Shipping Agency Regulation

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On 26 November 2020, the Shipping Agency Regulation was published. The Regulation contains the standards and procedures to be followed by shipping agencies providing services to cargo vessels arriving at a Maldivian port. The key areas of the Regulation are as follows:

 
Licensing of shipping agency

  1. All shipping agencies must obtain a license from the Maldives Transport Authority. The license is valid for 5 years and is renewable.
  2. The entity applying for registration must be a company or partnership registered in the Maldives under the Business Registration Act1 and must be 100% owned by Maldivian shareholders during the licensing period.
  3. If the company or partnership applying for the license has breached a Maldivian law or regulation, such a breach must be resolved before a license can be obtained.
  4. The license cannot be transferred to another company or partnership.

 
Shipping agencies currently in operation

Shipping agencies currently operating in the Maldives must obtain the license under this Regulation by 26 December 2020 – 30 days from publication of the Regulation.

 
Price controls

  1. The only fees that can be charged on the consignees are the service fees agreed between the agent and consignee under the Incoterms. No additional fees can be taken directly or indirectly from the consignee.
  2. For the services provided by the shipping agency, the following price controls will be applicable from 1 March 2021.2
    • MVR 771 as the delivery order (DO) charge for BLs equivalent to full containers or contains more CBM than a full container.
    • MVR 385.5 as the DO charge for BLs that contains less than a full container.
    • MVR 385.5 for any other DO.
    • MVR 385.5 for any amendment to the DO.

 
Effective Date

The Regulation is effective from 26 November 2020.

References

1 Law Number 18/2004.
2 The prices are controlled with the power conferred under Section 65(b) of the Consumer Protection Act (Law Number 12/2020). The Consumer Protection Act will be effective on 1 March 2021.