A meeting of the World Customs Organization’s E-commerce Group. In order for the US CBP to successfully implement its new strategy, it will have to work with Customs departments worldwide.

The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, has woken up to the same issue that many in the air freight and express industry woke up to several years ago: e-commerce has gone cross-border. That is, instead of imports to the US consisting mostly of big shipments brought in by big companies, there is an increasing volume small shipments – all the way down to single packages – being brought in by individuals.

The problem: In CBPs own words: “E-Commerce shipments pose the same health, safety, and economic security risks as containerized shipments, but the volume is higher and growing. Additionally, transnational criminal organizations are shipping illicit goods to the United States via small packages due to a perceived lower interdiction risk and less severe consequences if the package is interdicted. Furthermore, new or infrequent importers often possess less familiarity with U.S. customs laws and regulations, which can lead to the importation of non-compliant goods.”

The solution: Again, in the agency’s words: “To address these challenges effectively, CBP has developed an e-commerce strategy. This strategy highlights private industry and foreign governments as key resources in CBP’s continuous assessment of the e-commerce environment. The strategy includes efforts to educate the public and trade community to ensure they understand their responsibilities as importers to comply with customs regulations. The strategy also emphasizes enforcement initiatives, such as streamlining enforcement processes affected by increasing e-commerce volumes, leveraging enforcement partnerships with partner government agencies and foreign governments, and improving data collection from CBP targeting systems and field personnel.”

CBP says this strategy is based on four “primary goals.”

• Enhance legal and regulatory authorities to better posture CBP and interagency partners to address emerging threats.
• Enhance and adapt all affected CBP operations to respond to emerging supply chain dynamics created by the rapid growth of e-commerce.
• Drive private sector compliance through enforcement resources and incentives.
• Facilitate international trade standards for e-commerce to support economic prosperity.

All of which sounds great, in a motherhood-and-apple-pie way, but could mean just about anything. After reading the official 10-page strategy document (it’s available here), our sense is that what CBP is aiming for is modeled on a combination of something similar to the TSA’s “Known Shipper” program, a requirement for advance sharing of shipment data, and stiffer penalties for non-compliance.

While some of this is possible through hard work at the CBP itself (data analysis that flags certain shipments as potentially non-compliant, for example), much of it is dependent on cooperation from non-US governments and businesses.

Cross-border e-commerce is not going to go away. Nor will it shrink. And CBP is correct in its perception that “e-Commerce shipments pose the same health, safety, and economic security risks as containerized shipments.” So, clearly, there is a need for a new strategy – and not just in the US, but everywhere. Equally clearly, CBP recognizes the need to work with the rest of the world.

For example, in its explanatory notes to the fourth of the above goals, the agency says: “E-Commerce trade is a global challenge and CBP’s engagement with its international partners can facilitate communication between foreign customs administration and lead to unified enforcement efforts. CBP will partner with foreign governments and international bodies such as the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the B5 countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to set international standards and develop best practices for e-commerce import processing.”

Gaining this sort of cooperation may not be easy. It was difficult enough in the immediate post-9/11 period – a time when political and business relations between the US and the rest of the world were relatively good. But the increasingly protectionist stance of the current US administration may make it increasingly difficult to gain such cooperation in the future.

It is an odd situation. US consumers are increasingly demanding a borderless shopping world, but at the same time, the US government is throwing up, or threatening to throw up, ever higher barriers to imports.

If you are interested in learning more about the impact of growing cross-border e-commerce on the air freight and express industry, and on the world economy, join us Cargo Facts Asia, 23-25 April, at the Mandarin Oriental Pudong in Shanghai. This year’s event will feature several sessions devoted to e-commerce. For more information, or to register, visit www.cargofactsasia.com

| A CargoFacts release   ||  March 14, 2018   |||

As part of a collaboration between Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EDSM) with New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the University of Auckland will host 23 Indonesians for a Geothermal Project Management Course for the next 4 weeks.

Mar 11, 2018  -  Europe’s biggest aluminium trade group added its voice to the chorus of condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10-percent blanket tariff on imported aluminium earlier this week, petitioning the European Union and its member states to act in defense of the continent’s aluminium sector.

In June 2017, the terminal of APM in Rotterdam was inactive for a few days due to a cyber attack. Parent company A.P. Moller-Maersk’s systems were also down for a few days because of the digital attack. The Danish shipping company lost 250 to 300 million dollar as a result, according to the annual report of 2017. Despite this, the company’s turnover increased compared to the previous year.

The consolidated turnover of the shipping company amounts to 30,945 million dollar. Maersk Line, the group’s container shipping company, recorded a turnover of 24,299 million dollar. The acquired German shipping company, Hamburg Süd, had a share of 458 million dollar in that. This contribution was recorded at the time the takeover was finalised in November 2017. Turnover increased for both Maersk Line and for the complete group. Maersk Line recorded a turnover of 20,715 million dollar over 2016. A.P. Moller-Maersk recorded a turnover of 27,266 million dollar.

Below the line, the total result was in the red. The company recorded a loss of 1,164 million dollar, primarily as a result of worse performances by the APM Terminals and Damco divisions. For these divisions a loss was recorded. The underlying result, an accounting calculation in which the once-only costs and profits are excluded, does result in positive figures. Looking at this entry, the group records a profit of 356 million dollar. This is mostly a result of a better performance by Maersk Line, which makes a profit after loss-making year 2016. A negative impact was also recorded, and the cyber attack during the third quarter was seen in the results. Besides, interest costs increased, and fluctuations in exchange rates had a negative influence on results.

Millions lost after cyber attackIn June, the company was struck by a cyber attack by the NotPetya malware. This malware damaged systems of multiple companies throughout the world, and also brought systems of Maersk Line and APM Terminals to a standstill. “We quickly recovered, but A.P.Moller-Maersk suffered a loss between 250 and 300 million dollar in a short period,” according to the shipping company in the annual report. Looking back, it took a week after the malware infiltrated Maersk’s network before the first positive reports appeared. “The recovery of the systems is going well,” Maersk Line’s website reported on 3 July, a week after the attack. The first important applications were online again, and the system was once again stable. E-mail traffic could also be resumed. A complete recovery of the systems would take several days.

It’s not surprising Maersk mentions a cyber attack as an operational risk with a relatively high probability in its annual report. The recovery of the systems came at a steep cost. The company has now taken several initiatives to improve safety of the digital environment and IT structures.

Takeover Hamburg Süd increases market shareIn November, the takeover of Hamburg Süd, which was announced in December 2016, was finalised. Since then, integration of the shipping company within Maersk has been worked on. The company hopes to be able to profit of synergies among the shipping companies, but doesn’t turn a blind eye to the possible risks of this integration. For now, volumes and the Hamburg Süd brand are maintained.The integration should be finalised this year.

“By combining the strengths of the two companies, customers will get better and more extensive service with a better market coverage, direct services and other benefits of a global network,” according to Maersk in its annual report. The rich history and ‘proud legacy’ of the two shipping companies is also mentioned. Due to the takeover, Maersk Line’s market share increases by about 19 per cent, and capacity now amounts to 4.1 million TEU. The takeover will mostly increase presence on the North-South routes, and is also expected to lead to an increase for APM Terminals.

The Danish shipping company had 282,000 reefer containers at its disposal, and 83,250 reefers from Hamburg Süd are now added to that. In total, the fleet of the combined shipping companies consists of 786 boats, including owned boats and chartered ones. Maersk’s share in this is 680 boats, Hamburg Süd has the remaining 106 boats in its fleet.

Positive signs, further consolidationAlthough the container market gave off positive signs after a weak 2016, it continues to be a challenging market with a surplus in capacity on a global fleet. The sector responds to this continuous overcapacity with further consolidation. COSCO made a bid on OOCL, A.P. Moller-Maersk acquired Hamburg Süd, and UASC and Hapag Lloyd wrapped up their merger in 2017. Besides, Japanese shipping companies NYK, K Line and MOL are still working on a joint venture, which is expected to be presented this year.

Because of the wave of takeovers, which started with the merger of Hapag Lloyd and CSAV in 2014, a larger part of the market is concentrated in a smaller group of shipping companies. While the five largest shipping companies controlled 45 per cent of the market in 2014, this share will increase to 64 per cent after the merger of COSCO and OOCL and the Japanese joint venture.

For the future, the Danish shipping company is looking towards the parcel services such as DHL, UPS and FedEx, and uses that sector as an example. “Within three to five years, it should be just as easy to ship a container across the world as it is for consumers to ship a parcel using one of the parcel services nowadays.” To achieve that goal, the company wants to digitise even more, and thus change the container market.

Container market growing, shipping companies order more boatsDemand for containers increased by five per cent last year. That increase was mostly visible in the first three quarters of the year. This growth levelled off in the final quarter. The strong growth figures are partially a recovery after the weak first months of 2016. Besides, it’s going better economically all over the world. Demand for containers on the East-West route was stable last year. Larger import demand from the US and a strong growth in that country boosted that demand. European import also showed a rising line as a result of the better economic climate.

On the North-South routes, some regions in South America and Africa in particular showed a considerable growth. This development reflects an economic stabilisation in countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Nigeria, although this followed several years in which a decline was noted. The Chinese import was on the rise during the first quarter of 2017, but levelled off in the second half of the year. The import followed the general trend of the Chinese economy because of that. Besides, stricter contamination regulations in Northern China and a restriction on the import of rubbish and waste material negatively influenced import figures.

A global container capacity of 21 million TEU was available at the end of last year. That is 3.1 per cent more than a year earlier. As in previous years, newly built boats were dominated by large ships of more than 10,000 TEU. At the beginning of the year in particular, boats were also taken out of use. In total, 427,000 TEU, over 161 boats, was taken out of use.

Last year, more boats sailed the oceans. In 2016, 6.9 per cent of global capacity was idle, last year this was only 1.8 per cent. During the first half of last year, shipping companies placed considerably more orders for new boats. In total, 107 new boats were ordered, good for 671,000 TEU.

| A FreshPlaza release  ||  March 10, 2018   |||

Global entrance solutions leader Boon Edam has partnered with leading New Zealand door installation and service company Commercial and Industrial Doors to support the expansion of their operations in Australasia. Boon Edam specialises in architectural revolving doors and security entrance systems.

Boon Edam Australia Managing Director, Mr Michael Fisher explained that the two companies will partner nationally in the sales, installation, maintenance and retrofit of Boon Edam’s entry technologies, which serve dozens of Fortune 500 companies.

According to Mr Fisher, Commercial and Industrial Doors is an acknowledged national leader in its field, being extensively involved with major private commercial and industrial clients, transport terminals and government agencies in access and security projects. The NZ company has worked on nationally important property and construction projects, including the post-earthquake rebuilding of Christchurch.

Boon Edam has also entered into an alliance with the Auto Ingress Group in Australia, complementing the Commercial and Industrial Doors partnership and extending their comprehensive installation and service capabilities on both sides of the Tasman.

Thanks to the new partnership with Commercial and Industrial Doors, Boon Edam benefits from expanded availability of 24/7 service and maintenance agreements for existing, new and retrofit installations of their technologies in public and private facilities, including office buildings, data centres, airports, healthcare facilities, shopping centres and retail outlets, major hotels, restaurants and national attractions visited by millions of people a year.

The tie-up will also make available a larger range of Boon Edam’s world-class architectural entrance and security solutions across the region, supported by 24/7 service from Commercial and Industrial Doors, which is already relied upon by some of New Zealand’s biggest banking, retail, food service, agribusiness, energy and construction businesses, as well as security-conscious government agencies.

Commercial and Industrial Doors’ local capabilities complement Boon Edam’s in-house expertise and direct links to their global portfolio of advanced entrance solutions. The partnership will ensure that existing and new clients of both companies throughout New Zealand benefit from greater on-the-ground expertise.

Commercial and Industrial Doors Director Mr Jeff Lee says that his company, like Boon Edam, prides itself on range, service and quality of work. Its installation and service team, which has a strong architectural core, deals with thousands of automatic doors, including custom-designed models. All operate in compliance with national health and safety standards, with IQP registration for the inspection, maintenance and reporting of automatic doors throughout New Zealand.

Observing that speed, security and quality of work were critical to customers’ business, he recalled how in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, people were extremely fearful of being trapped in buildings. Top priority was given to making sure all exit doors were clear and operational. During building assessments conducted after the earthquakes in abandoned offices, the importance of access and egress in emergency situations was obvious.

Commercial and Industrial Doors recently completed work on a new bus exchange, which has more than 50 auto sliders interfaced with the bus door control system to open and close as the bus doors are activated.

Mr Lee added:

“Commercial and industrial facilities rely on quick, easy access to and from buildings to keep people and processes moving and secure. Without easy, safe, fast access, business can grind to a halt. As with Boon Edam, we provide strong ongoing solutions in which customers can have confidence today and into the future.”

| A A&D release   ||  march 09, 2018   |||

This March and April, an international team of researchers will install monitoring equipment inside an active fault zone off the coast of New Zealand, in the Ring of Fire, in the first-ever scientific drilling mission specifically designed to study slow earthquakes.

Labosport to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific with the acquisition of NZSTI.  Aurélien Le Blan, Labosport CEO : "The institute has unparalleled experience and unmatched reputation for scientific excellence. We look forward to further developing its service offering for the benefit of its customers and key business partners.”

China boasts more than its fair share of impressive engineering feats, including the world's second-tallest skyscraper and the highest bridge. We can soon add highest skybridge to the list too, courtesy of Moshe Safdie's Raffles City Chongqing project, which is currently under construction in southwest China.

Fonterra and Beca have partnered to develop a breakthrough virtual reality health and safety training technology. The cutting-edge solution lets employees navigate the Co-operative’s manufacturing and distribution sites without the need to set foot on site and will help substantially reduce onboarding times.

PENSKE New Zealand has secured a deal to deliver 36 MAN trucks to TIL Logistics Ltd, one of the kiwi's biggest freight and transport companies.