DUBAI, May 1, 2023 — The Dubai Maritime Authority, at the Ports, Customs, and Free Zone Corporation, is the government agency responsible for regulating, coordinating, and overseeing all aspects of Dubai’s maritime sector. Transparency in Local Sea Container Charges for Dubai, Directive No. 1 of 2023

Dubai Trade Single Window Portal is the only secure portal that allows service providers to report their charges for local sea containers to the DMA.

According to Law No. In accordance with Law No. The new directive, which will be effective from the 1st of May 2023, will give the DMA a clear understanding of local sea containers charges and related practices.

The DMA Partnership Programme, an engagement program for stakeholders that was introduced in order to better understand the needs and concerns of service providers as well as Beneficial Cargo owners (BCOs), led to the development of the directive. The program began in March with a presentation of the DMA’s new mandate. This was followed by interactive workshops and market surveys aimed at better understanding the needs of the sector. The DMA conducted a study to identify international best practices. This was part of its efforts to improve transparency, agility and ease of doing business.

Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum is the Executive Director of Dubai Maritime Authority. He said: “The maritime industry plays a major role in enhancing Dubai’s economic and business value proposition.” The DMA is dedicated to taking proactive steps to increase the sector’s contributions to the emirate’s economy. This includes growing sea trade and improving the infrastructure required for the sector to thrive, as well as driving growth in the demand for ocean logistic in Dubai.

“As the custodians for the maritime sector of the emirate, we want to develop it and strengthen our partnership with private sector,” added Sheikh Saeed. The newly introduced directive was based on an extensive study that we conducted in order to enhance transparency and cost visibility of local sea container fees, and, ultimately, boost the investment attractiveness of the sector. The directive will enable us to analyze data provided by service providers, and determine if they reflect fair competition and commercial best practices. We are responsible for promoting these in Dubai’s marine sector.

This directive is applicable to all service providers who provide local sea container services in, outside or through any port of the emirate. Existing service providers, who are licensed to provide sea container-related services by an authority in Dubai (such as the Department of Economy and Tourism or the Special Development Zones and Free Zones, like the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority) as of the date of implementation, will be included. This also applies to any new service providers who become licensed on or after this date. The directive is applicable to the sea container charges the provider intends on applying from the date the provider receives a licence to provide sea container service. The Authority should receive details of sea container fees in accordance with Article 5(2) of the Directive.

Within 30 days after the directive takes effect, all existing service providers are required to submit their current local sea container fees. New service providers will be required to submit their entire list of sea container fees within 30 calendar days of being licensed.

Dubai Maritime Authority Directive No. Directive No. 1 of the Dubai Maritime Authority on Transparency in Local Sea Container Charges requires that service providers submit all local sea container charges via the Dubai Trade Single Window Portal within 30 days after the publication of this directive.

All service providers will be prohibited to increase their sea container charges after the date of implementation. A service provider can, for example, increase their sea container charges to reflect increased or new charges from the Authority, Port Operator, or Government, as long as they do not include any of their own charges. The service charge freeze will continue until further notice.

The DMA will require service providers to upload their local sea container charges to the Dubai Trade Single Window Portal. In order to comply with Directive No. To comply with Directive No. If there are any charges that are not listed in the portal, service providers will need to declare them using the ‘Miscellaneous Option’.