In today�s shipping business, a shipping line or a ship owner cannot stand alone and dictate freight and other charges as well as the port operator cannot dictate the port charges. All players in shipping business depend on each other to survive and prosper in business. A shipper depends on a shipping company to carry goods to required destination and the shipping company depends on the shipper to get cargo for the vessel, likewise Shipping agents, Port and CFS operators, Clearing and Forwarding agents and Inland transport service providers cannot survive without cargo from shippers. A level playing ground and mutual understanding among players in the supply chain logistics is vital for economic growth in any Regional Economical Block.

In view of this, ISCOS advocates to amend the former ISCOS/East African Conference line VDS procedure and other surcharge procedures to the next level by developing a regional maritime operating manual. The said manual would include: procedures for introduction, increase and removal of surcharges, General Rate Increase (GRIs) and other relevant consultative issues well articulated for all players doing shipping business in the region to consider observing. Consideration of the manual would be beneficial to all stakeholders as it would give avenue for meaningful consultations and reduction of industrial acrimonies.

The cost of doing business in the East and Central African region is increasing day after day because of proliferation of charges in the supply logistics chain. The transport and logistics cost carry a big portion in the total cost of making cargo available to the final consumer. All stakeholders in the transport logistic chain contribute to varying degree to these costs. The transport logistic costs arise from all kinds of delays, inefficiencies, unnecessary procedures (bureaucracy), poor cargo off take, lack of efficient rail and road transport services and lack of trust between the revenue authorities and the shippers.

To do away with some, if not all of these costs, ISCOS is of the opinion that every player in the supply logistics chain should be held responsible and carry the cost caused by their inefficiencies instead of passing on all cost to the shipper (exporter/importer) alone who ultimately passes the cost to the final consumer. To make it practical, ISCOS advises and recommend stakeholders to develop and sign the Service Level Agreement which identifies who should do what and to what performance level so that whoever is responsible should pay for it. For example, there is no point at all for the Port/CFS to charge storage if the clearance for the cargo is delayed because of the Port/CFS inefficiency. On the other hand if an importer decides to turn the port into storage place by delaying clearing the cargo from the port, should be penalized for that. Delays resulting from poor declaration by Freight Clearing and Forwarding agents should be accounted to them and they be held responsible. If everyone in the supply logistics chain plays his/her part responsibly there will be remarkable cargo fluidity through our logistic chain.

Shippers Council is the cargo owners association established to join cargo owners together in order to protect their interest during cargo movement in the entire logistics chain. Exporters and Importers in the East and Central Africa region have the same cargo destinations and use the same means of transport. Shippers are hereby informed that other stakeholders in the supply chain logistics have their strong associations as their platform for protecting their individual and group interests. A Shipper being a major stakeholder in the supply chain must be able to negotiate the terms of moving the cargo to and from the market. Shipper should join hands and negotiate for favorable freight rates and conditions of services as one voice through their associations.

Shipper� Councils role among others are:-

Due to the benefits to be driven by cargo owners and the trade as a whole through shippers� councils, ISCOS is working hard to make sure that all shippers in the member states establish strong and vibrant councils to foster consultations between players in the supply chain logistics for the well being of the regional trade.

To date, through ISCOS and other stakeholder initiatives, Shippers Council exists in Kenya, Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar and Uganda. In Zambia, establishment of the national shippers� Council is at advanced stage hoping to be concluded by December, 2011.

Lack of enough land adjacent to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports in Kenya and Tanzania respectively and the increase of cargo originating and destined to these ports have made the establishment of CFSs/ICDs as port extension inevitable. Port extension aims at creating more space which allows optimum equipment maneuverability and hence decongesting the port. This was taken as a short time measure to decongest the ports when our ports were hit by the congestion crisis in 2007.

However, lack of space was and is not the only factor which causes port congestion. There are other factors such as poor cargo off takes, lack of cargo handling equipment, cargo clearance procedures, cargo free period policies, nature of ships calling at our ports, inefficiency in inland transport and limited use of technology.

We applaud our major ports for their effort to embark on port expansion projects (construction of berths 13 and 14 in Dar es Salaam port and berth 19 in Mombasa port). Indeed, these projects will bring about a remarkable improvement in our ports operations.

Once the construction projects of berth 19 at the port of Mombasa and berths 13 and 14 at the port of Dar es Salaam are completed, the problem of cargo fluidity in our ports will greatly be solved. Moreover, these projects should go hand in hand with the improvement of efficiency in port operations, inland transport especially the railway transport, port access roads, application of risk management system to enhance cargo direct deliveries, use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to fast cargo clearance and increase cooperation among players in the port business.

Viewing our ports on the envisaged near future developments, there is a need for stakeholders in the port business to go back to the drawing board to review the role and future functioning of CFSs and ICDs. The review is much needed because the CFSs and ICDs have increased the cost of handling seaborne containers due to the element of double handling and transferring containers from the port to CFS/ICD.

Introduction
Our region is endowed with vast inland water bodies, Lake Victoria the largest lake in Africa and the second largest in the World is found in this region. Lake Tanganyika the deepest and longest lake is also found in the region. There are also other navigable lakes such Nyasa, Albert, Turkana, Naivasha, Rukwa and Kioga. Rivers in the region have different degree of navigable portions creating challenges in their use as waterways for longer distances to bring about economies of scale.

Inland waterway transport is an alternative to road and rail transport. In particular; it offers an environment friendly alternative in terms of both energy consumption and noise and gas emissions. It forms a remarkable connectivity between ISCOS member states; Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are connected through Lake Victoria via Mwanza, Bukoba, Kemondo Bay and Musoma ports on the Tanzanian side; Kisumu port in the Kenyan side; and Port Bell in the Ugandan side. Zambia is connected to Tanzania through Lake Tanganyika via Mpulungu port on the Zambian side and Kigoma port on the Tanzanian side. Also, Malawi, a prospective ISCOS� Member is connected to Tanzania by inland waterways through Lake Nyasa/Malawi by Nkhata Bay port in Malawi and Itungi, Kiwila, Liuli and Mbamba Bay port in Tanzania.

Benefits
Water transportation provides tremendous carrying capacity while consuming far less energy compared to other modes of transport such as road, rail or air. Shippers select barge transportation because these energy efficiencies lead to substantial cost savings. In terms of energy efficiency, the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD), "Environmental advantages of inland barge transportation", Department of Transportation, August 1994 study, it was observed that one gallon of fuel can move one ton of cargo 822 kilometres by barge compared to 323 kilometres by train and only 94 kilomitres by truck.

Roadway congestion would be reduced as freight and even passengers are transferred to waterways where significant capacity is available by doing some improvements in terminals and navigational aids. Water transportation would stimulate the regional economy through attraction of new industries, jobs and growth in the tax base.

The decisions a business owner must make regarding transportation of products are closely related to a number of other distribution issues. For example, the accessibility of suitable means of transportation is one of the factors to be considered regarding where best to locate a business or facility. The means of transportation chosen will also affect decisions regarding the form of packing used for products and the size or frequency of shipments made. Although transportation costs may be reduced by sending larger shipments less frequently, it is also necessary to consider the costs of holding extra inventory. The interrelationship of these decisions means that successful planning and scheduling can help business owners to save on transportation costs.

In the course of reducing cost of transport for the interstate trade, it is important to develop and sustain efficient inland waterways through our giant lakes especially Lake Victoria and Tanganyika, without forgetting navigable portions in our rivers which would serve as a link among local communities living along rivers.

Challenges
Lack of a coordinated approach in solving challenges facing inland waterways especially in Lake Victoria which is shared by three member states has lead to duplicated efforts and high cost in trying to find solutions. Several studies have been carried out and problems facing the inland ports have been identified together with appropriate solutions, but implementation of the recommendations has been very slow causing a wide gap between the recommendations and implementation, which in turn create the following consequences:

From recent studies it was found that inland ports face problems arising from many years of neglect, poor traffic separation schemes, and lack of coherent security and safety mechanisms and low level of capacity utilization due to competition from road transport and the dilapidated state of railway system connecting inland ports and the sea ports. Inland ports have missed out the advantages associated with containerization and technological changes that brought revolution in the shipping industry. This has adversely affected road network due to overloading and hence increased cost of road and vehicle maintenance.

Way Forward
The regional inland waterways should be regionally revitalized to harness its potential interstates connectivity. Efficient inland waterways may attract more investments in the region, especially in the Great Lakes region. However, this should go hand in hand with improvement in railway infrastructure and network connections to the sea transport for intercontinental connectivity.

In view of the above economic importance attached to revamping of inland waterways and last study carried out in 2008, ISCOS is undertaking a follow up visit to the lake ports of Kisumu, Portbell, Mwanza, Bukoba, Kigoma and Mpulungu for the purpose of: