House committee
moves to halt inspection of containers at dock
By La Poasa
Samoa News Staff
The House Budget
and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Rep. Laolagi F.S. Vaeao,
has agreed to put together a resolution requesting Gov. Togiola
Tulafono to direct the ASG treasurer to halt plans to centralize
inspections of containers at the dock, until all issues involving
this massive undertaking are fully explored.
Laolagi will
be preparing the draft proposal to present to the committee this
week, which will then go to the entire House membership for approval.
This what was
the committee agreed upon after hearing from representatives
of the two canneries, stevedoring and shipping companies, and
the Chamber leadership. Additional costs to merchants are estimated
at more than half a million dollars per year if the new policy
goes into affect.
The committee
also heard from ASG treasurer Gaea P. Failautusi, who acknowledged
the concerns from the business community. It did not deter him
from what he said will ensure that all businesses will pay excise
taxes and that illegal drugs and weapons will not enter our territory.
He said the policy
- described by business representatives, as "unrealistic"
and "ridiculous" - will work if ASG and all businesses
involved work together.
The witnesses
appeared before the committee last Friday to discuss the policy,
which is to undergo a trial run tomorrow.
At present, container
inspections are performed at the premises of a business. Gaea
told the committee that there are currently 10 to 20 inspectors
who will inspect all the containers at the dock.
Members of the
business community say a one-day trial will not fully reveal
the extent of the policy due to various factors, to include the
number of ships and containers that come in on certain days.
In addition to
unbudgeted costs, they also raised concerns about the limited
space and safety at the dock, liability issues, and disruption
of business operations if all inspections are performed at the
dock.
Representatives
of the shipping companies invited the committee to go down to
the wharf and witness first-hand what will happen if the new
policy is implemented in an already busy location.
COSTS AND
DELAYS
StarKist Samoa's
Taeaoafua Dr. Meki Solomona and COS Samoa Packing's Pete Galea'i
say additional costs to StarKist are more than half a million
dollars - which includes costs charged by stevedoring companies
for placements of containers, use of equipment, and paying additional
employees that will be working at the dock.
Galea'i said
the additional and unbudgeted costs "is an unrealistic expectation".
Gaea had predicted
that it would take two hours for inspection of one container
under the new policy but Galea'i said some containers may take
up to seven hours while others may take one hour to process.
Samoa Packing
offloads an average of 200 containers per month while Starkist
averages 250 containers a month.
"The processing
times are unpredictable, as the exercise of loading and unloading
will be at the mercy of each merchant," said Galea'i. "This
means the exercise will be presented with an unpredictable schedule,
causing delays and waiting times for merchant's men and machinery.
The final result will be unproductive costs and disruption of
commerce, due to clearing delays."
Taeaoafua and
Galea'i noted that they are not opposed to ASG's efforts to collect
taxes and prevent contraband, however, they said they are extremely
concerned about business interruption, as they cannot afford
cannery down time, due to an interruption of supplies.
Galea'i said
a simple solution will be to permanently staff two Customs officers
at the cannery, at a fraction of the cost, and with no risk to
business interruption.
LIMITED EQUIPMENT
Galea'i said
the stevedoring companies have shared with the canneries concerns
that they will not be able to accommodate their needs at the
dock due to, among other things, the limited equipment available.
Mark Foster of
Peter E. Reid Stevedoring said they have limited equipment that
is distributed between vessel operations, contractual obligations
to the canneries and other merchants.
"What's
being asked of us to provide is extra service that is not in
the scope of our normal operations," he said. "It is
extra work that was never factored in or budgeted for."
He said equipment
cost charged to the merchants is $65 for a 20 ft. container (to
move the container to the warehouse) and $95 for a 40 ft. container,
plus $65 per hour for the use of a forklift. He told the committee
to bear in mind that these are not a normal part of their day-to-day
operations.
He also said
that trucks and side lifters they have now are already being
fully utilized on a day-to-day basis. He said the major undertaking
is when they work on vessels.
"When we
work vessels, our equipment is tied up," he said. "I
fear that the merchants will have to bear the costs of this because
they're going to rely on us to move the containers into the warehouse
but we won't always be ready to do that due to our own contractual
obligations and day-to-day operations. It is quite an undertaking."
Gordon Cable,
general manager of Harbor Maritime and Stevedoring, agreed with
the statements by Foster and added that the costs "will
be over and above" the transport cost from the wharf to
the person's premise, which is the current practice.
"If you
are asking your local trades people to pay twice for one container
to get outto me, that's extortion," he said. "I think
it will not work."
He said the policy
is "ridiculous" and hopes the committee has sense to
do the right thing.
LIABILITY
AND SPACE
John Suisala
of Polynesian Shipping said, in addition to the concerns raised
by stevedoring companies and the canneries, another concern for
them is liability.
He said their
company worries that the merchants' goods might be damaged or
go missing during inspection and the merchants could turn around
and charge them.
He said there
is also limited space at the dock to conduct centralized inspection.
He worries that this may cause disruption in vessel operations.
Isabel Hudson,
representing Hamburg Sud, added that another concern is safety
at the wharf. She said the space at the wharf is not enough
to perform all the work called for under the new policy. She
also said there are other issues to take into account such as
regulations or policies by OSHA, EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard.
She invited the
committee members to come and see first-hand what goes on at
the wharf for the inspection of containers.
ECONOMIC EFFECT
Chamber of Commerce
President David Robinson said all the current work being undertaken
to try and strengthen our economy by attracting new investment
from overseas countries "will be severely impaired. Our
reputation as a place to invest and set up new business will
be tarnished by this new policy with the problems that it will
cause."
"All the
concerns raised by the business community justify scrapping the
new inspection policy or at least delaying it until further consultation
with those companies affected by it takes place, and they have
a chance to provide more input and refine it so that some form
of practical and workable new policy might be considered in the
future."
He said that
the Chamber doesn't believe the new policy will provide the desired
outcome of increasing government revenue by a substantial amount,
though it might go some way to eliminating a certain volume of
illegal imports.
"However,
if implemented, the new policy will cause unacceptable long delays
for importers in clearing their goods and it will attract additional
costs to all imported goods, particularly food stuffs, that will
be passed on to consumers," he said.
Reach the reporter at
la@samoanews.com.
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