The Chamber of Industry, Marketing and Food Distribution (MIDA) on Thursday filed suit in federal court to stop enforcement of the new tariffs recently approved by the Bureau of Transportation and Other Public Services (NTSP) to override existing contractual protect agreements. for the transportation of food and avoiding an increase in food costs hitting the consumer’s wallets.
The lawsuit filed seeks to declare the NTSP’s regulations and circular setting the new tariffs invalid and unenforceable, as well as the statement of a standing order preventing the government from imposing sanctions for alleged non-compliance.
“We took this urgent legal action, after exhausting all options, with the goal of protecting the consumer’s wallets and halting another outrageous increase in the operating costs of the food industry in Puerto Rico,” said Lcdo. Manuel Reyes Alfonso, Executive Vice President of the organization, in written statements.
He added that the NTSP’s actions violate the Promises Act, as the circular had not previously been submitted to the Fiscal Oversight Board for review and approval. Likewise, the rates are contrary to the tax plan approved for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
According to Reyes, this is misinformation because it is not about increasing the pre-existing tariffs, but about imposing a new tariff system on sectors operating on the basis of negotiated private contracts in the free market for the benefit of both parties and especially the consumer. Therefore, instead of deregulating what was regulated as ordered by the tax plan, the authority of the NTSP is expanding and drastically changing the way we do business in our economy. The resulting increase that the government intends to implement will be to the detriment of the food industry and thus of consumers, who will face any price increases as a result of the application of the new tariffs.
“When the NTSP imposed temporary transportation tariffs in December, it did so by ignoring the commercial relationships between independent carters and food stores. No serious analysis has been made of the impact of a change of this magnitude on our economy. Historically, the Public Service Commission, the predecessor of the NTSP, had respected these relationships by excluding them from regulatory rates because they were the same as those agreed between two private entities, the driver and the merchant. It is absurd, and defeats the purpose of private contracts, to pretend to apply rates designed for individual trips when thousands of trips are contracted and which provide guarantees and security to transport companies, ”noted Reyes Alfonso.
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The MIDA spokesperson stressed that the tariffs included in the new NTSP regulation do not take into account the functioning of the food distribution industry. He explained that the scaffolding of food distribution and transportation is complex, with the companies individually contracting with the owners of the independent trucks.
Also, payments to carriers are based on the number of boxes or “packages” delivered to retailers. Rates vary according to the location of the stores to receive goods and the type of cargo to be delivered: dry, fresh, chilled or frozen. Other factors such as the weight and size of the packages also affect recruitment. Freight delivery trips include multiple stops at different stores and municipalities.
He clarified that this contract is typically revised annually, so it is also incorrect to claim that tariffs have not changed in 15 years, but have been adjusted much more efficiently than any regulatory process.
“They created a problem where there was none. The industry has always had a good relationship with its thousands of careers, as evidenced by decades of business relationships. Each party to a negotiation can strive for more, but it is this negotiation process that ensures efficiency in the supply chain for the benefit of the consumer. These increases would be added to the increases already imposed by the managers of the docks with which the government has not wanted to intervene, those of electricity and the international ones that we do not control. We urge Governor Pierluisi to listen to the food industry, defend consumers against these increases and allow us to clear up the confusion caused by a small sector that does not represent the entire private transportation sector, ”he said. Kings.
MIDA’s appeal is the second appeal brought by private sector entities regarding this scheme, with the Chamber of Commerce filing another appeal with the local court of appeal in late January.