FIATA e-Flash No 192

FIATA EVENT
2019 FIATA HQ Meeting – email to register for the Headquarters Session 2019 was sent to all FIATA members
Registration for the 2019 FIATA HQ Meeting opened on 9 January with a link sent by email to all FIATA members encouraging their participation.
The email subject line was: Invitation to the FIATA Headquarters Session 2019.
This year, the meeting will take place from March 28th to 30th March. The Headquarters meeting is mainly policy oriented and should not be compared with the World Congress or the Regional Meetings.
Details of the programme can be found on the FIATA website:https://fiata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/initiatives/Programme_FIATA_HQ_2019_1_01.pdf
We look forward to welcoming you to Zurich in March!

FIATA AND MEMBERS
BIFA (UK): Freight forwarders ready to clear up the mess left by politicians
Responding to the decision by the UK Parliament to reject a deal, which set out the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union on March 29, Robert Keen, Director General of the British International Freight Association (BIFA) said:
“A hard deal may well be very disruptive and damaging for the UK economy as a whole, but freight forwarders – many of whom are Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) accredited – will play a key role in tidying up the mess left by the politicians by ensuring UK importers and exporters can continue trading without undue disruption with the rest of Europe after March 29.
For more details, please visit: https://fiata.com/media/e-flash/2019/e-flash-no-191-14-january-2019.html
BIFA Article on Trade Post Brexit – https://www.bifa.org/news/articles/2019/jan/trading-with-the-eu-post-brexit?l=y
Dutch ports launch Get Ready for Brexit guides
Together with PortBase, the cooperating sector organisations in Dutch ports launched the campaign website www.getreadyforbrexit.eu, Port of Rotterdam said in its release. This enables exporters, importers and their logistics service providers to see at a glance what they need to do to transport their cargo quickly to the United Kingdom after Brexit.
The launch of the website signalled the start of the international information campaign that aims to support the entire logistics chain in the run up to Brexit.
For more details, please visit: http://en.portnews.ru/news/271310/
FIATA will also be publishing an update to its membership on Brexit providing an outlook on the situation and guidance to mitigate risk.
Forwarders told to prepare for no-deal Brexit
Freight forwarder association BIFA has told its members to prepare for the UK to leave the European Union with no deal in place. Meanwhile, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has warned that leaving the European Union without a deal would be catastrophic for UK supply chains.
In response to the UK Parliament voting against the current deal negotiated with the EU, BIFA director general Robert Keen urged UK freight forwarders to prepare for a disorderly exit on March 29.
For more details, please visit: https://www.aircargonews.net/news/single-view/news/forwarders-told-to-prepare-for-no-deal-brexit.html

SEA FREIGHT
East-West spot rates due to increase in Q2 after Q1 disruption
Freight rates on the East-West headhaul container trades will gain ground in the second quarter, but the first quarter (Q1) will be marked by volatility due to Chinese New Year factory closures and US-China tariffs, according to Maritime Strategies International (MSI).
“We expect a more traditional seasonal profile on the Asia-Europe headhaul, with rates seeing further upside movement prior to the holiday, although concerns over European economic growth could weigh on shipment volumes.” “We now expect Q1 19 will see weaker growth than previously expected, at 1% year-on-year, although we continue to expect a pick-up in growth in Q2 to around 3% year-on-year,” said MSI.
For more details, please visit: https://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/East-West-spot-rates-due-to-increase-in-Q2-after-Q1-disruption/73600.htm#.XEmH0Fz0mF4
Maersk pilots physical container inspections in four US ports
Sell the remnants of freight forwarder Damco to buffer the bottom line, say investors and analysts to Maersk.
In a case where corrective action is needed to properly secure a cargo or change a declaration, the cost will be charged to the shipper or consignee, depending on the direction of the container.
For more details, please visit: https://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/Maersk-pilots-physical-container-inspections/73580.htm#.XEmI-lz0mF4
Amazon pushing hard into ocean shipping, making it easier for Chinese goods to get to you
Quietly and below the radar, Amazon has been ramping up its ocean shipping service, sending close to 4.7 million cartons of consumers goods from China to the United States over the past year, records show.
This marks a significant move into what many believe is the company’s overall strategy of eventually controlling much of its transportation network, from trucks to airplanes and now to ships.
For more details, please visit: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/01/18/amazon-pushing-hard-into-ocean-shipping-china-u-s/2589422002/

AIR FREIGHT
Shippers look to air freight as risk of ‘no deal’ Brexit rises
Air charter brokers are receiving more and more enquiries from freight forwarders about securing air cargo capacity to offset the potential repercussions of a ‘no deal’ Brexit on the supply chains of their shipper customers.
“In booking air freight capacity well in advance, they are looking to minimise the risks associated with a ‘hard Brexit’ − the likelihood of long queues of trucks at Channel ports and of production lines grinding to a halt for want of essential parts and supermarkets running out of certain foods,” van der Stichele added. “But obviously such contingency measures come at a price.”
For more details, please visit: https://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/Shippers-look-to-air-freight-as-risk-of-%E2%80%98no-deal%E2%80%99-Brexit-rises/73565.htm#.XEmM3Fz0mF4
Forwarder TASCO signs up to use AirAsia booking platform
Freight forwarder TASCO has signed up to use RedCargo, the online freight booking platform of Air Asia.
RedCargo said that TASCO was its first freight forwarding customer and that the company would be able to book space anywhere on the AirAsia extensive network, which spans over 320 routes to more than 130 airports across 25 markets in Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the US.
For more details, please visit: https://www.aircargonews.net/news/airline/single-view/news/forwarder-tasco-signs-up-to-use-airasia-booking-platform.html

RAIL AND ROAD FREIGHT
EU: 1st Mobility Package awaits TRAN decision
Following the European Parliament Transport Committee’s rejection of two out of three key reports on the first Mobility Package (all the compromises on the rules of posting and on driving and rest times were rejected), a variety of possible scenarios on how to move forward now exists. Only the compromise of the Rapporteur MEP Ertug on amending regulation no 1072/2009 and 1071/2009 was adopted.
The formal way would be to tweak the texts that have already been adopted in the Transport Committee (either in June/July 2018 or in January 2019) and bring them to vote in Plenary. However, amendments to these texts could be tabled during Plenary. The Committee can also decide to move ahead with the already adopted files (including the one on cabotage and access to the market) and issue no opinion on the rest. This is unlikely as the files are strongly linked. It is also possible that the decision is made not to move forward with the reports.
For more details, please visit: https://www.clecat.org/media/NL02SEC19.pdf
Italy Mercitalia Fast: the world’s first high-speed rail freight service
In November 2018, Mercitalia Logistics (Gruppo FS Italiane) has launched the world’s first high-speed rail service dedicated to freight. The service will connect the southern terminal of Maddaloni-Marcianise, near Caserta, to Bologna, one of the country’s most important logistics hubs, in three hours and 30 minutes overnight.
Particularly destined for producers of time-sensitive products such as express couriers, logistics operators, producers and distributors, the service will rely on a modified ETR 500 trainset (also known as Frecciarossa) featuring twelve cars, the equivalent of 18 trucks or two cargo planes.
For more details, please visit: https://www.railway-technology.com/features/mercitalia-fast-service/

FREIGHT FORWARDER
Freight forwarder cleared of shipping fakes
Luxury brands Burberry and Louis Vuitton have failed in their attempt to hold a freight forwarder liable for trans-shipping fakes in two 40-foot containers from China to Batam through Singapore.
In a ruling of industry-wide import, the Court of Appeal drew a line between effective enforcement against fake goods and holding “honest commercial persons” liable who were unaware the goods were fakes.
For more details, please visit: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/freight-forwarder-cleared-of-shipping-fakes
Read more freight forwarder liability on FIATA’s Position for Intellectual Property Rights – https://fiata.com/uploads/media/FIATA_Position_Paper_-_Intellectual_Property_Rights_-_September_2010_01.pdf
DSV confirms its offer to acquire Panalpina for roughly $4 billion
Hedehusene, Denmark-based global 3PL DSV said this week that it confirmed that it made “an indicative and private proposal” to the board of directors of Basel, Switzerland-based global 3PL and airfreight forwarder Panalpina to acquire the company.
DSV made these comments in response to Panalpina’s January 16 announcement that it received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from DSV to acquire the company for an offer of roughly $4 billion, which is comprised of a combination of cash and DSV shares.
For more details, please visit: https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/dsv_confirms_its_offer_to_acquire_panalpina_for_roughly_4_billion

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The pursuit of a single digital platform for shipping would be bad for all of us
A single dominant and proprietary platform is not only unlikely to succeed, but also highly undesirable, argues Nick Chubb from Intelligent Cargo Systems.
While the idea of a single ‘end to end’ digital platform for the shipping industry may seem utopian, the unfortunate reality is that it’s highly unlikely to work, and if it does, it will be bad for the industry. Human nature means that there will never come a day when every stakeholder will gather around the table to make it happen. This will create an environment of winners and losers and put too much power into the hands of a minority. A far better pursuit of our collective effort is the creation of openly available and interoperable data standards that allows communication between the many digital platforms that will inevitably be built.
For more details, please visit: https://splash247.com/the-pursuit-of-a-single-digital-platform-for-shipping-would-be-bad-for-all-of-us/
Deringer joins the Blockchain in Transport Alliance
A.N. Deringer, Inc., a leading international logistics provider and customs broker, has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA). The Alliance and its members are committed to determining best practices and standards for blockchain use in the transportation industry. BiTA members include Descartes, Daimler, SAP, Uber Freight and dozens of other global brands.
Blockchain technology enables transactions to be identified and tracked digitally and for the information to be shared across a distributed network of computers. In the transportation and freight marketplace, companies can more effectively track goods and freight across the supply chain.
For more details, please visit: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/blockchain/deringer-joins-bita
National Single Window ‘Pirated’ – Freight Forwarders Alleges
It is emerging that the controversial National Single Window, christened UNI-PASS was allegedly pirated to be sold to the Government of Ghana under the guise of a new system.
The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders and some customs officers who say they have seen the original and superior system demonstrated have called for an immediate probe into the deal.
For more details, please visit: https://www.modernghana.com/news/908360/national-single-window-pirated-freight-forwarders-allege.html