) per 40 ft or 45 ft container, and NT$4,419 per 20 ft container. The comparable charges, quoted in US dollars and based on exchange rates effective on December 1, this year, will be established for the benefit of customers who sometimes chose to pre-pay those amounts owing for such fees. TWRA also has reaffirmed its schedule of planned rate adjustments for the remainder of this year, most of which have been announced in previous agreement statements. From October 1, rates on hay to Japan via US West Coast port gateways will be set at US$850 per FEU (40 ft equivalent unit) from the California ports; US$930 per FEU from Seattle/Tacoma; and US$980 from Portland. On January 1, those rates will be increased to US$1,035, US$1,115 and US$1,165, respectively. Poultry rates to Japan will raised by only US$6 per tonne, effective from January 1, next year. A scheduled October 1, increase of $6 per tonne on frozen beef and pork rates to Japan has been postponed to October 15. TWRA group carriers will monitor forest product rates and market trends during the coming months, with commodity-by-commodity adjustments to be considered for April 1, 1994. Possible adjustments for apples and frozen potato chips will be taken up at a later date. Also on January 1, all container freight station (CFS) and CY origin receiving charges will be increased by US$40 per FEU; $32 per TEU; $2 per revenue tonne; and by three per cent for cargo rated on a per-unit basis. Origin and destination charges are other ancillary charges added to the base freight rate to help offset rising port and other shore-side costs associated with the receipt, processing and clearance of cargo at either end of the voyage. Retiring TWRA managing director Ronald Gottshall said that carrier costs in this area have continued to rise steadily in recent years, but that planned increases had been put off due to unfavourable market conditions. ''Unfortunately, it has reached a point where these increases cannot be postponed any longer,'' he said, ''without causing serious erosion of the rate structure.'' In other actions, TWRA members agreed to move forward with full implementation of a hazardous materials inspection programme, in order to assure compliance with recently enacted, stricter monitoring and documentation regulations adopted by the US Department of Transportation and other national government entities. TWRA is a rate-making group of nine ocean and inter-modal carriers serving the trade from ports and inland points in the US to destinations throughout Asia.
