4 FBJ FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL contacts 2010


SALES JOHN SAUNdERS - publisher tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Mobile: +44 (0)7932 102026 john.saunders@fbj-online.com


Chris Lewis


RAy GIRvAN tel: +44 (0)1691 718 045 Mobile: +44 (0)7790 000443 ray.girvan@fbj-online.com


EdITORIAL


cHRIS LEWIS - editor tel: +44 (0)208 645 0666 Mobile: +44 (0)7778 106433 chris.lewis@fbj-online.com


GILES LARGE tel: +44 (0)1728 685 558


MARTIN ROEBUcK tel: +44 (0)20 8657 0138


cIRcULATION


tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 circulation@fbj-online.com


AdvERTISEMENT pROdUcTION


LORRAINE cHRISTIAN tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 lorraine.christian@fbj-online.com


JENNy O’NEILE tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 jenny.oneile@fbj-online.com


HEAd OFFIcE


FREIGHT BUSINESS JOURNAL saunders associates ltd station house Mersey road liverpool uK l17 6aG


tel: +44 (0)151 427 6800 Fax: +44 (0)151 427 1796 Email: info@fbj-online.com Web: www.fbj-online.com


Maybe it’s just coincidence, but within the space of about a month, two senior DHL Executives and the International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) have both called for real action to slash away the paperwork mountain that makes doing business with many parts of the world such an excruciating business. A lot of effort has gone into trying to finally conclude the Doha Round


of international trade talks after ten years of discussion. Now leaders of the G20 group of leading economies have pledged to push them to a successful conclusion next year. That would be a huge shot in the arm for the freight industry, but if you delve into the detail of the World Trade Organisation’s documentation on the subject (I’m not suggesting you do unless you have really bad insomnia) much of the concern is not so much


OpINION FROM THE EDITOR


So it has happened at last. Someone has finally tried to use the freight industry to deliver a terrorist attack on Western soil. With the incident happening over the weekend, it was perhaps inevitable that many of the first comments on the subject came from the ‘rent-a-quote’ merchants who increasingly populate our airwaves these days rather than the more measured response of our industry’s own trade organisations. There are those who would have you believe that people are flinging cases of cargo, completely unchecked, into the holds of planes fully of holidaymakers willy nilly. Obviously, no system for


monitoring freight is 100% foolproof, but then neither are the methods used to check passengers before they get on board planes. And when were you last screened getting on board a bus or a subway train? And as BIFA and the Freight Transport Association quite rightly pointed out, there has to be a compromise between security and stopping the global supply chain altogether. We cannot give absolute assurances that the terrorists will not score


another ‘success’ and blow another plane out of the sky. In fact, the more realistic of us know, deep down, that on the balance of probabilities, it will happen again and that this is the price that might have to be paid for allowing commerce to continue. Obviously, I won’t see it like that as I plummet screaming towards the earth, but that’s human nature for you. I don’t claim to have any better knowledge than the next man propping up the saloon bar, but my gut feeling is actually that in the latest episode, the terrorists’ intention was not necessarily destruction but to send out a message that they could, if they so desired, deliver something very nasty via the international freight system. If your aim is a massive body count, blowing up a cargo plane and, if you are ‘lucky’, causing a bit of collateral damage on the ground on the eastern seaboard of the US doesn’t these days get you into the Premier League of world terror. But if you really want to mess up the West’s economy (more than we’ve managed to do ourselves) this could be a very effective method, provided political and public opinion jump the right way. Probably the best thing the freight industry can do now to ensure


public safety is to carry on with the work that they are already doing. In Europe, we have been rolling out information systems including the much-maligned Import Control System, the Authorised Economic Operator Concept and increasing the number of X-ray scanners at cargo sheds. The US has its C-TPAT and ‘10+2’ programes. No doubt, in the light of the latest incidents, some of these programmes will be rethought and extended. A knee-jerk reaction maybe, but provided it is done in the right way and genuinely improves security – and perhaps improves the general flow of information – that might be no bad thing. Much of this work is ongoing anyway. When the Import Control System


comes on stream from early next year – and someone actually succeeds in getting it to work properly, most likely several weeks or months later – it will be interesting to see if any politician tries to take credit for their ‘firm and decisive action’ following the Yemen incident.


ISSUE 4 2010


FBJ has already become established as the only UK and one of the few pan-European Multimodal newspapers. The comments we have received prove there is still room for a hard copy publication with the freighting industry. You don’t have to look at a screen all day!


FBJ boasts the most informative and authoritative source of information with unrivalled in-depth knowledge of the rapidly changing freight business environment.


As the definitive publication within the sea, air, road and rail freight sectors, each issue includes regular news and analysis, in-depth coverage discovering the business decisions behind the news stories, shipper and exporter reports, opinion, geographical features, political and environmental issues.


If you have any stories or letters which should be of interest or any feedback on FBJ, please contact our editor Chris Lewis - +44 (0)208 6450666 chris.lewis@fbj-online.com


NEXT ISSUE


Our next issue will include features on Scotland and the Netherlands plus our regular IT Section and Multimodal News Pages. For further details contact John Saunders -


+44 (0) 151 427 6800 john.saunders@fbj-online.com CIRCULATION


To guarantee your personal copy of FBJ please register by emailing your details to circulation@fbj-online.com or fax back the address cover sheet included with this issue.


about duties on internationally traded goods but ‘non-tariff barriers.’ In other words, all the paperwork and red tape that the guys at DHL and TIACA are getting so exercised about, and which can lead to freight shipments sitting on tarmac or quaysides for more time than they are actually on board ships or aircraft. The World Customs Organisation has promised TIACA that it will take


steps to do something about the problem, though the WCO’s members are the individual countries’ customs services and it all depends on what action is actually taken on the ground. Only time will tell if their actions bear fruit.


However, it is a great shame that whenever efforts are made to introduce paperless systems in this country, it seems to be such a fraught affair. Following the reports about the late-running Import Control System (ICS) , I take no pleasure in having to report, for the second issue running, a tale of woe about truncated timescales, this time with the new Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS). Meanwhile, it seems that the concerns over ICS have by no means evaporated. Britain, at least, used to have such a good reputation when it came to installing and operating customs IT systems, but now other countries appear to be well ahead of us. I suspect that most


of the problems are down to cutbacks at HM Revenue and Customs - another example of how cutting spending can actual cost us dearer in the long term.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32