FIATA e-Flash No 201, 3 June 2019

FIATA AND MEMBERS

1-STOP SHOP” REGISTRATION FOR THE FIATA WORLD CONGRESS 2019

Online registration is quick and easy. You’ll be able to register yourself and your accompanying person, book accommodation, sign up for golf and other social events, request a visa support letter and even buy FIATA Foundation Fundraising Raffle tickets. Pay right away with a credit card or request an invoice.

Full Congress and Young Participant fees includes: Session and exhibition access, full social programme (Welcome Reception, National Evening and Gala Banquet), refreshments and lunches, and Congress materials.

See the Congress website for more information and how to register: https://fiata2019.org/registration-hotels/

2019 RAME Field Meeting Beirut, Lebanon – June 24-26th

RAME Beirut 2019 is the perfect meeting point for a rich Networking experience & an inestimable opportunity to exchange Knowledge & challenges to develop the sector, get hold of valuable information and learnings in the field of logistics and promote alliances and business between The Middle East, Africa and the world.

The Lebanese Forwarders Syndicate have gathered some of the top leaders in the logistics, freight forwarding and shipping industry ranging from UNCTAD, WTO, TradeLens. In addition, the FIATA President, Mr Babar Badat will also join us in Beirut to discuss issues that are related to developing, modernizing and reforming the freight sector.

For further details and how to register, please visit the field meeting website – https://rame2019.com/

Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association join hive

Global eTrade Services (GeTS) today announced the partnership with the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) to onboard their members on hive (highly interconnected & vibrant e-trade), joining a vibrant and connected global association-centric community of more than 10,000 freight forwarders spanning across Asia to Latin America and now North America.

hive is a cross-border trade facilitation platform connecting multiple stakeholders from customs agencies, freight forwarders, shippers, carriers and brokers on a collaborative single window to strengthen trade and compliance between countries.

For more details, please visit: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-international-freight-forwarders-association-join-hive-a-global-trade-facilitation-platform-powered-by-global-etrade-services-300859040.html

CRFFN partners Unilag for capacity building in freight forwarding

The Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, CRFFN, and University of Lagos, Unilag have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, which will allow training of freight forwarders in the Institute of Maritime Studies of the University.

According to the Head, Education and Research, CRFFN, Alban Igwe, the certificates that will be awarded at the completion of the programme are Diploma in Freight Forwarding and Supply-chain Management, and Higher Diploma in Supply-chain Management.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/05/crffn-partners-unilag-for-capacity-building-in-freight-forwarding/

BIFA Young Forwarder Network now fully established in the regions

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) has concluded the initial series of meetings that have been taking place as part of the launch its Young Forwarder Network (YFN).

Initiated in March this year, regional groups have now been established in various parts of the UK, and in Birmingham yesterday the launch of the BIFA YFN regional group in the Midlands took place.

Young talent is an extremely valuable resource within the freight forwarding industry and therefore programs such as the BIFA YFN are essentially to attracting the young to pursue careers in logistics. FIATA has a similar called the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year which is awarded to a talented young practionner in the industry every year at our world congress. Stay tuned for 2019 where we will award the winner in Cape Town.

Read more at: https://www.ajot.com/news/bifa-young-forwarder-network-now-fully-established-in-the-regions

 

WORLD ECONOMY

Experts applaud intra-Africa trade

Experts say intra-Africa trade has the greatest potential for building sustainable economic development and integration on the continent. This week two key players signed a memorandum of understanding for a $1-billion (R13-billion) financing programme.

The joint initiative between the African Export-Import Bank and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa would support businesses through capacity building and market-information initiatives.

FIATA’s Region Africa Middle East (RAME) has been a strong advocate of intra-africa trade working with regional bodies such as COMESA and the African Union to contribute input from the private sector’s perspective. Ultimately, we see the keys to unlocking Africa is through regional bodies implementing key trade agreements such as AfCFTA and Single Market for Air Transport.

For more details, please visit: https://www.enca.com/money/experts-applaud-intra-africa-trade

Inspector-General of Biosecurity BMSB Report Released

As referenced in past newsflashes, in particular NNF 2019/043, the Inspector-General of Biosecurity (IGB), Dr Helen Scott-Orr conducting an Independent Review of the effectiveness of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the Department)  biosecurity measures to manage the risks of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) entering Australia.

The CBFCA had the opportunity to discuss the key issues that impact on members and their import clients with Dr Helen Scott-Orr, and in our submission,  we highlighted the impact in the areas of Assessment Services Group, Inspection Services Group and Client Contact Group.

For more details, please visit: http://www.igb.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/QID52820_BMSB_final_report.pdf

Azevêdo: We need boldness of business community to help strengthen trade

In his keynote speech at the centenary summit of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris on 28 May, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo thanked the ICC for its constant support of multilateralism and for its contribution to delivering growth, development, job creation and stability.

He said that the creation of the ICC was a statement of intent about the positive role that business can play in the world and concluded: “As we look to a new century of multilateralism, we need to summon up that spirit once again. We need your boldness, ambition and innovation to help improve and strengthen the trading system for the future.”

The WTO is a key world body which is proving its relevance in today’s modern trading world as countries start to weigh the prospect of protectionist policies over global trade. FIATA has always contributed input to the WTO and engaged closely with them to provide the freight forwarding voice to public agencies.

For more details, please visit: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/spra_e/spra265_e.htm

 

SEA FREIGHT

Port of Savannah Sets $3 Billion Investment Plan

The St. Louis Regional Freightway and the Port of Savannah are forging a partnership to create a new connection between the St. Louis region and the largest single-terminal container facility in the western hemisphere. In response to record movement of 4.3 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in fiscal year 2017, the Port of Savannah is investing $3 billion to increase its containerized cargo capacity from 5 to 8 million TEUs by 2028.

The investment will accelerate the efforts of the nation’s third busiest container gateway to better support retailers and manufacturers and distribute more goods to and from the interior of the U.S. The growing Port of Savannah has identified the St. Louis region as a key import/export market to which containers can consistently be distributed at a lower cost for shippers.

For more details, please visit: https://www.inddist.com/news/2019/05/port-savannah-sets-3-billion-investment-plan

Fast growing port of Gdansk wants to double volumes by 2030

The Port of Gdansk wants to become the main gateway to central and eastern Europe in the coming years. This region is expected to grow in GDP by 48 per cent until 2030. This growth means a lot of new cargo for the port of Gdansk. The port will expand considerably, in particular in the DCT container terminal. This was said by Marcin Osowski, Vice President Infrastructure at the Port of Gdansk during the RailFreight Summit 2019 in Gdansk.

The natural hinterland of the port consists of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland. To Belarus and Slovakia it is preparing new direct rail connections, which are to likely to push the figures further. But also the national railway programme of Poland will contribute to the growing importance of the port. With the recent acquisition of the DCT container terminal by PSA Group, the figures could really be doubled in the next few years, the vice president believes.

In order to help improve working relationship with maritime operators, FIATA Published a second edition of its Best Practices on Container Shipping and Quality of Containers last week. Our Working Group Sea noticed that the quality of containers provided by shipping lines in global container shipping has decreased significantly. One has to come to the conclusion that shipping lines are cutting cost in the maintenance of their equipment.

For more details, please visit: https://www.railfreight.com/intermodal/2019/05/28/fast-growing-port-of-gdansk-wants-to-double-volumes-by-2030/?gdpr=accept

 

AIR FREIGHT

Ground Handling Priorities: Safety, Global Standards and Modernization

IATA called on the ground handling industry to focus on three priorities to effectively accommodate the expanding demand for air travel and air cargo.

“Effective ground operations are essential to meet the doubling in passenger and cargo demand over the next two decades. Putting safety first, implementing global standards and accelerating the speed of innovation and process modernization are key,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security, speaking at the 32nd IATA Ground Handling Conference in Madrid, Spain.

For more details, please visit: https://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2019-05-27-01.aspx

Aviation Leaders Assemble in Seoul for IATA’s 75th Annual General Meeting

IATA announced that leaders of the global air transport industry are gathering in Seoul, Republic of Korea, for the 75th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit (WATS).

Hosted by Korean Air, and held for the first time in the Republic of Korea, the event is expected to attract more than a thousand top leaders from among IATA’s 290 member airlines, their suppliers, governments, strategic partners, international organizations and the media.

For more details, please visit: https://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2019-05-29-03.aspx

Trade tensions continue to affect air cargo

Announcing the latest figures for air cargo demand, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said the increasingly negative trend provides a “challenging” year ahead for the industry.

According to IATA, the timings of Chinese New Year and Easter have played a part in volatile air cargo volumes this year, but the organisation said the trend “is clearly downwards” as volumes sit close to 3% below the peak of August 2018.

For more details, please visit: https://airlines.iata.org/news/trade-tensions-continue-to-affect-air-cargo

 

RAIL AND ROAD FREIGHT

America’s railways: Safety improvements keep 19th century technology rolling

In their 200-year history in the U.S., railways have been a constant method of transportation for people and for billions of dollars worth of products. The most recent advancement in America’s railroad system came from the ashes of tragedy.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act, signed into law in 2008 by President George W. Bush, aimed at improving the safety of the country’s railroad system. Specifically, it called for the requirement for positive train control, or PTC, to be installed on most railroads by 2015. PTC is a program that allows the train’s onboard computer system to realize where it is on the track and how fast it is going.

For more details, please visit: https://www.kcra.com/article/america-s-railways-safety-improvements-keep-19th-century-technology-rolling-forward/27633410

Will the Bull Run Continue for Freight Railroad Industry?

Freight railroad operators have been witnessing strong performance in Wall Street since the beginning of this year. Substantial surge in manufactured goods, massive tax hauls and business-friendly policies of the government have fueled railroad operators’ growth.

However, U.S. stock markets have been facing severe volatility once the trade negotiation between the United States and China broke down abruptly in the first week of May. The tariff war between the two largest trading countries of the world intensified once again. At this juncture, can railroads maintain their momentum?

For more details, please visit: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/419965/will-the-bull-run-continue-for-freight-railroad-industry

 

INNOVATIONS

Digital forwarders gaining traction in a global forwarding market

Digital forwarding platforms are rapidly gaining traction in a global forwarding market characterised by uneven change. Technology is creating a vast range of forwarding options available to shippers across the globe from online booking and quotation through to visibility tools and ‘control towers’.

However, “perhaps the most salient characteristic of the present freight forwarding market is that it has not seen a greater level of change. Markets and technologies have both developed significantly, but the overall landscape is broadly similar to that in the previous ten years and there appears to be little drive within the sector to change things fundamentally” said Thomas Cullen, one of the report’s co-authors.

FIATA encourages the introduction of technology into the freight forwarding industry as such tools and innovative processes will help improve efficiency in our sector ensuring that we continue to provide the value-added services for which our members have done so for decades.

For more details, please visit: https://www.ajot.com/news/digital-forwarders-gaining-traction-in-a-global-forwarding-market-characterised-by-uneven-change-new-ti-report-finds

Understanding legal position of digital logistics platforms

Digital platforms which connect logistics service providers with their customers have become commonplace. A relevant question from a legal perspective is whether such a platform acts as a carrier or freight forwarder.

The answer to this question will affect a platform’s civil and public law exposure. As such, platforms should consider their legal position carefully.

For more details, please visit: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=5b495ba3-7343-4a90-9130-8737d9d5ecb5

Driverless electric truck starts deliveries on Swedish public road

Resembling the helmet of a Star Wars stormtrooper, a driverless electric truck began daily freight deliveries on a public road in Sweden on Wednesday, in what developer Einride and logistics customer DB Schenker described as a world first.

Robert Falck, the CEO of Swedish start-up Einride, said the company was in partnership talks with major suppliers to help scale production and deliver orders, and the firm did not rule out future tie-ups with large truckmakers.

For more details, please visit: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-einride-autonomous-sweden/driverless-electric-truck-starts-deliveries-on-swedish-public-road-idUSKCN1SL0NC

U.S. WTO E-Commerce Offer Reflects USMCA Digital Trade Chapter

The Trump administration’s proposal for a global digital trade accord largely reflects the digital trade chapter of the yet-to-be-ratified U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Much of the seven-page proposal the U.S. submitted to the World Trade Organization reflects and builds on USMCA provisions governing cross-border data flows, technology transfers, data localization, privacy, and cybersecurity, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg Law.

FIATA took early steps to engage with its members on eCommerce practices, highlighting that logistics will need to meet the growing demands of eTraders, meanwhile eCommerce will need to rely on logistics to ensure product fulfilment. This relationship will see the face of logistics evolve rapidly.

For more details, please visit: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/international-trade/u-s-wto-e-commerce-offer-reflects-usmca-digital-trade-chapter