Amendments to Ports Industry Guidelines
In May 2010 the Commission revised the South Australian Ports Industry Guidelines to reflect amendments to the Maritime Services (Access) Act 2000 (the MSA Act) that have recently been enacted to implement many of the recommendations made by the Commission in the 2007 Ports Pricing and Access Review.
In 2007, the Commission conducted a review of the ports pricing and access regimes that applies to certain ports in South Australia, as required under the Maritime Services (Access) Act 2000 (the MSA Act). The Review also incorporated an Inquiry into the consistency of the South Australian ports access regime with certain aspects of the Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement (CIRA), entered into by COAG in February 2006.
The Review concluded that the ports regimes, which include a negotiate/arbitrate framework for ports access coupled with price monitoring, should continue beyond 30 October 2007, for a further 3 year period. It has also found that the ports access regime is generally consistent with the requirements of clause 2 of the CIRA, although the Commission has recommended that certain amendments to the regime could be made to introduce greater consistency, and that there are some minor modifications that could be made to otherwise improve the manner in which it operates.
As a number of amendments to the MSA Act has recently been enacted to implement many of the recommendations made by the Commission in that Review, the Commission has revised the Ports Industry Guidelines to ensure consistency where relevant.
