Act on Fairway Dues – The competitiveness of the export industry will be strengthened by permanently halving the dues from 2025
Act on Fairway Dues – The purpose of the change
Act on Fairway Dues – Industrial operators operating in Finland that use sea transport for export and import can comment on the government’s draft presentation on the temporary halving of the fairway fee in the years 2024–2027. Time to comment ends September 1, 2023.
At the same time, the Finnish government is launching a project to amend the Act on Fairway Dues, which aims to make the halving of the fairway dues permanent. The purpose is to first halve the fairway dues levied on merchant shipping vessels under the Act on Fairway Dues. After the change, the purpose is to make the reduced level of dues permanent.
The permanent halving will be implemented in two stages with intention to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and overlapping preparatory work. In the first phase, provision is made for the collection of dues temporarily halved in the years 2024–2027. In the second stage, the temporary halving will be cancelled and provisions will be made for a permanent halving of the fairway dues from the beginning of 2025.
Background – Act on Fairway Dues
The dues have been charged in half since 2015 under temporary laws. Originally, the halving was implemented to compensate for the costs of the sulphur directive affecting maritime transport. Since then, the continuation of the halving has been justified by supporting competitiveness and recovering from the economic challenges caused by the corona years. The current temporary law expires on December 31, 2023. Without legislative measures, the dues price list valid in 2014 would come into effect on January 1, 2024.
About the due fee obligation
The fairway dues must be paid when a ship arrives in Finnish territorial waters from abroad or when a ship arrives to a Finnish port from a Finnish port.
The fairway due is not paid when the ship arrives at the port of Saimaa or when the ship picks up cargo from another port of Saimaa. However, the fairway due is paid from a ship arriving at a coastal seaport from the Saimaa Canal.
Calculating the amount of toll and unit prices
The fairway due amount is obtained by multiplying the vessel’s net tonnage by the unit price. A unit price determined based on the ice class has been set for cargo and passenger ships. Fixed unit prices independent of ice class have been set for cruise and high-speed ships.
The maximum amount of the toll fee per boat trip and per year
The maximum amount of the fairway fee per voyage of a cargo ship and a high-speed ship is 53,875 euros. However, the fairway fee for a passenger ship is a maximum of 16,215 euros and the fairway fee for a cruise ship is a maximum of 22,250 euros.
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Our expert in the subject area is Oscari Seppälä.
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