THE EURO - the new currency for 12 member countries of the European Union from January 1 - has slipped into daily public use on the continent without causing any waves, and has caused no hiccups for SA shippers. According to Nolene Lossau, executive director of the SA Shippers’ Council, the move from 12 individual national currencies to the single euro currency is really nothing more than a change in the currency prefixes in the company’s books, and a different - but now unified - exchange rate. “Anyway, freight rates have always been charged in US dollars, and only the European landside charges (like terminal handling) are now charged in the euro,” she added. “And the lines and European freight operators have been using the euro in these invoices for some months.”
