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New Year’s resolution: be better informed to be more prepared


2012 looks like being as difficult a year as 2011 for shippers and the freight industry. Unreliability in the supply chain, increasing or volatile costs and prices, and unpredictability look set to dog them in these uncertain times. Shippers like to plan, but they


tend not to like short term planning or having to make panic decisions. These can wipe out their budget forecasts overnight, create tensions among suppliers and customers (internal or external) and jeopardise future business. Shippers do tend to spend a lot of


their time fire-fighting, getting around problems put in their way, or rather put in the way of the freight getting to where it needs to be, in the condition and at the time it is needed. Could shippers be more prepared


to tackle the problems coming their way in the months ahead? Prevention is the best cure, but you need to know what it is that you are seeking to prevent. A casual look through the new


Shippers’ Digest (www.shippersdigest. com) highlights the issues that are either impacting now on shippers or look likely to in the near future. It should be the first step for all shippers and agents to have a view of these, and an understanding of the nature of the threat to their business. The economy, fuel prices, service


and capacity cuts, supply chain disruptions, emissions limits, security and unexpected cost increases, are all potential threats to businesses this year.


Market conditions are hurting carriers: shipping lines are facing difficult financial times due to credit restrictions as banks and other investors withdraw support for risky investments. The Euro crisis is largely to blame for that. But the shipping lines invested too heavily in new ships at the wrong time. So there is too much capacity, burdening ship owners with excess debt and ships that cannot earn their keep. Fuel prices have been relatively steady in recent months, but a political flare-up in the Middle East could change that as we have seen even recently over the Spring uprisings of 2011, and Iran’s threat to shipping through the Straits of Hormuz. Capacity


cuts and reduced


services seem inevitable. Shippers should have contingency plans in place to cover such consequences. Austerity in Europe usually in


results high unemployment,


protectionism and increasing industrial action. Expect disruption to logistics channels, whether road blockades, border blockades or walk outs by port and rail network personnel. Some of these may be in the passenger and public services, but they can have serious consequences for supply chains. Shippers should identify the most vulnerable points in their supply chains and have contingency plans at the ready. Political and public pressure for


transport to cut emissions means regulations will follow - if not this year, then in 2013 and subsequent


years; but it is no use waiting to formulate a response because the actions required take time to introduce. In road transport, start measuring emissions, but don’t do this alone. Europe is heading towards standards: join the SmartWay Europe programme (www.smartwayeurope. eu) and benchmark against others across Europe; and benefit from shared best practices, discounted emission-busting technologies and better finance arrangements which are planned for development and which are only going to be possible under programmes such as SmartWay Europe with cross- European appeal and support. Shipping is also under pressure to


reduce emissions, and there is every likelihood that surcharges will result for shippers, if not this year then next year; so best plan for it or see which ships with the best emissions you might seek to use. In aviation, aircraft coming to


and leaving the EU now fall under the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and shippers should discuss with their freight forwarder or carrier if they expect either increased


prices or surcharges


at some stage this year. Ask if the aircraft they use will exceed the emission quotas given to them. Effectively the EST for aviation started a couple of years ago when airlines had to collect and report their tonne-kilometres and CO2 emissions from 1 January 2010 to 31 March 2011. In order to apply for their


free emission allowances they must have submitted verified annual emission reports to the EU member state in which they are registered or fly to/from. As I understand it, they surrender


the quota allowances for each year’s emissions by the end of April each year. So it is possible that we will only see rate increases or surcharges affected by this scheme in 2013 - i.e. those covering 2012 emissions. However, they will incur a cost this year plus the costs of administering the scheme. Rather than wait until May 2013 it is possible that some carriers may incorporate the costs of this year’s (15%) allowances and admin costs into their charges through rate increases or surcharges, rather than wait until May 2013. It is worth checking what the carriers will be doing so there are no nasty surprises. Security regulations for air freight to


and from third countries will increase from February this year. Shippers need to check that the airlines they use are registered to comply, and to gain some understanding of any likely implications. To prepare contingency plans


one needs to know what you are planning for. Joining an industry association, such as the European Shippers’ Council, using services such as the Shippers Digest and reading journals such as FBJ should be part of your contingency planning: make it your New Year’s resolution.


Go green with ESC


The European Shippers’ Council (ESC) in partnership with its Dutch member, the EVO, is to help develop a new CO2 monitoring programme. The UK’s Energy Saving Trust (EST) has also been appointed to develop a tool


to deliver benchmarking


reports and analysis of truck CO2 emissions. The initiative aims to generate


market incentives to encourage companies in green procurement of transportation services with a central database, hosted by a neutral body, to calculate, validate and benchmark the environmental performance of transportation companies based on their actual data. Representatives from Dutch brewer Heineken, The Dow


Chemical Company and DHL met European officials to update them on the progress made towards a uniquely European version of the comparable SmartWay Partnership programme in the US. Since last year the group has grown from seven founder members to some 25 companies. Following testing and evaluation,


the initiative will be officially launched under a new name on 27 March in Brussels. See http://www. smartway-europe.eu/index.html for further details. There will


also be a seminar


session on the programme, what it does and how to join at this year’s Multimodal 2012 exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, UK on 2 May.


Tanzania is introducing pre-shipment inspection of imports from 1 February. Third-party agencies authorised to carry out inspection are Intertek, based in the UK, SGS, based in Switzerland, and Bureau Veritas (France).


FORWARDING & LOGISTICS CONTINUED


AP Moller-Maersk and UPS has joined existing members of the World Food Programme (WFP)-led Logistics Cluster, Agility and TNT Express to carry out a pilot Logistics Capacity Assessment in Nigeria, focussing on potential natural disasters and pandemics. Future assessments around the world will build on the results of this pilot project. The Capacity Assessment examined standard logistics components such as roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as issues such as milling capacity, quarantine procedures and telecoms infrastructure. It also mapped out disaster contingency plans, including the movement of goods and supplies into and throughout the country. The lessons learned from these scenarios could be life-saving in the case of a disaster or pandemic. The Logistics Cluster has already worked together in 2011 to provide humanitarian assistance during the Horn of Africa drought in 2011. Although WFP does not have any humanitarian operations in Nigeria, it supports the government in the fields of logistics and emergency preparedness and, in May 2011, WFP and the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote and reinforce the country’s emergency preparedness and response capacity.


DSV Road has appointed Gary Kioussis to the new role of sales manager, southern area. He has been with DSV for 30 years and has worked for the company in a variety of positions, most recently as finance manager.


NEWS ROUNDUP CUSTOMS & INTERNATIONAL TRADE


EU and US leaders, meeting in Washington DC on 28 November, finalised the ‘Trusted Trader’ agreement to simplify and speed up customs procedures for transatlantic freight shipments. Both sides will mutually recognise each other’s ‘trusted trader’ programmes that cover 4,600 EU businesses and 10,000 US firms and the deal will become operational once IT systems are in place and will be no later than June 2012.


A recent ruling by the EU Court of Justice could make it easier for European customs officials to detain counterfeit goods in transit through EU territory. The judgement, handed down on 1 December concerned a case in which UK customs officials discovered a shipment of suspected fake Nokia cell phones in transit between Hong Kong and Colombia but refused to detain the shipment because its destination was not the EU.


Road transport operators can now submit free electronic pre- declarations to Serbian Customs and benefit from shorter waiting times at borders. It follows the successful integration of the IRU’s TIR Electronic Pre-Declaration application into the Serbian customs system. IRU’s TIR-EPD system now covers 19 countries.


The EU has re-established trade preferences to the Western Balkan countries including Kosovo, until the end of 2015. The deal, which dates from 2000, will continue to give Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo unlimited duty-free access to the EU market for nearly all products.


The World Customs Organization is to celebrate 2012 as the Year of Connectivity under the slogan “Borders divide, Customs connects”. It will be launched on International Customs Day, celebrated annually by the global Customs community on 26 January.


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