Of course, the shipping cost will be imposed on the sender, recipient or owner of the goods.

What are the shipping costs and does the shipping cost include clearance costs and other costs?

In response to this question, it should be said that shipping costs will start from the first step and continue until delivery to the final destination. Depending on the type of service selected, these costs can vary.

In this section, we will answer your most frequent questions about shipping costs.

In fact, in general, the cost of sea transportation can be made up of the nine factors introduced below, but all of these items, except for the cost of transporting the goods, can be removed and replaced according to the agreements between the parties.

For example, the owner of the goods may be responsible for packaging, clearing, and loading the goods or may entrust it to the transportation company.

The nine factors mentioned are:

1. Cost of receiving the goods
2. Cost of clearance from the customs office of origin
3. Cost of loading
4. Cost of packaging
5. Cost of transportation
6. Cost of unloading
7. Cost of clearance from the customs office of destination
8. Cost of transportation to the final destination
9. Cost of insurance and ancillary services

As a result, in response to the common question about how to calculate additional costs such as unloading and clearance at the destination, the answer should be that these costs can be inquired directly from the shipping company or that you can take care of it yourself.

In the first case, the shipping company will give you an answer based on the information that the shipping company has from the destination country, the cargo being transported, and especially the time of transport, and in the second case, you can get information from the service providers in the destination country by explaining your shipment and the time of its transport

. Some other questions asked about shipping costs are explained below.

• Are shipping companies required to provide a 1% discount on THC fees to member companies or those with international transportation licenses? What about the 10% discount for forwarders?

According to the Container Costs Regulations of 1402, if both forwarders are members and have international transportation licenses, they will benefit from the aforementioned discount.

• How should the bill of lading separation tariff be calculated?

The cost of separating a bill of lading into multiple bills of lading will be determined according to the number of separations. In fact, according to the fourth row of the Container Shipping Costs Tariff of 1402 dated 07/03/1402, No. 3000/02/388/P, the separation fee and the costs included in the tariff table must be taken into account in each case.

• Can the shipping company hold the checks for the customer’s previous bills of lading until the last shipment is cleared on different bills of lading?

Unless the parties have agreed on this, the shipping company does not have such authority.

• Is the shipping company required to include the HSCODE in the warehouse bill/clearance? Can it charge a correction fee?

If it is not previously stated in the bill of lading and requested later, yes, it can be done by charging a fee.

• What is the daily price of container transportation?

The daily price of container transportation should be inquired in each case of transportation, taking into account various effective factors such as the distance between the origin and destination.

• What information should be provided to inquire about sea freight?

The minimum information that must be provided includes origin and destination, type of cargo, volume and weight of the cargo, method of transportation, as well as the time of shipment and the desired service.

• What is the EFS fee?

EFS or Environment Fuel Surcharge is imposed as an additional cost on the owner or sender or recipient of the goods. This fee is due to the use of a service that allows you to change the fuel consumed by the ship. Of course, the alternative fuel will be suitable for the environment and in fact this is a practical measure in line with environmental protection.

• What are the options for paying freight charges?

Pay at origin – Pay at destination – Pay in the Emirates – Pay in Turkey.

• Who is responsible for paying the demand charge and from whom should the shipping agent collect it?

Payment of the demand fee, like other services (clearance, warehouse receipt, etc.), is basically the responsibility of the owner of the goods. However, in order to provide services more easily, the Agent pays it to the Ports Organization and then collects it from the owner of the goods.

• Is the cost of amending the bill of lading separate from the cost of amending the clearance?

Since these are separate documents, naturally, each amendment also entails a separate cost.

• What is the calculation rate for the THC cost conversion? Does this rate differ based on import, export, and transit operations?

This cost is the same for all import, export, and transit operations, and its tariff is also posted daily on the association’s website (https://saoi.ir/currencies/).

• Does the shipping company have the right to withdraw cash deposits without the permission of the owner of the goods?

Since the cash deposit is provided for the purpose of pre-payment of the late fee for a period of 30 days and based on the classification stated in the tariff, if the invoice for the late fee for returning the container is more than the deposit received, the deposit will be amortized and will be considered as a kind of right of withdrawal.

• Can the shipping company require the customer to include the title “Purchase of Services” in the container return guarantee check?

This issue depends on the internal rules of the companies and there is no mandatory law about it.