Newsletter – May 4, 2018

AIR FREIGHT

Delivery of air cargo screening rules on horizon
source : americanshipper.com
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is anticipated to release an interim final rule setting forth mandatory Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) requirements within the next six months, said Dominique Tarpey, section chief for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Global Supply Chain and Canine Initiatives, during a trade conference on Wednesday.  Read more here.

OCEAN FREIGHT UPDATES

OOCL enjoys a busier and more profitable first quarter than its new owner
source: theloadstar.co.uk
Ahead of its acquisition by COSCO, ocean carrier OOCL’s carryings jumped 7.5% year on year, to 1.58m teu, in the first quarter, while revenue surged 16%, to $1.38bn.  Read more here (login required).

Blockchain and e-bills of lading
source: lexology.com
Due to recent technological developments and widespread interest in blockchain technology, electronic bills of lading have once again been thrust onto the mainstage of international trade.
Since the 1980’s the realisation that international trade would benefit from the introduction of paperless transactions and a contemporary electronic replacement of the bill of lading, also referred to as an e-bill of lading, has noticeably grown.  Read more here.

China Bans Foreign Ships Heading for Scrap
source: splash247.com
China, which has led the world in green ship recycling, is shutting its doors to foreign ships heading to its shores to be broken up. Read more here.

ONE’s predicts total revenue to rise to US$14b in 2020
source: shippingazette
OCEAN Network Express (ONE), which started operations in April, has published its three-year business plan and is predicting total revenue in the first year of US$13.2 billion, rising to $13.9 billion in 2019 and $14.2 billion in 2020.  Read more here.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Warehouse rents in the US are rising rapidly as e-commerce gobbles up space faster than it can be replenished
source: theloadstar.co.uk
In some cases, the urge to bring on new capacity seems strangely muted: when it comes to cargo facilities at US airports, there seems to be no hurry to add new or overhaul existing cargo infrastructure, despite serious bottlenecks exposed in last year’s peak season. Read more here.

Supply chain wages continue to increase: APICS
source: canadianshipper.com
Chicago, IL — A new survey from APICS, a supply chain management association, reveals a healthy outlook for those employed in supply chain, with wage increases and high job satisfaction reported across the profession.  Read more here.

CANADA BUSINESS – GOVERNMENT UPDATES

Multiple Improvements Planned for Montreal Longroom: CBSA
source: CIFFA
CBSA has announced a new stamping procedure at Port 0395. The change in stamps affects manifest deconsolidations and remanifests only. For these items, a rectangular stamp will be used. Manifest corrections will continue to have a circular stamp.
The change in stamps is part one of a multi-part improvement at CBSA 0395, the Agency has said.

CIFFA’s Executive Director Ruth Snowden recently visited the CBSA’s Montreal longroom. CIFFA has long been engaged in keeping the lines of communication open with the CBSA with an aim to facilitate the movement of legitimate trade, while reducing non-value-added activities.
Part of the discussion has been around the lack of clarity on what documents the CBSA at 0395 requires for re-manifest packages. Everyone would benefit if the CBSA could provide explicit instructions for how re-man packages should look, including labels, number of copies and order, Snowden told officials.
Among ideas for improvement, CIFFA has brought forward the suggestion that a short training session by CBSA might reduce the number of rejects received by forwarders who complain that their document package is complete and the A8A compliant.

Although Montreal 395 is very good about providing the cover sheet (which not all ports provide), often the phones aren’t answered so that someone can ‘talk through’ the supposed reason for the reject and so the forwarder could correct if necessary.
Meanwhile, CIFFA could provide CBSA’s new students or clerks some training at the same time, on what the freight forwarder does, how we get all of these tiers of co-loads in a file, where the data originates, where the paper originates and so on.

During their discussions, the CBSA and CIFFA agreed that innovative solutions are needed to improve processing at the longroom. CIFFA members will be invited to participate in improvement pilot programs as they are established. Stay tuned.