Port charges reduced

The Ethiopian government said it had resolved a row over port handling charges with neighbouring Djibouti. After two days of negotiations in Addis Ababa this week, senior officials from the two countries signed a deal, Reuters said on 13 February. According to Ethiopian government sources, the deal incorporated mutually satisfying new tariffs on products entering the Djibouti port. Ethiopia had earlier rejected a proposed 150 percent increase in port charges by Dubai Port International, which took over the handling of Djibouti port last year. The Ethiopian government said the increase violated a 1999 agreement between the two countries that charges would not be changed without mutual consent, Reuters said. Under the new agreement, port handling charges will be reduced for bulk oil products from US $2.50 to $2.00 per tonne, effective 1 March. Charges for products such as grain, flour, alcohol, and tobacco will be cut from US $4.00 to $3.00 per tonne, said Reuters. Ethiopia was forced to rely on the Djibouti port after it lost access to the Eritrean ports of Assab and Massawa, when a border war began with Eritrea in 1998.