Hong Kong’s OOCL Logistics has rejected charges by Hong Kong shippers and the Global Shippers Forum that it (and other logistics providers) have been imposing unjustified charges for questionable and unspecified “administration fees” and other “services”. OOCL Logistics is aid to be charging a VGM administration fee of US$15 per document for all exports out of China.
Answering its critics a company spokesperson said: “OOCL Logistics has introduced a VGM Administration Fee to cover costs associated to measures and efforts taken to help ensure our customers comply with the new SOLAS requirements so their shipments will continue to move smoothly, preventing the possibility of any missing, delayed or inaccurate VGM declarations.
“Such costs may include, but are not limited to the additional weighing and documentation processing for VGM declarations, as well as covering for the development and implementation of additional information technology to facilitate the process. This Fee will be subject to review from time to time,” she added.
In China the global forwarding company, Kuhne and Nagel was criticized by the GSF for charging a VGM administration fee for all K&N shipments booked in China – specifically US$12.75 for full containers if shippers are using the K&N electronic VGM system, or US$25.00 for manual data entry.
