Summertime is the Perfect Time for an Export Compliance Checkup
8/21/2006 - by Catherine J. Petersen

In summer, I love to create checklists of things to do. Since we only have 9.23 weeks of summer in Minnesota, all the items that I’ve put off because of cold weather are on the summertime to-do list.

The following list does not include mowing the lawn, painting the house, cleaning out the garage, or washing the windows (which are all on my personal list). This list is my compliance checklist, which companies should regularly review to ensure they aren’t “out of compliance.”

Answer the following questions to see if more compliance work needs to be done at your company.

HS Code Changes

On January 1, 2007, significant changes are slated to be made to the Harmonized System (HS), the broad classification system of approximately 5,000 6-digit headings which are used for classifying goods involved in international trade.

First introduced on January 1, 1988, HS numbers have subsequently been adopted as the basis for describing and classifying goods for customs purposes by more than 200 countries and customs territories, together accounting for almost 98% of world trade. The United States uses HS numbers as the basis for the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) for imports and the Schedule B for exports. They are also used in establishing rules of origin used in NAFTA and other free trade agreements. The latest set of changes is intended to keep the harmonized system up-to-date with advances in technology and patterns of trade. Over 350 amendments are included in this third major revision of the system.

More information on HS numbers is available from the World Customs Organization.

Top US trade envoy says no winners if global trade talks collapse
2006-08-30

Visiting United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab Tuesday warned that there would be no winners if the Doha Round of trade talks eventually collapsed.

Addressing a luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, Schwab said there would be "litigations" between countries rather than negotiations should the talks fail.

She called on countries, rich and poor, to push for resumption of the stalled global trade talks.

The Doha Round talks under the World Trade Organization (WTO) were suspended last month following a bitter dispute between Europe and the United States over farm tariffs and subsidies.

The seven industrialized countries, or G7, failed to reach a consensus at the talks, Schwab told reporters. She urged China to play an active role in reviving the talks during her luncheon speech.

She also urged India, Brazil and other developing countries to contribute to the talks.

Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said during his Monday talks with Schwab that "China is willing to continue to participate in the talks in a constructive manner along with other nations and to actively push for the resumption of the Doha negotiation process".

Meanwhile, China has urged developed countries to pay more attention to development issues.

"The Doha Round is a development round and the emphasis in the talks should be placed on development issues in order to break the stalemate and promote a fair, stable and open multilateral trading system," Bo said

Source:Xinhuanet 

US PORT VOLUME TO GROW 85%

A report released by Ocean Shipping Consultants says North American container port throughput has doubled in the last decade and could expand by as much as 85 percent more in the next decade. The report, "Container port markets in the Americas to 2020," says throughput throughout the hemisphere has expanded 121% from 1995 to 2005 and by 47% from 2000 to 2005, to 71.2 million TEUs.

MAERSK LAUNCHES LARGEST BOX SHIP

Maersk Line, the world's largest ocean container carrier, is poised to pull even further ahead of its rivals this week with the launch of the world's largest container ship. The vessel will be able to carry up to 13,000 TEUs, more than 4,000 more than the current largest container vessels in service. The new ship is due to enter service on 14 September after completing its sea trails, with a maiden voyage from Gothenburg that will also call at Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Algeciras, before transiting the Suez Canal en route to Singapore, Japan and its final destination, Hong Kong.

More mega-sized vessels in the making
28 Aug 2006, CIFFA

Hanjin Shipping advised last week that it has placed an order of five 10,000-TEU containerships with Samsung Heavy Industries. The five vessels ordered are scheduled for successive deployment from February 2010 on Hanjin's transpacific trade. It said in a statement that the order of super-sized containerships is in line with Hanjin's mid-to-long-term strategy to lead the global shipping market increasingly dominated by large vessels. Also, Hanjin ordered eight 6,500-TEU vessels in 2003 through 2004 and started deploying them on the Asia/Europe trade from the second half of 2006. A series of 8,000-TEU containerships began to be deployed on the transpacific trade from the second half of 2005. The carrier operates 80 containerships on 60 lanes worldwide.

At more or less the same time last week, Yang Ming, the Taiwan based carrier, launched its first 8,200 TEU vessel from the port of Kaoshiung destined for Europe. Three more vessel are under construction in Korea and another five in China....

Interestingly enough, it appears that all these vessels are destined for the Asia - Europe trade and few, if any, for the Transpacific trade! Might it be that all West Coast based ports from Long Beach to Vancouver are not necessarily geared for efficient turn-around of such vessels and that our hinterland infrastructure is wanting? More at a later stage.

S E C U R I T Y

CARGO THIEVES MORE DARING

Dangerous Shift? Cargo thieves getting more brazen
08/21/2006

TORONTO -- Imagine driver Butch Ross’s surprise when he looked out his window on the Cross Bronx Expressway only to find two armed men jump from a pickup and onto his passenger-side running board, waving guns and demanding that he pull over.

Lucky for him, he won out that day, with the aid of a nearby exit ramp and the closest telephone pole he could find that whisked the two would-be hijackers away like a couple of flies.

"It was my second trip to New York City, and my last," says Ross. READ MORE...

ADVANCE DATA REQUIREMENTS CHANGING? 

CBP prepares wish list of advance cargo data elements

  A top U.S. Customs and Border Protection official recently suggested that the agency is getting close to making a decision on advance ocean cargo data elements it expects to require industry to produce to help it analyze containers for potential terrorist connections. READ MORE...

New IMB service helps seafarers pinpoint piracy attacks

London, 30 August 2006

Sea captains and ship owners whose vessels must travel through piracy hotspots have a new tool to help them prepare their voyage. The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has launched an online piracy map which gives users a visual on the nature and location of attacks to help them better understand and track incidents.

The map is available as either a satellite view, provided by Google, a plain view (indicating countries and borders), or a combination of both. Viewers see not only the relief of the coastline but also the bays and coves from which pirates may initiate their attack. READ MORE...

Please click here to go directly to the map.

ACE enrollment skyrockets
August 15, 2006

ACE enrollment skyrockets; truckers urged to sign up before the rush

WASHINGTON -- The number of electronic manifests (e-Manifests) filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) dramatically increased in the second quarter of 2006 by nearly 600 percent READ MORE...

PierPASS Completes Transition in Exporter Procedures

Exporters, Terminals and Steamship Lines Quickly Adjust to New OffPeak Program Procedures at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Calif., August 24, 2006 – PierPASS Inc. today announced a successful transition to the new procedures for handling export containers under the OffPeak program at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. READ MORE...

Mexican, Canadian FAST drivers qualify for hazmat shipments
Updated 10:20 a.m. ET, Mon Aug 7, 2006

By R.G. Edmonson The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE

WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration has issued an interim rule that allows commercial drivers who are licensed in Mexico or Canada, and who have received a card under the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program, are eligible to transport hazardous and toxic materials in the U.S.

The interim rule takes effect Aug. 10, additional comments on the rule must be filed by Oct. 6.

When Congress passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), lawmakers required that Canadian and Mexican drivers had to undergo a criminal background check like the ones U.S. drivers get for a hazardous materials endorsement. TSA determined that the FAST background check met congressional requirements.

Click for the complete rule in Monday's Federal Register

 A S I A

Free trade talks could follow U.S.-Asean pact
25 Aug 2006, The Journal of Commerce.

The United States … signed a trade and investment framework agreement with Southeast Asian nations, a move that could pave the way for negotiations on a free-trade pact. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, signed the agreement after meeting U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

"The Asean region is a very high priority for not just U.S. commercial and economic ties but for the overall geopolitical interests and commitments of the U.S.,'' Schwab told reporters after the signing. On Thursday Schwab said Washington wanted to move the Asean-U.S. relationship to "yet another level.''

Trade between Asean and the U.S. grew 12.4 percent to$153 billion in 2005. U.S. foreign direct investment in Asean countries rose 13 percent to $80 billion in 2004.

A free trade agreement with Asean as a group ``is always a possibility'' and today's agreement would be ``a positive step in that direction,'' Schwab said Thursday. ``Presumably there will be more bilateral FTAs over time and at some point potentially a regional or a knitting together of bilaterals.''

Asian trade bloc would rival NAFTA, EU
24 Aug 2006, globeandmail.com

Backed by the economic muscle of Japan and China, a new free-trade zone representing almost half of the world's population could soon be emerging in Asia to challenge the older spheres of the Western world.

The free-trade idea, spearheaded by a Japanese promise of ¥10-billion ($95-million) for a detailed study of how to make it work, won support yesterday from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a meeting in Malaysia.

Plans for the trade zone, originally aimed for completion in 2020, are now being accelerated. The new goal is to have the trade zone established by 2015. It would cover 16 nations -- the 10 members of ASEAN plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The zone would have a combined population of 3.1 billion, almost half of the global population. Its total economic output would be almost $10-trillion (U.S.) -- about a quarter of the world's GDP

It could become a natural rival to the power of the European Union and the North American free-trade agreement. The United States and Canada would be conspicuously absent from the new Asian trade zone, despite their close links to Asian countries and their own status as Asia-Pacific economies. Japan is pushing the idea hard. It estimates that a free-trade zone would increase the total economic output of the 16 countries by $215-billion. Formal negotiations could begin by 2008

Some ASEAN countries, however, want the association to focus on its existing talks with Japan over a bilateral deal between the two sides. The association already has trade agreements with China and South Korea, and it doesn't want to lose momentum on its Japan negotiations. Another potential problem is the rivalry between Japan and China. Although both are in favour of free trade in the region, China has backed a slightly different version of the trade zone. It remains to be seen if both countrieswill fully throw their weight behind a plan that both can agree on.

The collapse of the World Trade Organization's multilateral trade talks has also bolstered the level of support for an Asian free-trade zone. But the idea has had economic momentum for much longer. Trade among the 16 nations has been growing steadily for many years. Intra-region trade now accounts for 56 per cent of all trade by the 16 countries, compared with just 33 per cent in 1984.