Draft Report for the 2018 Ports Access and Pricing Review released - call for submissions

The Commission is required to review the access and price regulation regime established under Part 11 of the Ports Management Act and Part 3 of the Ports Management Regulations and deliver a report to the Minister by 15 November 2018. As this is the first review, it is due three years following the commencement of the regime. Subsequent reviews will be five-yearly.

The purpose of the review is to determine:

(a)  whether there is an ongoing need for regulatory oversight of access to, and pricing of, prescribed services provided by the private port operator

(b) whether there is a need to change the form of regulatory oversight of access, and if so, how

(c)  whether there is a need to change the form of regulatory oversight of prices, and if so, how

(d) whether amendments should be made to the access and pricing regime, and if so, the nature of those amendments.

As part of the review, in February 2018 the Commission released an Issues Paper which identified topics to be considered as part of the review of the regime, seeking feedback from all stakeholders involved in the regulated ports industries. Submissions on the Issues Paper closed on 28 March 2018. Six submissions were received from stakeholders which are available on the Commission’s website.

The Draft Report considers the issues that were identified by the Commission in the Issues Paper as well as those raised by stakeholders in submissions and discussions. This report sets out the Commission’s draft findings and draft recommendations and seeks feedback from all stakeholders involved in the ports industry. All interested parties are invited to make submissions on the Draft Report by Friday 31 August 2018. Submissions on the Draft Report will inform the Commission’s Final Report which is due to the Minister by 15 November 2018.

In the interest of transparency, the Commission will make submissions publicly available with the exception of any confidential information, which includes:

• information that could affect the competitive position of an entity or other perso
• or information that is commercially sensitive for some other reason.

Submissions must clearly specify the document (or part of it) that contains confidential information. A version of the submission suitable for publication (that is, with any confidential information removed) should also be submitted.

To facilitate publication, submissions should be provided electronically by email to utilities.commission@nt.gov.au in Abode Acrobat or Microsoft Word format.

Any questions regarding this Issues Paper or the review should be directed to the Utilities Commission by telephone (08) 8999 5480 or email utilities.commission@nt.gov.au

2018 Ports Access and Pricing Review – Draft Report