The acceptance period for submissions on Transport for New South Wales’ Ports and Maritime Administration Regulation 2012 consultation is due to close soon, on 19 February.
Details on a variety of matters are contained in the regulation including port charges, mandatory standards and performance measures under the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy (PBLIS), boundaries to state ports, dangerous goods, and more.
Key changes include:
- a revised definition of “container” to more closely align NSW requirements with national and international standards;
- the principles applied to charging for goods in bulk are to be applied only to goods that have been loaded or discharged from a hold or tank of a vessel;
- vessels that make more than one entry to Port Botany and Sydney Harbour without entering another port will receive a 50 per cent reduction on the navigation service charge for subsequent entries;
- at Port Kembla, the manifest for goods discharged from the vessel is to be provided by the end of the third working day after the vessel enters port;
- information relevant to the calculation of berthing charges is no longer required in triplicate.
A comprehensive review of PBLIS is due to get underway this year too. This will be reviewed to assess strategy and to ensure that PBLIS is meeting its objectives.
“These arrangements were introduced following a 2008 Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal finding about inefficiencies with container movements at Port Botany. It is now timely that these arrangements are reviewed to assess the outcomes of the strategy and ensure it is meeting its objectives. The findings will inform potential future amendments of the legislation,” TfNSW reports.
Find out more about the review, and access a variety of official, relevant, documents here.
