|
Fast
Enrollment Notice
As of August 10, 2006, 49 CFR 1572
requires Canadian and Mexican licensed truck drivers to possess a
valid FAST card in order to transport placarded hazardous
materials (HAZMAT) and explosives into the United States.
If your shipment has been
identified as containing HAZMAT and the driver is not in
possession of a valid FAST card and does not meet the requirements
of the regulation on November 13, 2006 your driver will no longer
be allowed to transport HAZMAT into the United States. Fast
Application information and the locations of FAST enrollment
centers are available at
www.cbp.gov U.S. Customs and Border Protection
For additional information, please contact us
at M. E. Dey 414-747-7000 or email
info@medey.com. |
|
Customs sets truck
e-filing
Fri Oct 27, 2006
By R.G. Edmonson
excerpted from
The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
WASHINGTON -- Advance electronic manifest filing for truckers will
become mandatory on Jan. 25, 2007, at all ports of entry in
Washington, Arizona, and northeastern North Dakota, Customs and
Border Protection announced Friday.
As
reported, the e-manifest system will become mandatory at other
land border crossings in five groups after Customs gives 90 days
notice.
The
first ports that will require e-manifests are also the first
locations where Customs introduced the system beginning in 2004.
The e-manifest is one of the first operational components of the
Automated Commercial Environment, Customs' new computer system.
After
the official dates, Customs officers will exercise a period of
"informed compliance," to educate truckers about their obligations
without levying fines or penalties. At the same time, Customs will
step up its education and outreach efforts.
The
requirement will finally allow truckers to comply with the Trade
Act of 2002, which requires advance electronic manifest reporting
in all modes. Electronic manifesting was already available through
the legacy Automated Commercial System for ocean, air, and rail
carriers. Truckers were required to use paper-based manifest
systems to report cargo data.
After the e-manifest becomes mandatory at the first group of
ports, Customs will make it mandatory at ports in the following
groups of states:
1. Michigan, Texas, California, New Mexico, New York.
2. Vermont, Alaska.
3. Maine, Idaho,
Montana. 4. All remaining ports in North Dakota.
5. Minnesota. |
|
Panamanians back canal expansion
Voters in Panama have overwhelmingly approved an ambitious project
to expand the country's famous shipping canal.
In a nationwide
referendum, people voted by a margin of
four
to one to back the $5.2bn plan, which involves building a new
channel and new locks.
Many modern container
ships are too large for the 50-mile (80km) canal linking the
Pacific and Atlantic.
The government hopes
the scheme, which will double the canal's capacity, will help lift
the nation out of poverty.
President Martin
Torrijos welcomed the result as celebratory fireworks lit up the
sky.
"Never in the history
of the country have we Panamanians taken a decision of this
magnitude," he said.
"We have laid the
foundation to build a better country."
Work on the expansion
plan is due to start in 2008 and be completed in 2014. Panamanian
authorities say it will generate thousands of jobs.
Read
more...
BBC NEWS:
Nicaragua plans rival
canal route
Nicaragua has announced plans to build a waterway linking the
Pacific and Atlantic that would carry bigger ships than the
existing Panama Canal.
President Enrique
Bolanos said the new route - which would cost $18bn (£9.5bn) and
take 12 years to complete - was needed for the rise in world
shipping.
Panama is due to
vote in three weeks on whether to expand its own canal, to let
larger ships pass and cut queues.
Nicaragua sought
to play down fears its canal would compete for the same trade.
Speaking to
Western defense ministers meeting in Nicaragua, Mr Bolanos called
for international backing for a project he said would bring new
economic life to the region.
Read more...
BBC NEWS |
Container Security Initiative
Reaches Gold: Fifty Seaports Now Targeting and Pre-Screening Cargo
Destined For U.S.
Tuesday,
October 03, 2006
Washington,
D.C. —
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner
Ralph Basham announced today that with the stationing of CBP
personnel at the Port of Freeport, Bahamas, 50 foreign seaports
are now fully participating in the Container Security Initiative
(CSI) program. CSI is designed to protect the stream of imports
into the U.S. by deploying CBP personnel to critical foreign
seaports in order to work with their foreign counterparts in
targeting and prescreening cargo containers. The program began in
January, 2002 as a response to the new terrorist threats to the
ocean-bound containerized movement of goods.
“This milestone
represents an extraordinary accomplishment,” said Commissioner
Basham. “In the span of five years, a system has been created that
protects and promotes the movement of goods into the U.S.
Additionally, CSI holds forth the promise of protecting and
promoting trade around the globe.”
Read more...
SSA joins venture to build
Vietnamese port
Mon Oct 16, 2006
Vietnam's
Ministry of Planning and Investment last week licensed a joint
venture to develop a US$160 million container terminal in the
southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
The Cai Mep
International Container Port will be developed by the
joint-venture of SSA Marine Inc., the largest port operator in the
U.S., and Sai Gon Port Authority, Hoang Van Nhuong, deputy
director of Sai Gon Port Authority, told Viet Nam News.
The container
port will be built about 75 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City and
will be able to accommodate vessels carrying 6,000 TEUs each,
Nhuong said.
He said Sai Gon
Port had a 51 per cent stake in the 50-year project and SSA Marine
49 percent.
"We are doing our
best to pave the way for construction of the terminal. It could
begin next year and could begin operating in 2010," Viet Nam News
quoted Nhuong as saying.
Note: This
published material is copyrighted by Commonwealth Business Media
Inc. for the exclusive use of our paid subscribers. Reproduction,
retransmission, or reuse of this material in any form is forbidden
without prior permission from CBMI. Reproduction, retransmission
or reuse of this material without such permission is illegal.
Forbes |
|
T
R A N S P O R T A T I O N |
TSA delays air-cargo rule
Wed Oct 25, 2006
The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
WASHINGTON -- The Transportation Security Administration is delaying a
broad range of deadlines for the air-cargo security rule it unveiled
last May, giving the industry until mid-2007 to comply with portions
of it.
Industry
sources said the delays become official when the new schedule is
printed in the Federal Register but that TSA is already telling
various air freight groups about it.
The
agency also said it would be taking public comment on the changes.
Although
TSA is still saying the rule officially took effect Oct. 20, it is
pushing back the dates for different cargo groups to submit official
Security Threat Assessments, for forwarders to train their freight
handlers under new security programs and for freight-related workers
to go through criminal background checks and get new credentials.
Industry
officials have warned for months they could not meet a series of
deadlines kicking in this fall unless TSA first provided its
long-awaited detailed security programs for each of seven industry
groups. Privately, many said they expected the agency to wait until
the rule was to take effect, and then delay it.
DHL
facing UK strike
Tue Sep 26, 2006
By
Bruce Barnard
The
JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
LONDON -- DHL is
facing a national strike in the United Kingdom which labor leaders
warn will cripple the express company's operations during the peak
shipping season in one of its biggest markets.
The GMB union said it
will poll around 5,000 workers at DHL, a unit of Germany's Deutsche
Post, over restructuring plans which it claims will result in sizeable
job losses and force many other employees to accept casual, or
part-time, contracts.
The union charges the
jobs of up 3,000 workers could be affected by the restructuring. It
claims the company plans to replace permanent jobs with 2,500
part-time staff and close 20 out of 85 local depots and four out of
five of its national delivery hubs.
The union also
rejected a three-year wage offer, claiming it was an effective "pay
cut."
The strike threat
emerged as logistics workers at the state-run National Health Service
prepared for their second 24-hour walk-out Tuesday night to protest
plans to transfer the service to DHL under a 10-year $3-billion
contract. The deal is the single-largest contract secured by any
Deutsche Post business.
The government says
it will save $1.9 billion over the lifetime of the contract. But the
unions claim it is part of a larger plan to privatize the state health
system.
U.S.
ports tighten trucker regulations
WASHINGTON,
Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The Safe Port Act signed into law by President Bush
last week will have a significant impact on the trucking industry as
well as shipping.
Fleet Owner
reported on Monday that the legislation imposes stricter standards for
the issuance of commercial driver licenses, or CDLs. Under the act's
provisions holders of such licenses must be either U.S. citizens or
permanent legal residents.
The
legislation also strengthens anti-fraud measures for CDL programs and
requires that all truckers visiting commercial ports undergo a
background check prior to being given permission to work within the
facility.
Within 90 days
of the bill becoming law Oct. 13, the Department of Homeland Security
must implement a threat assessment process for port truckers who don't
have currently hold a hazardous materials endorsement. This process
will include identity checks against terrorist watch lists and an
immigration status check.
Holders of the
so-called Hazmat licenses have been subjected to similar checks for
two years.
The new
legislation instructs the Department of Transportation to issue
regulations that will require all CDL holders to demonstrate
citizenship or legal presence and to tighten CDL standards, using
fingerprinting or Social Security numbers to verify identities. The
Secretary of Transportation must do this within 18 months of the
bill's becoming law.
|
Security
bill
sails
through
Congress
Tue Oct 3, 2006 By R.G. Edmonson
The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE
WASHINGTON -
Congress
has overwhelmingly passed the legislation aimed at improving
international supply-chain
security
while giving shippers that demonstrate the best
security
practices expedited treatment for their cargo. The House on
Saturday passed the
Security
and Accountability for Every Port Act in a 409-2 vote. The Senate
approved the
bill
by unanimous consent. Rather than breaking new ground, the
bill takes
port
security
to the next step.
Congress
put its stamp of approval on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against
Terrorism and the Container
Security
Initiative, even though they have been Customs and Border
Protection programs for three years.
Read more... |
Jamaica to Implement Container
Security Initiative and Begin Targeting and Pre-Screening Cargo
Destined for the United States
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Washington,
D.C. -
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner
Ralph Basham announced today that the Container Security
Initiative will become operational at the port of Kingston. CBP
personnel will be stationed at the port to work with their
Jamaican counterparts in targeting and prescreening cargo
containers destined for the United States.
Read more... |
China's trade surplus likely to top 150 billion dollars this year
10-30-2006, SHANGHAI (AFP)
|
A quality control inspector at a factory in
China's Zhejiang Province. China will likely see its trade
surplus hit another record of 150 billion dollars this
year, a ranking economic official said (AFP/File) |
China will likely
see its trade surplus hit another record of 150 billion
dollars this year, a ranking economic official said.
The surplus will
help push forex reserves beyond one trillion dollars before
the end of 2006, said Yao Jingyuan, chief economist at the
National Bureau of Statistics.
"In my view, which
is also what most people would think, the trade surplus will
reach 150 billion dollars this year... and forex reserves one
trillion dollars," Yao told an automotive forum in Shanghai.
If Yao's prediction
turns out to be correct, the 2006 surplus will be an increase
of nearly 50 percent over last year's 102 billion dollar
surplus, itself a record.
China's trade
surplus reached 110 billion dollars in the first nine months
of the year, according to previously published statistics.
Yao also said
economic growth this year would "definitely" exceed 10
percent, but added concerns about overheating have diminished. "Macroeconomic
controls have achieved very good results this year and China
has achieved very fast and stable development." He was referring to
increases in interest rates, reserve ratios and macro controls
on land use and investment in manufacturing.
China's economy,
the world's fourth largest, expanded by 10.7 percent in the
first three quarters of this year. |
A Logistical Look At China
Robert Malone,
10.02.06,
Forbes
China is
clearly the place to do business. But many analysts strongly
believe that China also has significant problems, particularly in
getting the goods it produces to market.
One factor that
impacts heavily on Chinese logistics is the cost of moving goods
through the many road tolls. Trucking a 40-foot container from
Beijing to Shanghai can cost as much as $400 in tolls (along toll
roads). The alternative is non-toll roads and endless congestion.
Another issue
is trash. Part of becoming a major manufacturer and a nation of
consumers is the dreadful increase in refuse production. China now
produces 190 million tons of trash a year, and that outdistances
even the U.S. This is just one aspect of pollution facing China.
The air in many of the manufacturing regions is notoriously
bad. Read more...
Taiwan to
Implement Container Security Initiative and Begin Targeting and
Pre-Screening Cargo Destined for U.S.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Washington,
D.C. -
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner
Ralph Basham announced today that CBP personnel will be stationed
at the Port of Keelung to assist their Taiwan counterparts in
targeting and prescreening cargo containers destined for the U.S.
The deployment is part of CBP's Container Security Initiative
(CSI).
“This adds an
important new layer to our defense,” said Commissioner Basham. “It
also represents a step forward for trade facilitation. Our goal is
to protect and promote the movement of trade.”
CSI has deployed
CBP officers to Europe, Asia, Africa, North, South and Central
America, and the Middle East. Approximately 82 percent of all
maritime cargo destined for the U.S. is screened at CSI ports.
Unveiled in January 2002, CSI serves the interests of business and
security. Under CSI, containers scheduled for importation into the
U.S. that are deemed high-risk are inspected at CSI ports. By
“extending the borders”, CSI thus secures shipping lanes and
facilitates the movement of goods.
CSI is a critical
component of the government’s strategy to secure the Nation from
the terrorist threat using maritime cargo containers. Twenty-eight
customs administrations have committed to joining CSI and are at
various stages of implementation.
CSI initially
deployed agency personnel to the top 20 largest volume ports that
export to the U.S. The program will continue to expand to
strategic locations globally that ship goods to the U.S. and that
have appropriate infrastructure and technology to participate in
the CSI. By the end of 2007, CBP officials hope to expand CSI to
58 ports. This expansion would mean that about 85 percent of
imported goods would be covered by CSI.
The World Customs
Organization (WCO), the European Union (EU), and the G8 support
CSI expansion and have adopted resolutions implementing CSI
security measures introduced at ports throughout the world. |
|
MWTA November Program
“The Competitive Advantage of Export Compliance
Register Now For
The Next MWTA Event!
International Trade
Event Calendar
http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/IE/IE-TradeShowCalendar.html
Joint Wisconsin/Minnesota Delegation to
China Medical Equipment Fair
Zhengzhou, China October 28 – November 4, 2007
Benelux Business Matchmaker Mission
Amsterdam, the Netherlands November 8-14, 2006
Export Sales Mission to Central America
Panama City, Panama and San Jose, Costa Rica January 28 -
February 2, 2007 |
|
