Vietnamese transport companies that ship goods to Cambodia via a border gate in southern Tay Ninh Province are moaning on a steep toll imposed on them starting last weekend.
Tractor-trailers managed by these firms are hired by Cambodian partners to carry imports shipped to Vietnam via Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia through Moc Bai border gate, around 60km northwest of the southern metropolis.
On Saturday, the Tay Ninh People’s Committee began collecting tolls from vehicles passing the border gate.
The toll fee for tractor-trailers is as much as VND2.5 million (US$118) per vehicle.
What matters is transport companies were uninformed about the new policy, they said.
“We only learnt of the toll collection one day before it took effect,” the representative of a container shipping firm said.
The Vietnamese businesses had to contact their Cambodian partners, asking them to count the new toll fee into their already signed contracts.
Many Cambodian businesses rejected the sudden proposition, while some could not be reached during the weekend.
The tractor-trailer drivers had no choice but to park their vehicles along the road leading to the border gate, pending responses from the Cambodian customers.
On Sunday, around 100 tractor-trailers still queued in a long line at the border gate.
A transport company said the VND2.5 million toll is too high as they only earn nearly VND200,000 in profit from transporting each container to Cambodia.
Nguyen Thai Hoang, director of Thai Nguyen Lam Co Ltd, said he had to use money from his own pocket to pay the toll to meet the contract deadline.
Hoang expressed his concern that Cambodian firms will import goods directly via their seaports instead through Vietnam given the steep toll.
While it used to cost Cambodian importers some VND4 million ($188) per container to transit their shipments through Vietnam, the fee is now VND6.5 million.
“No businesses will accept such a huge hike,” Huynh Duc, director of Thinh Anh Duong Logistics Co Ltd, said.
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