|
|
"Shap" Talk
|
September 2002 - Issue #6
In This Issue:
Trade Act of 2002
Port of Charleston Container Security Initiative
U.S. Customs to Require Advance Cargo Manifests from Sea Carriers to Protect Global Trade
Proposed Closing of Drawback Offices
National Container Security Initiative
West Coast Strike Update
Importers/Exporters Upset Over IATA Cargo Plan
August 19, 2002 General Rate Increase from Asia is Implemented
North Europe Rate Increase Expected in September
Trade Industry News
Trade Act of 2002
President Bush signed the “Trade Act of 2002” (H.R. 3009) into law on August 6, 2002. The trade community scored a major victory with the provisions that were passed in this bill. Here are some of the highlights of this legislation affecting the trade.
- Retroactively reinstates the GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) program until December 31, 2006. Customs will start issuing refunds directly to importers whose entries were flagged with the special program indicator “A.” Please check all of your entries during the expiration period of October 1, 2001 through August 6, 2002 to ensure the special program indicator is noted. If your entry is not flagged with an “A,” contact your Customs broker immediately so they can file for a refund on your behalf.
- The ATPA (Andean Trade Preference Act) is retroactively reinstated until December 31, 2006. All entries filed during the expiration period from December 4, 2001 through August 6, 2002 eligible for the ATPA program must have a letter sent to Customs requesting a refund for duties paid. Please contact your Customs broker for further details.
- This legislation also grants Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to the President through mid-2005, with a possible two-year extension. This will be used by the President to conclude pending free trade pacts with Chile and Singapore and to negotiate major trade agreements in the Free Trade Area of the Americas and in the WTO's Doha Round (the World Trade Organization’s Fourth Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Quatar).
- Included was a provision to permit monthly payment of duties and fees without interest on timely payments. This language is essential to effective implementation of account-based processing, which the NCBFAA (National Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association) has been an advocate of since inception.
To view all the provisions of the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/and type in bill number H.R. 3009. If you have any further questions, please contact consulting@shapiro.com.
Back to top
Port of Charleston Container Security Initiative
The Port of Charleston will be operating under the new Container Security Initiative. The steamship lines will be responsible for the draying of all containers to and from the local examination station selected for a CSI exam, causing delays in the release of cargo. The drayage costs will be passed on to the importer as well. They estimate an additional 1,200 container examinations and/or x-rays per month due to the initiative.
U.S. Customs has asked the brokerage community to stress to importers the importance of an accurate description on the manifest. Terms such as "merchandise of all kinds", "general merchandise", other non-descriptive terms will NOT be acceptable and will only cause additional delays and costs to the importer. Importers must insist that steamship lines and NVOCC’s (Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier) use more accurate and specific descriptions on their cargo.
We anticipate this type of action in other ports as well.
For further information, please contact our Compliance Department.
Back to top
U.S. Customs to Require Advance Cargo Manifests from Sea Carriers to Protect Global Trade
U.S. Customs Commissioner announced proposed regulations requiring sea carriers to provide cargo manifests 24 hours prior to the lading of cargo for shipment. This information will enable Customs to evaluate the terrorist risk of cargo containers before they are loaded on vessels bound for the United States. Customs advised this regulation is needed to fully implement the Customs Container Security Initiative (CSI). Under the CSI, the U.S. is entering into partnerships with other governments to target and screen high-risk sea containers in foreign ports before they are shipped to the United States. Singapore, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre, and Bremerhaven and Hamburg have all signed declarations to join the CSI. http://www.customs.gov/news/ctpat/index.htm
An essential element of CSI is advance transmission of vessel cargo manifest information to Customs. Analysis of the manifest information prior to lading will allow U.S. Customs officers posted at the foreign seaports to identify high-risk containers before they are shipped to the U.S. Because of CSI's rapid growth and critical role in homeland security, it is necessary that Customs immediately begin receiving the advance manifest information required for CSI implementation, electronically or otherwise.
The proposed regulation also encourages Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers (NVOCC’s) having an International Carrier Bond to electronically present cargo manifest information directly to Customs.
The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on August 8, 2002. It applies to sea carriers only. Please refer to: http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=12301117672+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve
Please refer to the U.S. Customs web site for more information at: http://www.customs.gov/hot-new/pressrel/2002/0807-00.htm
Back to top
Proposed Closing of Drawback Offices
The August 21, 2002 issue of the Federal Register reported that U.S. Customs has proposed to close the Customs Drawback Centers located at the ports of Boston, Miami and New Orleans.
Customs states that there is “a sustained decrease in the number of drawback claims and the amount of drawback payments” at these locations and the consolidation will increase efficiency in processing drawback claims.
Customs is proposing that the Drawback Centers in the ports of Boston and New Orleans would close 30 days from the date a final rule is published in the Federal Register. The Miami Center would close 180 days from that date. Once the Centers close no new claims will be processed in those ports and any sent to the closed Centers would be rejected. New claims would be filed at one of the five Drawback Centers located in New York/Newark, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Any claim filed prior to closing would continued to be processed for a year at the closed centers before they are transferred to another center.
The public has the right to submit written comments about the proposal prior to implementation. Comments must be received on or before September 20, 2002 and may be sent to the U.S. Customs Service, Office of Regulations & Rulings, Attention: Regulations Branch, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20229.
Back to top
National Container Security Initiative
The U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative (CSI) is a program launched by Customs to enhance the safety of imported cargo. CSI secures a vulnerable link in the chain of global trade: the oceangoing sea container. By working together with other nations, we can jointly achieve greater security for maritime shipping than by working independently. Customs plays a unique role in processing maritime trade by continually protecting America from terrorism and crime.
- The volume of trade moving through the nation’s 102 seaports has nearly doubled since 1995.
- In 2001, U.S. Customs processed more than 214,000 vessels and 5.7 million sea containers.
- Approximately 90 percent of the world’s cargo moves by container.
- Globally over 200 million cargo containers move between major seaports each year.
- Each year, more than 16 million containers arrive in the United States by ship, truck, and rail.
- Customs processed 25 million entries in 2001.
- More than $1.2 trillion in imported goods passed through the nation’s 301 ports of entry in 2001. Almost half of the incoming U.S. trade (by value) arrives by ship.
Customs advises that a proactive stance in screening sea containers prior to reaching the United States will substantially contribute to their efforts to secure U.S. borders against dangers that might be introduced through commercial traffic.
Recognizing that trade is vital to the world economy, U.S. Customs has proposed this four-part program designed to achieve a more secure maritime trade environment while accommodating the need for efficiency in global commerce. A critical element in the success of this program will be the availability of advance information to perform sophisticated targeting.
The Container Security Initiative consists of four core elements. These are:
- (1) Establishing security criteria to identify high-risk containers.
- (2) Pre-screening those containers identified as high-risk before they arrive at U.S. ports.
- (3) Using technology to quickly pre-screen high-risk containers.
- (4) Developing and using smart and secure containers.
The fundamental objective of the CSI is to first engage the ports that send the highest volumes of container traffic into the United States, as well as the governments in these locations, in a way that will facilitate detection of potential problems at their earliest possible opportunity.
Ports that have agreed to participate in the CSI so far are:
- Ports of Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver, Canada
- Port of Singapore
- Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Port of Antwerp, Belgium
- Port of Le Havre, France
- Ports of Bremerhaven and Hamburg
Customs identified the top 10 "mega-ports" that send containers to the United States, and is aggressively soliciting their participation in the CSI. These locations were identified based on their volume of sea container traffic destined for the U.S.; however, the CSI is not something that must be restricted to only these locations. On June 28,2002, the World Customs Organization unanimously passed a resolution that will enable ports in all 161 of the member nations to begin to develop programs along the CSI model. Risk assessments and trade analysis will play an important part in future deployments, and increased security measures are vital to the operations of any port in today’s environment. The top "mega-ports" are only a starting point.
Initiatives by Customs to institute container security measures are underway at both domestic and the participating foreign ports. Below is a listing of the top foreign and U.S. ports.
Top 20 Foreign Ports:
1) Hong Kong
2) Shanghai, China
3) Singapore
4) Kaohsiung, China
5) Rotterdam, Netherlands
6) Pusan, Republic of Korea
7) Bremerhaven, Germany
8) Tokyo, Japan
9) Genoa, Italy
10) Yantian, China
11) Antwerp, Belgium
12) Nagoya, Japan
13) Le Havre, France
14) Hamburg, Germany
15) La Spezia, Italy
16) Felixstowe, United Kingdom
17) Algeciras, Spain
18) Kobe, Japan
19) Yokohama, Japan
20) Laem Chabang, Thailand
Top 10 U.S. Ports of Import:
1) New York
2) Los Angeles
3) Long Beach
4) Charleston
5) Seattle
6) Norfolk
7) Houston
8) Oakland
9) Savannah
10) Miami
For more information, please refer to the U.S. Customs web site at: http://www.customs.gov/news/ctpat/index.htm
Back to top
West Coast Strike Update
An agreement still has not been reached between the PMA and the ILWA. Talks are suspended until August 26, 2002. Each side must agree at the close of the daily bargaining session to extend the contract for another day to keep the no-strike provision in effect. There have been some protests at individual terminals but containers are moving from the pier to the rail with little delay.
Back to top
Importers/Exports Upset over IATA Cargo Plan
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is planning to change the formula for calculating volumetric freight. The planned change is for shifting the formula from 6000 cubic centimeters to 5000 cubic centimeters. The present formula is known as 1:6 (1000 kilos = 6 cubic meters (cbm) or 166 kilos = 1 cbm). With the new formula it would be 1:5 (1000 kilos = 5 cubic meters (cbm) or 200 kilos – 1 cbm). The end result will be higher airfreight charges for shippers that have bulky cargo that isn’t very heavy. Importers and exporters will see a 20% increase their airfreight costs due to the new formula. IATA intended to implement this change by October 1, 2002; however, it will most likely be delayed as they must file their plan with the DOT. This plan was drafted at the IATA meeting in Geneva in late May.
Back to top
August 19, 2002 General Rate Increase from Asia is Implemented
It appears all carriers in the Far East–USA trade lane implemented their second GRI on August 19, 2002. Carriers have raised rates by $225 per 20’ container, $300 per 40’ container, $340 per 40’ HC container and $380 per 45’ container. Carriers are operating at near 100% capacity. These increases are for inbound cargo only.
However, carriers are still finding it hard to fill up their ships from the USA to Asia and there are very competitive rates on the market. We urge all of our customers to contact Marketing@shapiro.com for a rate quotation on any import or export shipments.
Back to top
North Europe Rate Increase Expected in September
We have been notified by our agents in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany to expect a rate increase in mid to late September. The exact amount is not known at this time but it’s expected to be at least $200 per 40’ container. Carriers are overbooked at the moment from all origin points. We have very strong contracts to and from Europe. Contact Marketing@shapiro.com for a rate quotation to and from Europe.
Back to top
|
|
