This common demand of shippers was expressed in the Asian Shippers' Meeting and the 2nd Shanghai-Taipei-Hong Kong-Macau Shippers' Council Work Promotion Meeting held in Shanghai, one after the other, from 17 to 22 June, 2002.

The Asian Shippers' Meeting was attended by shippers' council representatives from Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Federation of ASEAN Shippers' Councils, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. THC is definitely a major agenda item for shippers.

Ken-ichi Kuroya, Chairman of the Intra-Asia Discussion Agreement (IADA) and representatives from eight shipping carriers held a meeting. The session was a reflection of the Asian cultural trait of attempting to resolve disputes through dialogue and communication.

"THCs, in principle, are part of freight and could be paid by shippers or consignees," Mr. Kuroya confirmed during the dialogue session. A logical demand from shippers would then be that carriers collect both origin and destination THCs from the parties that pay the freight charges. Shippers indeed have given clear instructions to shipping carriers in the booking orders or in the bill of lading preparation forms that freight charges are to be "prepaid" or "collected" In the latter case, the carriers should collect the THCs, together with freight charges, from consignees. There is simply no justification for shipping carriers' current practices of withholding a bill of lading until the shipper pays the THC first.

Meanwhile, during the 2nd Shanghai-Taipei-Hong Kong-Macau Shippers' Council Work Promotion Meeting, which was also attended by representatives from shippers' councils of Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guangdong, we were brought to understand that the THC issue - which shippers' associations in China have vowed to boycott - has received top level attention at the Central government. A major concern with Mainland shippers is that imposing THCs was in breach of fair competition practices resulting from a cartel action. Shipping carriers have given no justification and offered no transparency as to what the THCs are for, but simply resorted to collective action in imposing THCs on Mainland shippers. The imposition has met with an uproar of objections from shippers. The current situation is a delicate one and we can expect important developments on the issue shortly.

The meetings also expressed concern over the Container Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) and the Container Security Initiatives (CSI) of the US Customs. Hong Kong exporters should be hearing very soon from their buyers on the security programmes to be drawn up, as part of CTPAT. Regarding the CSI, I have written to the Commissioner of Customs & Excise expressing the Council's concern over the effect that stringent security measures could have on the productivity of the port and flexibility of cargo operations that Hong Kong shippers enjoy currently. However, I also wish to point out here that there are always two sides to a coin. The CSI, which is based on quick availability of information, may help the Hong Kong port speed up its IT modernisation plans. IT reforms on a community wide basis is essential in establishing Hong Kong as a world-leading shipping and logistics centre. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the issue with great care. Imposing security measures that would mean a safer industry is definitely our wish too, but it should be done in a way that Hong Kong' efficient operations should not suffer.