The 9th annual BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit, which is touted as a major international relations event that brings in top officials from each member nation, is being hosted in Xiamen, China this year. The 2017 summit will officially take place between September 3rd and 5th. However, tightened security measures leading […]

Although no date has been set and no firm details are available, the International Longshoremen’s Association has begun to lay the groundwork for a one-day work stoppage at ILA ports from Houston to Maine.  The ILA hopes to draw attention to two issues affecting its members: the activities of the Waterfront Commission in the ports […]

PierPass, a non-profit company that seeks to create greater port efficiency and sustainability, and the West Coast Marine Terminal Operator Agreement (WCMTOA) have announced an increase to the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The modified TMF will go into effect on August 1, 2017 and will reflect […]

COSCO Shipping has paired with Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) in a consolidated effort to purchase Orient Overseas International Ltd. (OOIL), the holding company overseeing Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL). The proposed deal would pay OOIL $10.07 per share, which equates to roughly $6.3 billion. If OOIL accepts the offer then COSCO would assume a […]

In its latest press release, Maersk announced that it is nearly recovered from the cyber-attack that left the company’s IT systems in disarray earlier this week. Certain business units and processes are still not fully operational. Here is an outline of the current status: Bookings Placed Before and After Attack – Every booking that was […]

Though numerous Maersk systems remain offline as a result of Tuesday’s cyber-attack, the company is now accepting bookings from customers who utilize the INTTRA system. Bookings made on INTTRA are likely to take longer than normal to process, but the system is operational. Maersk’s e-mail and communication platforms remain offline, so customers needing to contact […]

Maersk and APM Terminal operations remain in a critical state as a result of cyber-attack Petya, the virus that has halted operations at nearly ten multinational corporations. In their latest press release, Maersk outlined the following points: Multiple Maersk IT systems remain powered down in an effort to further secure data. As a result of […]

Maersk and its associated APM Terminals are the latest victims of the Petya Virus, a cyber-attack that commenced at daybreak Tuesday, June 27th in the Ukraine and Russia. The virus has already disrupted the operations of six multinational companies and has led Maersk to powering off its internal systems to ensure data integrity. Maersk’s booking […]

Mark your calendars! Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced July 8, 2017 as the effective date for transition to make the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) the sole electronic data interchange (EDI) system authorized by the Commissioner of CBP for processing electronic drawback, duty deferral entry and entry summary filings. After the effective date, the Automated Commercial System (ACS) will no […]

Japan’s three major shipping lines announced plans to merge into a single, consolidated joint venture company; the timing, however, remains in question. “K” Line, MOL, and NYK Lines intended to establish the Ocean Network Express (ONE) by April of 2018. However, U.S. ‘gun jumping’ laws may force a much sooner launch. Earlier this month, the […]

Hapag-Lloyd (Hapag) and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) have agreed to the terms of a merger that is expected to be completed by the end of the 3rd quarter. The merger will combine the 118 services of Hapag and the 45 services of UASC, equating to 163 services that are capable of moving over 10 […]

Attention food importers! The May 30 deadline to comply with FDA’s Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) is mandatory and right around the corner. The Food Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule is intended to be a flexible, risk-based program to verify that foreign suppliers are producing their food in compliance with processes that meet the FDA’s […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin to implement “Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws.” The Executive Order, signed on March 31, promotes the efficient and effective administration of U.S. Customs and trade laws by establishing enhanced measures to collect duties and a heightened enforcement […]

Due to blizzard conditions forecast to affect our region, all terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey will be closed on March 14, 2017.  The port’s Winter Weather Plan will be in effect. The following Port of Philadelphia terminals will be CLOSED today, Tuesday, March 14, 2017: Packer Avenue Marine Terminal Tioga […]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a final rule regarding the importation of Chemical Substances and Mixtures Subject to EPA’s Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), eliminating the old TSCA Blanket Certification process. While the original effective date was temporarily postponed, CBP has announced an implementation deadline of March 20, 2017. The new ruling will […]

The Journal of Commerce’s 17th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) Conference opening session tensed as Harold Daggett, the International Longshoreman’s Association president, strongly urged its members “not to engage in any work stoppage or any other violations of our current master contract.”  The active master contract contains a no-strike clause to prevent work stoppages that could […]

Shapiro is excited to announce that our Charleston office will be relocating on Monday, March 13, 2017.  The office will remain open for standard business hours on Friday, March 10 and will close promptly at 5:00 p.m. EST.  Phone calls and emails will be monitored for any urgent inquiries. So, where’s the new office? 115 Central Island […]

FDA is currently experiencing outages across many applications, which prevents the processing of entries. The technical team is currently investigating. As a result, FDA’s Division of Food Defense Targeting will be operating under the prior notice scenario 2 contingency. These issues will prevent submitters who file via Automated Broker Interface (ABI) from receiving Prior Notice […]

As the new year comes in, so do new regulations form U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the importation of Chemical Substances and Mixtures Subject to EPA’s Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). CBP issued a final rule in the Federal Register on December 27, 2016 eliminating the old TSCA […]

This afternoon, Shapiro received notice that Amazon fulfillment has begun rejecting new FBA Seller inventory from its fulfillment program.  The message advised Sellers that Amazon will be implementing restrictions “to ensure we have the capacity necessary to receive, store inventory, and ship to customers quickly.” If you require additional information about alternative fulfillment warehousing, please […]