"Abolish or reduce a number of railway and port charges." On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang said so in his report on the work of the government in the Great Hall of the People.

In a short sentence, the meaning is profound. The reduction of port charges is related to stimulating the vitality of the main body of the port and shipping market, optimizing the business environment of the port and shipping enterprises, and the well-being of the people. Experts said that as a public service industry, port tariff reduction is a major trend.

What's the lowering of port charges?

As early as April 4, 2018, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council chaired the executive meeting of the State Council and decided to further reduce the fees charged by enterprises involved. As a result, the curtain of port tariff reduction became wider and wider.

It is understood that ports in Jiangsu, Hubei, Chongqing, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui and other provinces and cities have reduced or exempted cargo port charges to varying degrees, while port groups such as Guangzhou Port have reduced port facility security charges to varying degrees.

The latest progress is that Tianjin promulgates the Implementation Plan of Deeply Developing Port Fee Reduction to Improve Efficiency and Optimize Environment to Promote Cross-border Trade Facilitation, which will further carry out port fee reduction to improve efficiency and optimize environment.

Previously, Shanghai Port lowered the operating contract fee (general handling) for foreign trade container ports from 595.5 yuan to 480 yuan per 20-foot container and 893.3 yuan to 720 yuan per 40-foot container. It is estimated that the annual revenue of loading and unloading will be reduced by about 1.5 billion yuan. In addition, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Dalian Port, Xiamen Port and other ports have reduced their charges one after another. Ningbo Zhoushan Port is expected to reduce its charges by about 836 million yuan in the whole year, and Dalian Port is expected to reduce its loading and unloading costs by about 76 million yuan for its customers in the whole year.

Looking at Dalian Port in the north, last September, a notice on "one-stop" sunshine charge list for container in Dalian Port was issued, which clearly indicated that it would create an open, transparent, efficient and convenient market competition environment, greatly save logistics time and cost of foreign trade enterprises, and effectively enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of the port.

The list of new fees will be formally implemented on the 1st of the same month. According to the principle of "cap capping, total amount control", Dalian Port combs and integrates the operation process, service content, charging items and charging standards of subordinate container terminals, agents and container yard enterprises, and formulates a "one-stop" sunshine charging list.

Among the "Ten Service Articles" promulgated by Qingdao Port before, customs clearance efficiency has been improved; operation timeliness has been reduced; cargo rapid release has been promoted; empty box turnover rate has been increased; comprehensive logistics cost has been reduced; 24-hour port formalities processing service has been promoted; zero interest service has been provided for trade agents; full range of "raw material guarantee service" has been provided; customer sales, procurement does not make price difference, free service has been reduced. Measures.

How to reduce port charges?

Port charges can be roughly divided into three categories: first, port construction fees, cargo port charges and port facility security fees set by the government; second, pilotage (berthing) fees, tugboat fees, berthing fees, barge pick-up and delivery fees, special parking fees and use fees of fencing; third, port operation contract dry fees, storage and storage fees, storage and storage fees for carrying out market adjustment prices, and withdrawal fees. Water (material) service fee, oil (gas) service fee, power supply service fee, garbage reception and treatment service fee, sewage oil and water reception and treatment service fee for ship service.

According to experts, port construction fees, cargo port charges and port facility security fees belong to special funds. After cost reduction and exemption, there will be a gap in related costs. To fill the gap funds, follow-up supporting policies are needed. Otherwise, it will affect the construction, maintenance of port public infrastructure and port security, and have adverse consequences.

In addition, due to the huge cost of tugboat investment, if tugboat fees are reduced, it is likely that tugboat investment will be insufficient, which will lead to the phenomenon of ships queuing at the port. Moreover, large ships without tugboats are also prone to safety accidents. Therefore, there is little room for tugboat fee reduction and exemption.

The port operating contract dry fee, storage and storage fee, warehouse use use use fee and ship supply and service fee which carry out market adjustment price have entered the Red Sea of market competition.

Where is the space for port deduction?

Experts suggest that the focus of port fee reduction should be on reducing and optimizing the access to customs, inspection and quarantine, border control, commerce and other regulatory documents, as well as optimizing inspection and supervision, and implementing fee reduction in the process of obtaining a large number of regulatory documents and inspection and supervision.

It is understood that most of the service providers for ship supply (water supply, power supply, oil supply), tallying, waste oil and water reception and treatment are designated by shipping companies. Experts pointed out that if port enterprises enter the lock, so that shipping companies have more market-oriented choices, then this part also has greater room for cost reduction.

Therefore, port tariff reduction should be based on "encouraging competition and eliminating monopoly", and further cost accounting should be carried out for business projects of enterprises to promote and implement reasonable tariff reduction.