Operating Procedures for Trade Community Regarding Implementation of the Wood Packaging Materials (WPM) Regulation (pdf)

Wood Packaging Materials Frequently Asked Questions (pdf)

States Sue Over Wood Packaging Rules 23 Sept 2005, JOC Online

WASHINGTON - Attorneys General of New York, California, Illinois and Connecticut have filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over new rules to regulate wood packaging materials on import cargo.

The states complain that heat treatment is insufficient to prevent the spread of pests that can damage living trees. Heat treatment and fumigation with methyl bromide are the two prescriptions allowed under the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures Publication No. 15, or ISPM 15.

The new standard took effect in the U.S., Mexico and Canada on Sept. 16, but the three countries will phase in enforcement over the next nine months.

The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York, complains that the USDA failed to consider more effective and less environmentally harmful methods of prevention.

The attorneys general said that methyl bromide is harmful to the ozone, and is being banned elsewhere in the world. Pests could also bore deeply into wood to survive heat treatment.

They said that federal law requires the USDA to consider alternatives that are less harmful to the environment, such as the use of recycled plastic or plywood for pallets.

The states are asking the court to remand the rule to USDA and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for reconsideration.

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C U S T O M S  ◊  T R A D E  ◊  T R A N S P O R T A T I O N  ◊  S E C U R I T Y

Customs May Require Earlier Import Data: Koch
 16 Sept 2005, JOC Online

Customs and Border Protection is considering requiring importers to file entry data much earlier than they currently do in order to improve targeting for risky shipments, according to Chris Koch, the chief executive of the container line trade group World Shipping Council. Also, he said, a regulation requiring high security container seals on all imported containers "is in the final review process."

In a speech in Singapore, Koch said that Customs is considering advancing the time for the filing of U.S. importers' cargo entry data to before vessel loading to coincide with the timing for carriers' filing of manifests 24-hours before the ship sails, under the 24-hour rule.

"CBP is actively considering requiring such data 24 hours before vessel loading," Koch told the Singapore Shipping Association. "An announcement from CBP on this issue seems likely in the near future."

In addition, Koch said CBP is also considering requiring the filing of new, additional data elements needed to improve screening that would be in addition to the carriers' manifests and the importers' cargo entry data. One way these additional data elements could be obtained, he said, is through Customs' Advanced Trade Data Initiative. "This would appear to be a more far-reaching issue and will require greater clarity and discussion about the specific desired data elements, from whom they would be collected, and how they would be collected," Koch said. "It is also unclear at this time whether such additional data elements would only be requested from C-TPAT or 'Green Lane' shippers or for all shipments."

C-TPAT, or Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, is the voluntary public-private program for trade security, and the Green Lane is the premise of reduced inspections for incoming shipments that would benefit C-TPAT participants.

In regard to both a requirement for entry data and additional data elements, Koch said it's not certain what final requirements will emerge and when. "It is not certain at present what decisions will be made in this regard," he said.

Regarding container seals, Koch said a regulation is likely to be proposed before the end of the year. "Public comments will then be solicited, and it would be reasonable to expect that such a requirement could become effective sometime in 2006," he said.

The regulation could possibly require ocean carriers to verify the integrity of the seal on every container they load on ships bound for the U.S. This would mean verifying that the seal is an ISO high security seal, that it is intact, and that its number matches the seal number on the shipping documents.

He said if this happens it will be highly relevant in at the port of Singapore, as well as at other ports where U.S.-bound cargo is loaded. "If ocean carriers are required by U.S. law to verify the seals on all U.S. bound containers loaded aboard their vessels, they obviously will need their terminal operators to perform this task," he said.

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IBM, Maersk Team Up on Ship Tracking
Sep. 21, 2005  India Daily

Government cargo inspectors would be able to get real-time data about the contents and whereabouts of shipping vessels around the world under a new tracking service being introduced by International Business Machines Corp. and the Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S. The monitoring program involves putting a shoebox-sized wireless sensor inside individual cargo containers. The devices would relay data on the containers'' location and condition — and whether they appear to have been tampered with — via satellite to a centralized system accessible by manufacturers, retailers and shipping companies in addition to government inspectors.

Currently, U.S. port inspectors can electronically access information about the contents of a cargo vessel, but it's generally limited to static data gathered when the ship left port, according to Patrick Jones, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The IBM-Maersk project would be new, he said, in its ability to offer real-time information that could signify something suspicious to port inspectors. Any such clues could be vital, considering that nearly 9 million cargo containers arrive in U.S. seaports every year. "If we were able to track the movement of the ship, that would improve security," he said. And "if there's technology out there that can tell us if a container's been tampered with, then let's see if we can develop it and use it."

The technology, developed by IBM researchers, is due to be tested on Maersk ships beginning this fall. The companies want to be sure the tracking devices — which are bigger and more powerful than the passive radio-frequency identification chips being added to many companies' supply pallets — work in a real shipping environment. Water and metal can interfere with some wireless transmissions.

 IBM executives acknowledged that the system would add costs, which they declined to specify, to the shipping process. But they said the system should be valued by manufacturers and retailers that would be able to get clearer insight into the logistics of their inventories traveling the globe. The benefit to government inspectors is an added bonus, said Derek Moore, an associate partner in the business consulting unit for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM. "You've got in a sense a happy marriage," he said. "The public interest is likely to demand much more stringent assurance that once a container has been closed, that it has not been tampered with. This technology offers a real hope of achieving that."

Bolt Seals Required     

Effective October 1, 2005, all laden boxes or containers either arriving or discharging all ocean terminals in India will require bottle or bolt seals.  Indian Customs will refuse to load or discharge containers without an affixed bolt or bottle seal.  In addition Indian Customs will require the seal number to be documented on the manifest. 

In order to assist our customers’ responsibility of compliance with this new India instruction, suggested vendors of the ISO/PAS 17712 compliant bottle seal are as follows:

OneSeal Inc.                                                   American Casting & Manufacturing

628 Route 10, #2                                              51 Commercial Street

Whippany, NJ 07981                                        Plainview, NY 11803-2401

(973) 599-1155                                               (800) 343-0333

oneseal@onesealusa.com                                 www.americancasting.com

www.oneseal.com                                           

Stoffel Seals Corporation                              Elite Seals

P.O. Box 825                                                   374 H St. PMB A533

Nyack, NY 10960-0825                                  Chula Vista, CA 91910-7496

(800) 344-4772                                               (619) 434-8432

www.stoffel.com                                              sales@eliteseal.com

www.eliteseals.com

CGM Security Solutions, Inc.

223 Churchill Avenue

Somerset, NJ 08873

(732) 448-1400

www.cgmsecuritysolutions.com

Please ensure that all containers destined to the Indian ports have a bolt seal affixed to the container at the shipper’s premises and CP Ships Export Customer Service receives the manifest detailing the seal number.

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Bush: U.S. Ready to Drop all Trade Barriers
14 Sept 2005, JOC Online

President Bush told a U.N. summit that the United States is prepared to drop all trade tariffs, subsidies and other barriers if other nations did the same.

Eliminating trade barriers "could lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty over the next 15 years," Bush said, as he called for a successful conclusion to World Trade Organization's Doha Round of talks on trade and development.

Bush told the gathering of some 150 world leaders at U.N. headquarters in New York that the United States had previously signaled its willingness to eliminate agricultural subsidies and other barriers in order "to open markets for farmers around the world."

"Today I broaden the challenge by making this pledge: The United States is ready to eliminate all tariffs, subsidies and other barriers to the free flow of goods and services if other nations do the same," he said.

"This is key to overcoming poverty in the world's poorest nations. It's essential we promote prosperity and opportunity for all nations." 

Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) Rethinks on Fuel Costs
September 23, 2005

Runaway fuel costs have prompted members of the trans-Pacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) to review current calculation formulas and existing contracts and customers can expect a call to discuss possible options. So said the TSA in a statement that said bunker fuel at the nine loading points used by most lines in the trans-Pacific trade lane has risen from $198 per ton at the beginning of 2005 to $344 per ton at present.

In addition, TSA said inland fuel hikes are also being passed along to ship lines by rail and truck carriers. "There is an urgent need among carriers to get a handle on fuel costs," says TSA executive director Albert Pierce, who added that solutions to last year's West Coast congestion problems only exacerbated the fuel price problem as all-water Panama Canal routes with smaller, less fuel efficient ships and re-routing to Pacific Northwest ports have added distance and greater fuel costs. Pierce says the convergence of rapidly escalating fuel costs, and the passing through of those costs by rail, truck and other vendors, is creating an unsustainable situation that ocean carriers must address even before a new round of contract talks for 2006-07 begin.

The 12 TSA member lines are: APL, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai, K Line, Mitsui OSK, NYK, OOCL and Yang Ming.

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UCC and Incoterms

UCC and Incoterms use identical shipping terms (FOB, FAS, and CIF), but their meanings are entirely different. This has caused some difficulty and conflict since shipping domestically generally used terms provided for under UCC, but shipping internationally used shipping terms as defined under Incoterms. In what might be described as surrender to the dynamic nature of international commerce, shipping and delivery terms are being written out of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) because they are inconsistent with contemporary business practices. The final UCC draft was completed by the American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws  last year and awaits approval by each state legislature.

INCOTERMS 2000 (abbreviation for “international commercial terms”) are not a direct UCC replacement since they are not embedded in law, but they do provide a logical replacement.  Incoterms can be readily adapted to domestic trade, provide generally accepted definitions and are already used by many businesses involved in foreign trade. Most important, they follow trade practice rather than attempt to direct it. Since they are not law, they can be revised as needed to address significant changes of contemporary business practices. Incoterms come with a 68-year history of use and revision from the International Chamber of Commerce - www.iccwbo.org.

An advantage:   Incoterms do not speak to ownership, but focus on delivery.

The former UCC terms addressed ownership "by default" if it wasn't specifically covered elsewhere in the sales contract. With Incoterms, title to the contract goods may be covered anywhere in the sales contract except by the Incoterm. Future sales contracts can easily link title to more practical considerations such as payment for the contract goods.

U.S. businesses may continue to use the old UCC terms-or any terms that the buyer and seller agree to as long as they are clearly spelled out. However, as the law changes, users of the old UCC terms will lose the benefit of having generally accepted definitions. Usage will become increasingly vague, inviting misunderstanding, controversy, and worse.

CHINA will be having its 7 day public holiday in observance of its
" NATIONAL HOLIDAY " OCT 01- OCT 07, 2005

The Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949)

Seized Items Going to Hurricane Victims
By Larry Margasak   Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Yves St. Laurent and Tommy Hilfiger labels may be phony, but the thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims getting knockoff items seized by federal Customs officials probably don't mind.

Displaced survivors in the Houston Astrodome can choose from counterfeit and abandoned clothing, toys, and even dog food.

More than 100,000 items were quickly taken from warehouses and more will follow, said Kristi Clemens, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection division.

The agency has some 1 million items stored, and Customs officials are going through their inventory to see what else would be useful. While the initial shipment went to Texas, officials are looking toward a wider distribution, Clemens said.

For humans, virtually anything that you can wear is available: underwear, jeans, baseball caps, T-shirts, shoes and socks. For dogs: much needed food. For children, toys. For everyone: clean sheets and blankets.

Clemens said officials are looking for locations to deliver items in Louisiana and Mississippi, and then will scout for shelters in other states.

American businesses lose up to $250 billion annually from knockoffs, according to figures released in a Senate hearing. Federal officials seized $138 million in counterfeited goods last year, up from $94 million in 2003.

Counterfeit clothing currently accounts for about 18 percent of seized items.

Law enforcement officials and other experts have testified that counterfeit clothing and other goods have been traced to supporters of terror organizations.

Most counterfeit items come from China, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Russia, according to Customs officials.