16 Web based customs


Issue 3 2014 Freight Business Journal NEWS ROUNDUP


INERNATIONAL TRADE & CUSTOMS


management system provider,


e-customs is allowing low volume users to submit customs declarations free of charge on its Webdecs system. A free service is currently available on the Government Gateway but e-customs says it is offering many features which most international traders and businesses would regard as essential to an efficient operation. For example, there is no need to rekey standing data, and it offers archiving and access to valuable management information.


HM Revenue & Customs has set up a web page to update users on the planned replacement for the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system. Information will be added as the replacement programme moves on.


The European Commission is planning to open its borders early to Ukrainian products, effectively bringing forward from November to June concessions contained in a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area scheme. The plan depends on the European Parliament voting in favour of the plan at its session in late April with the Council following suit. The EU would remove customs duties on most industrial products with other duties on some sensitive products, such as chemicals, reduced. Tariffs would also be lifted for about four fifths of Ukraine’s


agricultural products, with


quotas with zero duties for some sensitive products, such as cereals, pork, beef and poultry. There will also be strict controls on origin; products from Crimea would benefit from the deal but not those from Russia.


Many countries have successfully taken over core customs functions from pre-shipment inspection and destination inspection companies without harming revenue, a meeting at the World Customs Organisation (WCO)’s Brussels headquarters was told, on 6-7 March. Such contracts can be costly to governments and detrimental


to customs’


knowledge and skills in such areas as valuation and classification, delegates were told. The WCO added that it has developed a comprehensive set of instruments and tools to support national customs administrations with reform and modernisation.


Director of Inlecom Systems Dr Takis Katsoulakos has produced an overview of the EU’s Maritime Single Window. It covers the current reporting requirements and outlines the issues and challenges that must be overcome by the adoptiondate of 1 June 2015. He also outlines key developments and best practice and suggests a coherent and practical way forward for shipping lines, port authorities, national authorities and other stakeholders.


Airfreight is overlooked says FTA


The value air freight to the UK economy is overlooked, says the Freight Transport Association in a commissioned report, ‘Sky- high value – The importance of air freight to the UK economy’ published on 20 March. Continued investment in airport capacity is essential to its growth and success, it argues. FTA’s director of global and


European policy, Chris Welsh, says that it is imperative that the UK has a single air freight hub, namely Heathrow. He describes it as “an essential hub of connectivity for passengers and freight, bringing together huge resource, expertise and opportunity in one place.” Some 95% of air cargo is carried


in the belly-hold of passenger aircraſt; air freight accounts for nearly 40% of UK imports and exports by value and employs 39,000 people, most clustered around Heathrow. It is critical for important sectors such as pharmaceuticals,


high-end


manufacturing and retailers. Air freight may seem an


expensive and environmentally challenging way to ship goods, but for many high-value and high-end goods it is either the best or only way to transport them – and in some cases, not only is it the safest and most secure form of freight transport, it is also the most cost- effective. FTA supports Sir Howard


Davies’ interim conclusions in the Airports Commission inquiry on airport capacity, which makes an unequivocal case for additional capacity to meet the needs of British industry in the nation’s overseas markets. It believes, however, that the importance of the hub concept should be given further consideration by the Airports Commission as it continues its work. Welsh adds: “This FTA report illustrates the requirement for


additional capacity to meet existing needs but also to be able to access new emerging markets and economies in Asia, South America and the Indian sub-continent. We support the case for investment in Heathrow and existing airports, including regional airports and in potential new airport sites.” Welcoming the report,


Heathrow’s corporate affairs director, Clare Harbord, adds: “This is an extremely valuable piece of work by the FTA. It shows the importance of Heathrow to the freight industry as well as the vital role air freight plays for the UK economy. Both the FTA and Heathrow firmly believe that building on the strength we already have at Heathrow is the best way to deliver the new aviation capacity Britain so desperately needs.” Welsh also warned that the


difficulties of shiſting a major hub airport to the other side of London should not be underestimated, and warned against taking an over- simplistic view of the issue. It was more than a matter of building a few runways and terminal buildings – an entire hub of support industries, including not only freight forwarders but many other firms that supplied the airlines or were intimately bound up with the sector were centred in and around Heathrow. Simply trying to shiſt the


problem to a greenfield site to the east of London would simply move the same problems to the other side of the capital. And while road links around Heathrow and the west of London are congested, the area’s connectivity to the rest of the country was reasonably good – could the same be said of a site many miles to the east of the capital, Welsh asked. He added that a number of other


groups with similar concerns had been in touch with FTA, including backheathrow.org. (see p.1)


///NEWS


Twenty million trucks for Eurotunnel


Eurotunnel


celebrated its 20


millionth truck since services began on 25 July 1994, on board a Freight Shuttle travelling from Coquelles (France) to Folkestone.


It belonged to Emons Cargo


BV – part of the Dutch Emons Group, whose commercial director, Eric Driessen, said: “We have used the Channel Tunnel since its opening 20 years ago.”


Shipping lines steal airfreight growth


The shiſt to ocean freight is costing the air cargo sector almost 2% a year’s worth of annual growth, according to research by Seabury Group and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The study by the advisory


services firm showed that air freight’s share of total global containerised or unitised cargo transported declined from 3.1% in 2000 to 1.7% in 2013, about a third of it due to ‘modal shiſt’ – in other words, goods that used to be shipped by air now use sea or surface transport. Shipment of


raw materials


and perishables had been affected the most, but there had


also been significant


shiſts in fashion, high-tech and machinery parts from air to ocean. Trade lanes from Asia saw the biggest effect. Shippers


interviewed


indicated that the main factors were transport costs, increased reliability of ocean freight, and the environment. They added that air cargo could fight back by offering cheaper rates, better services and closer relationships with shippers, while the most


popular suggestions from freight forwarders interviewed were increased sustainability through fuel efficiency, greater operational reliability and increasing the use of electronic communications. Head


of Seabury Cargo


Advisory, Gert-Jan Jansen, commented: “Mode shift has eroded a of


air freight


significant portion growth and is


expected to continue to do so, albeit at a moderate rate. Without this modal shift, the compound annual growth rate for air freight could have reached


4.5% from 2000


to 2013, instead of the 2.6% actually achieved.” Jansen said the air freight


sector needs to respond if it wishes to minimise or reverse its market share losses: “While shippers would like to focus attention on air freight rates, there are other aspects at play. Forwarders require improvements in terms of fuel efficiency, reliability and use of e-communication, while respondents also highlighted the


importance of reduced door-to-door transit times.”


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