by M. Sigmund Shapiro
October 30, 2003
It’s particularly difficult to predict the changes looming for
the forwarding industry in an election year. Susceptible as we are
to government initiatives, we can only respond and improvise at a
moment’s notice, and react to any unreasonable government demands. A
good example is the security inspections implemented at Miami
airport in October affecting all outbound shipments. Enough protests
were raised, that Customs met with the interested parties and rolled
back the procedures.
Obviously cargo security will continue to be on the front burner,
and our industry will be intimately involved in C-TPAT. The Customs
brokers will be a primary information source and under their
"reasonable care" responsibilities could find themselves bearing
more and more burdens that properly fall to the importer or
exporter. Since there is no specific statute and conforming
regulation on C-TPAT, the broker/forwarder is a sitting duck if he
doesn’t spot anomalies and consult with his client. These problems
must necessarily increase his "wild card" responsibility as well as
his costs of processing the shipment. You can bet this problem will
be with us for a long time.
The other issue facing the industry is that of our role as
multi-transport operators. The looming discussion on confidential
service contracts, tariff filing, anti-trust exemptions for ocean
carriers, asset based v. non- asset based NVO’s and the role of the
Federal Maritime Commission (if any) in a deregulated environment,
promises to be good theater, especially if Congress gets into the
act. More and more I’m starting to believe that the current Shipping
Act is not consumer protection but only protects the carriers. In
any event, the forwarder/OTI is poised to react to the inevitable
changes on the horizon. And we mid-sized operators owe a debt of
gratitude to Fedex, et al. for their efforts for change.
It should be an interesting year.
