From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jul 09 2008 - 09:18:46 EDT
Ethiopia worried about Djibouti port tariff plan Wed 9 Jul 2008, 11:48 GMT
ADDIS ABABA, July 9 (Reuters) - Land-locked Ethiopia sent its top trade
official to Djibouti on Wednesday after the Red Sea state said it would
introduce a new tariff on port services.
An Ethiopian government source said Trade and Industry Minister Girma Birru
was dispatched after Djibouti unveiled plans to introduce the tariff with
effect from August 15.
"The imposition of a new tariff without prior consultation would be unfair
and difficult to accept," the source said, without giving details of the new
tariff.
"The impact would hurt Ethiopia, which is suffering from inflation and
rising global food and oil prices."
Djiboutian officials could not immediately be contacted.
The country's port is Ethiopia's main gateway for imports and exports after
it lost the Red Sea ports of Assab and Masawa when Eritrea won its
independence from Ethiopia in 1991.
Ethiopian officials say Djibouti earns about $300 million a year for
handling some 4.6 million tonnes of Ethiopian goods.
The officials say the government and business leaders in Addis Ababa are
also concerned about Djiboutian plans to cut to eight days from 15 the
period that Ethiopian goods can be stored at the port for free. (Reporting
by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Daniel Wallis) (For full Reuters Africa
coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit
http://africa.reuters.com/).
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