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Issue 2 2013 Tilbury terminal cuts costs and carbon


The Logistics Terminal (TLT) in Tilbury says it has doubled its throughput in a year and now has an average of 160 containers a week passing through its hub. Aimed at companies looking to distribute goods in smaller quantities directly from a port centric warehouse, TLT argues that it can reduce bottom-line storage and distribution costs for its customers. It offers quick and easy access to shipping containers and its capacity to cut out the middleman, as well as its ability to devise logistics solutions.


Anti-fraud measures ‘set to gum up car imports’


New measures introduced in last October’s Budget to combat VAT fraud on cars imported into the UK could risk gumming up the supply chain – and will not necessarily stop the criminals, forwarders warned a recent meeting of the Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC). Under the ‘Nova’ scheme, electronic links have been established between HM Revenue & Customs’ CHIEF computer and the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s systems to ensure that the latter does not allow imported vehicles to be registered unless the VAT has first been secured. However, this means that every


vehicle identification number (VIN) must now be included on each customs entry into Chief and as car importers typically import hundreds or thousands


of vehicles on a single entry, the system will be unable to cope. MacSwiney, chairman for


soſtware house ASM and JCCC trade chairman said:


“I am a


bit concerned that there have been system changes without, seemingly, any comprehensive consultation with the motor trade. The end result will be that the current paper based fraud morphs into computer fraud.” He added that at the moment it


was unclear how the DVLA-Chief link will work and whether it will genuinely address


the issues:


“What does seem certain is that legitimate car importers may have to become involved in a more bureaucratic process and this will have a disproportionate impact on the number of car import entries that Chief has to process. Further consultation is


ERTS to become TSF The long-standing temporary


storage review is finally coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Transit Shed and ERTS (Enhanced Remote Transit Shed) designations are set to be replaced by Temporary Storage Facilities – either internal (ITFS) or external (ETFS) under revised customs regulations. While the proposed Customs


Information Paper (CIP) outlining the new rules was strongly criticised by the trade for its emphasis on penalties and lack of clarity of information at a meeting of the Joint Customs Consultative Committee on 15 February was heavily critical, a revised version of the CIP releassed in early March has addressed these criticisms and reflects far more accurately the tone and conclusions of the consultation process, said Peter MacSwiney, chairman of soſtware house ASM. The old designations will now


be replaced by ETSF and ITSF over a 30-month roll-out programme. Meetings will now take place with the Border Force to ensure that the regulations are interpreted and applied evenly handedly across the UK


currently underway so we hope that some of these issues will be resolved.” MacSwiney, added that he was concerned that the criminals will


probably find another way to defraud the system – or simply switch to


another high-value


import on which to perpetrate VAT fraud.


Illegal scrap trade goes global


A crackdown on illegal scrap sales in the UK could move the problem overseas, says the British International Freight Association. BIFA is warning of a possible


upsurge in illegal exports of scrap material as the Police increasingly crack down on the domestic trade in dubious material. The new Scrap Metal Dealers Bill has made it illegal to pay for scrap materials in cash in the UK, but criminals may increasingly export to countries where this is still permitted. Freight forwarders and other businesses are urged to report suspicious locations for shipping containers, such as brown field sites, scrap yards, farms, industrial units, travellers’ sites and residential


premises to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) at alerts@ soca.x.gsi.gov.uk Meanwhile, the port of Antwerp


– one of the leading locations in Europe for the global second- hand vehicle trade - says that unscrupulous traders have developed a lucrative sideline of exporting illegal waste as ‘packaging’ for second-hand cars being shipped off to the Third World where it can be disposed of. The port has however stepped


up its checks and brought in new rules at the beginning of last year. According to the results of a six- monthly survey, the amount of “secondary goods” has fallen 17% in the past six months.


Cuts will delay US- bound shipments


BIFA is warning that recent savage cuts in US Government spending could delay shipments as overtime payments to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are axed. A sequestration programme was adopted by Congress to address the federal budget deficit on 1 March, triggering a series of automatic government spending cuts, totalling about $1 trillion over the next ten years.


BIFA calculates that the


overtime cuts could delay cargo examinations by up to five days for delays for ocean freight and 5-6 hours for air. CBP says


Twente Express has made a £500,000 investment in additional trucks and trailers. The Brownhills, West Midlands-based company operates daily departures between the UK and the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg,


specialising in the that perishable


cargo will be prioritised and companies that have entered into partnerships such as the Importer Self-Assessment Program and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism will continue to get priority processing.


express delivery of parcels, pallets, part and full trailer loads.


DB Schenker Rail has formally taken over as the new operator of the Telford International Railfreight Park. The local authority-funded terminal opened in June 2009 but it struggled commercially and an alternative operator was sought. DB Schenker Rail has been appointed aſter a formal EU Procurement process.


///NEWS NEWS ROUNDUP AIRFREIGHT & EXPRESS


Turkish carrier Pegasus Cargo has appointed AviaCargo as cargo general sales agent for 25 countries in Europe including the UK, France, Switzerland, Spain, Scandinavia, the Balkans and the Baltics. One of the few low-cost carriers with a cargo product, Istanbul-based Pegasus operates a fleet of 737-800 passenger planes to to 69 destinations in 27 countries.


Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) has been awarded a cargo and passenger ground handling licence at Manchester Airport and won Turkish Airlines as its launch customer, from 1 April.The carrier operates twice daily Airbus A319 and A320 flights to Istanbul. (North-west report p16.)


American Airlines parent company AMR Corporation has signed a merger deal with US Airways Group to create a combined carrier worth around $11 billion. Operating under the American Airlines name, it will offer more than 6,700 daily flights to 336 destinations in 56 countries.


Luxembourg all-cargo airline Cargolux is to ask its shareholders for an additional US$100 million in convertible loan funding in the first quarter of 2013, under a new business plan agreed by the Board of Directors on 7 February. There had been speculation over the future of the carrier after Qatar Airways relinquished its 35% holding last year.


Cargolux is operating a twice-weekly Hong Kong-Baku-Stansted- Luxembourg route, with 747-400 or 747-8 freighters. It is also is adding Port Harcourt in Nigeria to its African network.


Garuda Indonesia is to introduce direct flights from London Gatwick to Jakarta from late 2013. The route will be operated by Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft.


DHL officially unveiled its new Middle East and North Africa express ground operations facility at the Meydan Racecourse district near central Dubai on 12 March. It is due for completion in the third quarter of 2014.


ROAD & RAIL


Hellmann Worldwide Logistics UK has signed a road freight distribution partnership with German freight forwarder, Zufall Logistics to provide a shuttle system between the UK and Germany. The collaboration will service Fulda, Hamburg and Stuttgart.


Slow border crossings remain the biggest obstacle to trade in the Arab world, says the latest study by the New Eurasian Land Transport Initiative. It found that 44% of transport time was lost at borders with some drivers waiting as long as two weeks.


Belgian leſt-wing MEP Saïd El Khadraoui, who heads the Socialist members in the European Committee on Transport, says he wants to put the brakes on plans to further liberalise road cabotage laws in the EU. He said that as long as the social and working conditions of drivers and enforcement were not guaranteed by EU legislation, further opening of the market will only lead to unfair competition and have severe consequences for road safety.


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