ASIAN SUPPLY BASE CONSIDERING REVISION ON NEWLY-ENFORCED GATE FEES

By Jailani Hasan

LABUAN, Jan 8 -- Asian Supply Base Sdn Bhd (ASB) is considering a revision of the newly-enforced gate fees in view of the grievances of logistics service providers and transporters.

Labuan-based ASB, which is a Sabah government linked company, introduced new gate fee charges (classified based on the type of vehicles) to all vehicles entering its gates effective Jan 1, 2021.

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Newly-appointed chief executive officer Japar B. Esteban said ASB, which has more than 100 multinational and local companies operating in the base, was willing to listen to the industry players' inputs and grievances, taking into account the business interests of both ASB and its clients.

"We have been briefed by the Labuan Freight Forwarders Association (LFFA) led by its president, Prunella Phoong, on the additional charges to be incurred by the transporters (forwarders), and we will conduct a thorough study on this before making any decision," he told a press conference here today.

Japar said the matter would be presented to the ASB board soon to finalise the proposed revision.

He said ASB gate charges were first introduced in 1990 and the last revision was made in 2000.

As this fee is a third-party charge and can be substantial when accumulated, the LFFA has notified all clients in the logistics industry that there will be additional charges invoiced involving transportation charges for entries into ASB locations, including Main Gate 1, Gate 2, New Yard, Yard 45, Yard 36, Warehouse 3, and Warehouse 7.

Phoong said the fee included all deliveries of imported consignments or collection of export consignments from clients located within ASB locations as noted in the circular charges.

ASB’s new charges, according to the circular dated Dec 14, 2020, are based on categories and classes (A-E) of vehicles (commercial vehicles, trucks, trailers, and prime movers) from three tonnes to 10 tonnes and the fee will range from RM5 to RM35 per entry.

"The issue now is the logistics industry players were not consulted prior to the implementation of the new gate fees, which will incur an additional financial burden on them. This is (why there’s) an outcry from the industry players," she said.

-- BERNAMA