The appeal by the port terminal operators’ trade associations Assiterminal and Uniport to protest against the law of the Campania Region, which has induced the local Port System Authority to request from concessionaires the payment of sums due for the period 2020-2025 as a regional tax, has had at least a small effect.
Indeed, the port authority of Naples and Salerno intervened with a note, acknowledging that “this provision undoubtedly also has a heavy impact on the port sector, and it is evident that the said levy risks undermining the competitiveness of the strategic ports of Campania compared to other national ports; for this reason, the Adsp of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea is taking an active role, hoping that this tax within the port and reference sectors can be reassessed immediately, also through dialogue with both state and regional bodies.”
Assiterminal and Uniport raised the case, explaining that, with a letter sent to all companies operating in the ports of Naples, Salerno and Castellammare, the Adsp of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea – in the name and on behalf of the Region by virtue of a law adopted by the latter at the end of July – is requesting payment to the regional body of a tax on concession fees which for the current year can range (depending on the duration of the concession deed) from 10% to 25% of the annual fee, as well as the arrears for the previous 5 years.
Uniport and Assiterminal have expressed their intention to “find, in all appropriate forums, jurisdictional and political (regional and national), the right solutions to safeguard the competitiveness of companies and to re-establish competitive conditions, if not identical at least compatible, with those of companies located in other Regions that operate in the same national and international markets.”
