ROE Logistics News Updates

The German union for air traffic workers at Frankfurt Airport GdF (Gewerkschaft der Flugsicherung), has announced a 48h strike starting Monday, February 20, at 5 a.m.

The strike, by apron controllers at Europe's third-busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers, is a continuation of actions which grounded hundreds of flights last week. It is now scheduled to continue until 0400 GMT on Wednesday.

The walkouts started after GdF and airport operator Fraport AG failed to reach an agreement on wages for about 200 workers who guide planes in and out of their parking positions.

Fraport said 231 flights, of a total 1,250 scheduled for Monday, would be cancelled, with a similar number to follow on Tuesday.

In a recently published report the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that uncertainty persists over how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will fulfill the mandate for 100 percent scanning of U.S.-bound cargo, given that the feasibility remains unproven in light of the challenges CBP has faced implementing a pilot program for 100 percent scanning.

In response to the requirement from the SAFE Port Act to implement a pilot program to determine the feasibility of 100 percent scanning, CBP, the Department of State, and the Department of Energy announced the formation of the Secure Freight Initiative (SFI) pilot program in December 2006.

However, logistical, technological, and other challenges prevented the participating ports from achieving 100 percent scanning and CBP has since reduced the scope of the SFI program from six ports to one.

In October 2009, GAO recommended that CBP perform an assessment to determine if 100 percent scanning is feasible, and if it is, the best way to achieve it, or if it is not feasible, present acceptable alternatives.

However, to date, CBP has not conducted such an assessment or identified alternatives to 100 percent scanning.

Further, as GAO previously reported, DHS acknowledged it will not be able to meet the 9/11 Act's July 2012 deadline for implementing the 100 percent scanning requirement, and therefore, it expects to grant a blanket extension to all foreign ports pursuant to the statute, thus extending the target date to July 2014.

In its latest monthly e-newsletter, Container Trades Statistics Ltd (CTS) reported mixed results for December total trade volumes for dry and reefer containers to and from Europe.

Except for South and Central America, which contracted by 5%, all export trades from Europe witnessed growth in December compared with the previous month.

According to CTS, year on year, all trades expanded. Exports to Asia grew 1.8% on the previous month and 7.5% on a year ago. Exports to Indian Sub-Continent and Middle East grew 13.6% on the previous month and 14.9% year on year.

Exports from Europe to North America grew 1.7% month on month and 5.7% year on year.

The picture was more mixed for import trades to Europe. Imports from North America were down by 1.9 % on the previous month and down 4.2 % on a year ago.

Imports from South and Central America declined slightly by 0.7% month on month but expanded year on year by 5.2%. Imports from India Sub-Continent / Middle East grew substantially month on month by 19.5% and 6% year on year.

Imports from Asia increased by 16% month on month but were only marginally up year on year at 0.8%.

Members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) have issued the following news release announcing rate increases.

TSA LINES ANNOUNCE 2012-13 REVENUE PROGRAM INCLUDING SECOND INTERIM RATE ADJUSTMENT
Carrier initiative aims to restore 2011 rate levels leading into contract negotiations.

As container shipping lines face estimated 2011 losses in the billions of dollars across their global networks, including the transpacific trade, member carriers in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) have reaffirmed their commitment to restore rate levels going into 2012-13 contract talks.

TSA carriers are recommending a second, across-the-board guideline rate increase of US$300 per 40-foot container (FEU), effective March 15, 2012, following on an initial increase successfully implemented on January 1. The March general rate increase (GRI) is intended to bring Asia-U.S. freight rates back up to near 2011 contract levels, establishing a baseline for upcoming contract negotiations. TSA cited recent investor filings and press reports affirming industry losses, and stress that a further increase is critical to carrier viability going forward.

TSA lines indicated that, rather than adopting a single formal guideline increase, they will pursue various approaches to interim cost recovery and revenue restoration, whether in the form of across-the-board general rate increases, peak season surcharges or other mechanisms, depending on each carrier's unique situation. In all cases, they said, the objective is to meet expected cargo demand growth and begin reversing 2011 revenue losses resulting from slower than expected demand, ongoing market uncertainty and the impact of short-term concessionary rates bleeding into 12-month 2011 service contracts.

The Agreement's 2012-13 recommended guideline revenue program, to take effect no later than May 1, 2012 for all tariff items and service contracts, will raise rates by a minimum of an additional $500 per FEU for cargo to the U.S. West Coast, and a minimum of $700 per FEU for all other destinations. TSA lines also indicated that further additional revenue and cost recovery initiatives would be considered for later in the year, after a review of market conditions and outlook for the second half of 2012.

Lastly, carriers reaffirmed the need for 2012 service contracts to apply per formula rate increases for all equipment sizes, and to provide for collection of full, floating fuel surcharges and other applicable cost-based ancillary charges. 'The erosion in transpacific rates during 2011 has been well-documented and dramatic," said TSA executive administrator Brian M. Conrad. "If carriers adopt a marginal increase that only partially offsets huge losses as costs continue to rise, the result is another 18 months of losses. This year in particular, rate recovery must be meaningful in order to maintain service levels and, ultimately, carrier viability."

Conrad cautioned customers not to assume winter season spot rates on isolated route segments should set contract pricing through mid-2013. "While there may be excess global capacity, infrastructure constraints continue to limit vessel size and utilization," he said. On the cost side, he added, bunker fuel prices have exceeded $700 per metric ton since the beginning of the year, and West Coast prices in particular are approaching the record levels seen in mid-2008. In addition, improved employment, income, housing and consumer spending numbers suggest improved demand in the coming year.

"There has been a lot of uncertainty in the market and we should not assume the challenges are behind us," Conrad added. "Still, indications look generally positive for a recovery in the trade, making it all the more important for shippers and carriers to coordinate their forecasting and plan for contingencies, and for carriers to adequately manage and recover their costs."

TSA is a research and discussion forum of major container shipping lines serving the trade from Asia to ports and inland points in the U.S. More information on TSA can be found at www.tsacarriers.org.

APL Ltd.
China Shipping Container Lines
CMA-CGM
COSCO Container Lines, Ltd.
Evergreen Line
Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd
Hapag-Lloyd AG
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd.
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line)
Maersk Line
Mediterranean Shipping Co.
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K. Line)
Orient Overseas Container Line, Ltd.
Yangming Marine Transport Corp.
Zim Integrated Shipping Services

Members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) have issued the following news release announcing rate increases.

TSA LINES ANNOUNCE 2012-13 REVENUE PROGRAM INCLUDING SECOND INTERIM RATE ADJUSTMENT
Carrier initiative aims to restore 2011 rate levels leading into contract negotiations.

Overcapacity plagues dry bulk ship owners in a similar situation to what is happening in the container ship business.

According to Drewry Maritime Research's latest edition of its Dry Bulk Forecaster, tonnage supply hit a massive 605 million dwt at the end of 2011, an increase of 15.2%, which is even more impressive considering 19 million dwt was removed in the same period.

With rates suffering under current market conditions Drewry's forecast for the fleet hitting 684 million dwt by the end of 2012 and 765 million dwt by the end of 2016 signals daunting prospects for the future.

The near future will play heavily on supply-side fundamentals, as ships continue to hit the water at a very fast pace. New ship deliveries in 2012 are forecast to increase further to 97.6 million dwt.

Demolition in this over-supplied market totalled 19.1 mdwt in 2011, nearly quadruple that of the preceding year, as the ailing hire market forced owners to retire older ships. 2012 levels are forecast to reach almost the same as 2011 due to the declining average demolition age of vessels.

Shalini Shekhawat, a dry bulk analyst at Drewry stated, "It's not all bad news for the sector as Drewry forecasts a 4% growth in trade for 2012, increasing yearly to a rate of 5.8% come 2016, which considering growth stood at less than 1% in 2011 is a boost for the market . Coupled with an orderbook that has been shrinking since February 2009, when it sat at 295 million dwt, there are glimmers of hope that the serious issue of over supply can start to be addressed."

Overcapacity plagues dry bulk ship owners in a similar situation to what is happening in the container ship business.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) air cargo markets contracted by 0.7% for the full year 2011, but recorded a positive demand growth of 0.2% in December. The freight load factor for the year was just 45.9%, down from 48.1% in 2010.

After shrinking through much of the summer and autumn air freight markets inched up at the end of the year. IATA says that surveys are now showing that business confidence, a leading indicator for changes in cargo markets, turned up in December, suggesting that industrial production and international trade may be stabilizing.

Although international freight markets contracted 0.6% for the full year and 0.8% in December, as compared to a year ago, December international demand was 1.5% ahead of the level in November, while domestic demand was up 3.2% compared to November and 5.5% compared to December 2010.

Freight markets have now shown sequential month-over-month growth in November and December, adding evidence to the view that international trade may be stabilizing. However, the situation for airlines in these markets has deteriorated significantly.

Freight load factors declined considerably to 45.9% in 2011, as measures to match capacity with demand by reducing the freighter fleet have been offset by introduction of new twin aisle passenger aircraft.

The Canada Border Services Agency publishes a Memorandum which outlines and explains the treatment of discounts in determining a transaction value under the Customs Act. The transaction value will become, in most instances, the "value for duty" on which duties and taxes are calculated.

For the purposes of the Memorandum, the term "discount" refers to an arrangement whereby the vendor, in return for the purchaser's undertaking of certain obligations or accepting or meeting certain conditions, reduces the amount of the price paid or payable for the imported goods. For example, the vendor may grant a discount for prompt payment (cash discount) or because the vendor operates at a certain level of trade (trade level discount) or because the purchaser has agreed to purchase a specified quantity of the goods in the sale giving rise to their importation (quantity discount).

The price paid or payable is the total of all payments, whether direct or indirect, made or to be made by the purchaser, to or for the benefit of the vendor.

If a discount is effected - that is, the obligation or condition necessary for a discount is fulfilled or met - prior to importation, the amount of that discount should be considered when calculating the price paid or payable for the imported goods.

With the exception of cash discounts, the amount of a discount effected after importation cannot be deducted from the price paid or payable for the imported goods.

The importer may be required, at the time of importation or subsequently, to satisfy customs that the cash discount will be or has been taken.

Further details are available in Memorandum D13-4-10 Discounts (Customs Act, Section 48).

The Obama administration unveiled its National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.

The Strategy outlines clear goals to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods and foster a resilient supply chain system. It also provides guidance for the U.S. government and crucial domestic, international, public and private stakeholders who share a common interest in the security and resiliency of the global supply chain.

"We must continue to strengthen global supply chains to ensure that they operate effectively in time of crisis; recover quickly from disruptions; and facilitate international trade and travel," said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. "As a part of this effort, we look forward to working closely with our international partners in the public and private sector to build a more resilient global supply chain."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with leaders from global shipping companies and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on developing preventative measures, including terrorism awareness training for employees and vetting personnel with access to cargo. Fulfilling a requirement of the 9/11 Act, 100 percent of high risk cargo on international flights bound for the United States is screened.

In addition, through the Container Security Initiative - currently operational in over 50 foreign seaports in Europe, North, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and throughout Asia - U.S. Customs and Border Protection helps partner countries identify and screen U.S.-bound maritime containers before they reach the U.S..

Following the release of the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security, DHS and the Department of State will lead a six month engagement period with the international community and industry stakeholders to solicit feedback and specific recommendations on how to implement the Strategy in a cost effective and collaborative manner. Within 12 months of the release of the Strategy, a consolidated report on the status of implementation efforts will be developed.

The cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers increased 1.6% in November when compared with October results according to the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI).

The increase is the 9th consecutive monthly raise since March of 2011. During this time the CGFI has risen 7.1% in aggregate.

The Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of Accessorial Charges assessed by carriers, increased by a modest .4% in November versus October. Since March of 2011 Base Rates have risen 4.3% in aggregate.

An increase in Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers is the primary reason why Total Costs are increasing a a faster rate than Base Rates. In November the Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers equated to 20.86% of Base Rates, up from 18.79% in March.

"We are starting to see increases in some sectors that have been hit the hardest during the economic downturn" said Doug Payne, President of CGFI sponsor Nulogx. "This may be a sign that we are seeing both an increase in demand as well as continued operational and pricing discipline from carriers" continued Payne.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) negotiating committee announced the conclusion of a tentative collective agreement with Longshore Foremen Local 514.

The BCMEA negotiating team thanked Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt and her staff for their assistance throughout the negotiating process.

The term of the tentative collective agreement is 8 years in total and will expire on March 31, 2018, like the agreement ratified with the longshoremen of ILWU Canada.

Terms of the revised collective agreement will be released once the tentative agreement is ratified by the parties.

Drewry Maritime Research reports that freight rates on east-west trades have been on the rise recently. Drewry's Hong Kong - Los Angeles container rate benchmark, as published in the Container Freight Rate Insight, leapt 28% in the first week of the year. The benchmark rose $396 to $1,832 per feu and sustained this level into the second week. Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (TSA) carriers have been successful in forcing through their intended $400 per 40ft container rate increases.

According to Drewry, shipping lines have had similar success on the Asia-Europe trade. The World Container Index (WCI) benchmark rate between Shanghai and Rotterdam soared 41% in the first two weeks of January to $1,335 per feu. The increase of $391 per feu was in line with carriers' intended peak season surcharge (PSS) of $400 per feu. The WCI is a joint venture between Drewry and exchange specialist Cleartrade.

Buoyant shipping volumes in advance of Lunar New Year factory closures in Asia have filled ships to bursting, causing most carriers to roll containers. Some shipping lines have reported load factors in excess of 100%, so emboldening aggressive rate hikes.

"However, the big question on everyone's minds is how sustained the rates revival will prove and what this means for 2012 transpacific contract rates?" asked Martin Dixon, research manager of Drewry's Container Freight Rate Insight. "Once the pre-Chinese New Year rush recedes later this month spot rates will retreat back to December levels, unless carriers take action to remove surplus capacity from the trade. Shippers would be well advised to wait a few weeks before commencing contract negotiations."

According to analyst Alphaliner, the net growth of the worldwide container ship fleet is expected to reach 1.28 million teu (+8.3%) this year, after provisions for retired and scrapped vessels (forecasted at 120,000 teu).

By comparison, the fleet of container ships grew by 7.9% in 2011, with deliveries of 127 units for 1.23 Mteu. In 2012, some 253 ships representing 1.47 Mteu are planned for delivery, which could end to around 228 units for 1.39 Mteu after allowance for slippage.

The Paris-based firm says that despite the looming overcapacity, 239 ships for 1.77 Mteu were ordered in 2011, with a combined value of 19.5 billion dollars. The orderbook reached 620 ships for 4.3 Mteu on 31 December 2011, representing 28% of the existing cellular fleet (15.4 Mteu). A total of 90 cellular ships for 105,500 teu left the fleet in 2011, of which 70 units for 85,100 teu were scrapped. Of the 20 other ships, 17 units for 16,000 teu were de-celled and converted into bulk/ breakbulk vessels and three units for 4,400 teu were lost.

The 8.2% fleet growth expected for 2012 presents a serious challenge for the industry, as the demand growth is expected to weaken to 6.5%, against an estimated 7.7% growth in 2011.

The order book bias toward large ships will exacerbate the oversupply afflicting the main East-West trades. Of the expected deliveries, 49% are concentrated in ships of above 10,000 teu.

The port of Antwerp announced that all-time records have been set in 2011 for containers and liquid bulk, with expected volumes of 104,779,157 and 46,095,431 tonnes respectively.

Antwerp's container volume was up by 2.2% in 2011, to 104,779,157 tonnes. Expressed in standard containers (twenty-foot equivalent units) the figure was correspondingly higher, up 2% to 8,638,311 TEU.

The ro-ro volume was similarly up, by 13.3% to 4,219,597 tonnes. The number of cars handled in 2011 amounts to 1,056,122, an increase of 14.7%.

Conventional/breakbulk freight also experienced growth: during the past year 12,772,956 tonnes of freight in this category was loaded and unloaded, 14.8% more than the previous year.

The volume of bulk freight for its part was up 6.3% to 64,585,083 tonnes, thanks mainly to the large increase in liquid bulk which expanded by 12.4% to 46,095,431 tonnes.

Dry bulk on the other hand was down by 6.5% to 18,489,652 tonnes, due largely to lower imports of ore and fertilizers.

Global air traffic results for November showed a softening in passenger markets while air cargo markets remained weak compared to levels attained earlier in the year according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Although passenger traffic was 4.3% above November 2010 levels, IATA says this is skewed because November 2010 was a particularly weak month. The softening in passenger markets becomes apparent when comparing to October 2011, with a 0.5% decline on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

Freight markets were 3.1% below November 2010 levels despite a 1.1% increase on October 2011 performance.

The freight decline is in line with weak economic performance and falling business confidence says IATA. International markets declined by 3.8%. This was offset by 2.0% growth in domestic markets. Nonetheless, system wide demand shrank by 3.1% in comparison with November 2010.

International freight load factors have declined 6 percentage points from their peak in mid-2010. While freighter capacity has been adjusted to meet demand, belly cargo capacity follows the trend in passenger demand.

Asia-Pacific carriers have seen the weakest demand performance driven by falling demand for Asian manufactured goods from U.S. and European consumers. The region's carriers saw the market decline by 6.4%. European carriers reported a 4.6% fall in demand reflecting continued uncertainty associated with the Euro-zone crisis.

North American carriers' operations were largely unchanged from the previous year with only 0.2% growth.

The Middle East and Latin American carriers delivered the strongest cargo performance with 4.6% and 4.0% growth respectively. African carriers reported a 1.7% year-on-year decline.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issued a Customs Notice to warn importers about rulings that may become invalid as a result of the considerable changes to the 2012 version of the Customs Tariff.

The recently published 2012 version of the Departmental Consolidation of the Customs Tariff contains amendments to the international Harmonized System, which forms the basis of the Canadian Customs Tariff, as well as the changes resulting from the Tariff reduction reviews undertaken by both Finance Canada and Statistics Canada.

Because of all those changes the classification numbers shown on current Advance Rulings for Tariff Classification and National Customs Rulings (NCRs) may no longer be valid as of January 1, 2012.

CBSA notes that under the Tariff Classification Advance Rulings Regulations, an advance ruling is not binding if there has been a "... change in ... the laws of Canada". The 2012 tariff changes are the result of amendments to the Customs Tariff Act.

Link: Customs Notice CN11-026 Advance Rulings for Tariff Classification and National Customs Rulings Affected by Amendments to the 2012 Customs Tariff

The Port of Amsterdam launched last week what is believed to be the first port-App: iamPort.

The free App allows interested parties to follow ships' movements. The service provides information on the expected, arriving and departing ships.

iamPort also provides information on the size, agent and mooring place of each ship inside the port, including the river cruise ships. It is possible to watch the river cruise mooring places on a map. And it is also possible to receive a message once a ship reaches destination.

The iamPort App details can be forwarded by mail or twitter. Also, the App contains a Port of Amsterdam newsfeed. The app can be downloaded from the app store.

The launch of this App is part of the Port of Amsterdam's ambition to digitalise service and embrace new technologies. It is the first port authority with an App, which means the Port has set the trend where mobile services are concerned.

The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) reached a tentative agreement to renew the labour contract for approximately 1,800 CN locomotive engineers in Canada.

Keith Creel, CN executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said: "CN is very pleased to have reached this settlement with TCRC engineers in advance of the expiration of the current labour contract on Dec. 31, 2011. This is a clear indication of the focus that the leadership of the TCRC and our team brought to the table to resolve issues of mutual interest."

Rex Beatty, president of the TCRC, said: "To my knowledge, it's the first time we have reached a tentative agreement with CN before the expiration of the old contract. This was only possible after three rounds of intense negotiations, but without the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service."

Details of the agreement are being withheld pending ratification by TCRC members, a process expected to take approximately 60 days.

European exports to all major trades recorded growth in October compared with September according to London based Container Trades Statistics (CTS) Ltd.

Exports to Asia from Europe were up by 7.8 %, to India ant the Middle East by 11.5%, to South and Central America by 8.7 %, and to North America by 5.4%.

According to CTS all export trades monitored also remained up on last year with Europe to Sub Saharan Africa topping the league percentage-wise at 19%.

Import to Europe also showed mostly positive growth compared with September. Australasia & Oceania grew by 8.7%, India Middle East by 5.7 %, South and Central America by 5.1 % and North America by 1%. Asia to Europe declined only slightly by 0.14%. Sub Saharan Africa was down by 10%.

Year on year, of the three largest trades, Asia grew by 3.5% but North America declined by 7.3% as did India / Middle East by 1.6%.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority announced that the current discount on port dues will continue next year. Rotterdam keeps the discount as it tries to boost its share of cargo in the fiercely competitive Le Havre-Hamburg port range.

The port authority will absorb the cost of inflation, and a discount of 3% will apply to most cargo, just like last year. Transhipment of containers (sea-sea transhipment), and especially feeders, will also be stimulated financially with a considerable discount and that clean inland shipping will also receive discounts.

Hans Smits, CEO of the Port Authority: "In addition to the Port Authority's considerable investments in the port area, we are continuing the discount in order to stimulate volumes. The crisis discount in 2010 and the recovery reduction in 2011 have worked well for Rotterdam. I expect that this discount will have the same effect in 2012."

According to an article prepared by the trade association Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) the upcoming Panama Canal expansion will have a substantial impact on the U.S. supply chain and its efficiencies.

By lengthening, widening and deepening the locks, the Canal will accommodate much larger ships. In fact, the largest ships today carry just 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). When the expansion opens in 2014, that number will jump to as high as 13,000.

The MHIA article states that "the new Panama Canal will be the epicenter of a strategic supply chain shift. According to Jones Lang Lasalle, 25% of imports currently coming through the West Coast could shift to East Coast ports as a direct result of the Canal expansion. In fact, the firm cites the Panama Canal as one of the five most compelling change agents in the supply chain going forward."

Already cities from the East Coast to the Midwest are building new supply chain infrastructure to accommodate such a massive shift in import traffic, according to real estate giant Cushman and Wakefield.

MHIA concludes that "what started out just as an expansion of the Panama Canal is certain to have a major impact on the flow of imports into the U.S. It will also have a major impact on the flow of goods once they get to the U.S., creating new supply chain efficiencies."

Container shipping lines in the Canada Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CWTSA) announced rate increases to be implemented in the new year.

For refrigerated cargoes, effective January 15, 2012, rates will be raised on all refrigerated commodities by US$240 per 20' container (TEU), US$300 per 40' container (FEU from all Canadian origin ports and IPI points to all destinations.

For dry cargoes, effective February 1, 2012, the member lines will raise rates on all dry commodities by US$160 per 20' container (TEU), US$200 per 40' container (FEU from all Canadian origin ports and IPI points to all destinations.

CWTSA is a discussion forum of 8 major container shipping lines serving the trade from ports and inland points in Canada to destinations throughout Asia.

American President Lines (APL)
COSCO
Evergreen
Hapag Lloyd
Hyundai Merchant Marine
K-Line
Nippon Yusen Kaishen (NYK Line)
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL)

Port Metro Vancouver began a public consultation regarding the Deltaport Terminal, Road and Rail Improvement Project. Starting in November and until January 6, 2012 the port authority will be providing opportunities for input from communities, stakeholders and the public through a number of multi-stakeholder meetings, open houses and an online feedback form.

The Deltaport Terminal, Road and Rail Improvement Project is a series of improvements to the existing Deltaport Terminal at Roberts Bank in Delta. As an upgrade to existing infrastructure, Port Metro Vancouver has identified the project as the most efficient and cost-effective way to increase container capacity at Deltaport – by 600,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit containers) to 2.4 million TEUs.

The project is seen as having low potential for environmental effects as it would be achieved mostly within the existing terminal, road and rail footprint, with no marine works.

Container traffic through the Gateway is expected to double over the next 10 to 15 years and nearly triple by 2030. Preliminary container traffic projections demonstrate that existing container capacity on BC's West Coast will become constrained as early as 2015, requiring additional capacity.

The project includes the construction of an overpass on the existing Roberts Bank causeway to separate road and rail traffic, the reconfiguration of intermodal yard rail track and the addition of container handling equipment at Deltaport, the addition of rail track within the existing railway corridor and a portion adjacent agricultural land, and road improvements facilitate the movement and control of container trucks.

The estimated total project construction duration from award of contract through to commissioning of major equipment is approximately 2.5 years.

Holiday weekends are notorious for high volumes of cargo theft activity, especially at terminals and drop yards where loaded trailers are parked for long periods of time. This amplifies the need for logistics professionals to ensure their security protocols are up to date and in line with industry best practices.

Last year, FreightWatch reported that cargo crime increases by 28% over holiday periods and that Thanksgiving weekend recorded the most cargo theft activity of all holiday periods in the United States (Click Here to see report).

FreightWatch reminds shippers, manufacturers and transportation companies that they must remain aware of the increased security risks during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. Long holidays provide provide criminals with excellent opportunities to target, steal and transport goods to their storage locations before the product is even discovered missing.

Additionally, holidays can cause long delays for drivers attempting to deliver loads. These delays will increase the risk to drivers and loads in-transit by leaving them vulnerable for longer periods of time.

The Port of Hamburg's volume of containers for the first nine months of the year totalled 6.8 million TEU (20-ft standard containers), growing at a double-digit (15.3 percent) rate and hence distinctly faster than in the West ports of Antwerp (up 3.1 percent) and Rotterdam (up 7.7 percent).

The upward trend in the Port of Hamburg's total seaborne cargo throughput was also maintained in the third quarter of 2011 with 99 million tons handled. Compared to the same period of the previous year, in the first nine months of 2011 altogether 9.4 million tons more seaborne cargo (up by 10.6 percent) were handled.

In recent months Hamburg has succeeded in winning back market shares of the order of one percentage point lost during the worldwide economic and financial crisis to the West ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam lying further.

On the import side the Port of Hamburg handled around 58 million tons (up by 11.6 percent). Exports via Hamburg, at 41 million tons, were up by 9.2 percent. At 69 million tons, the general cargo throughput that predominates in Hamburg displayed super-strong growth of 14.7 per-cent. Totalling 30 million tons (up by 1.9 percent) throughput in the first nine months of the current year also contributed positively to total cargo handling in Germany's largest universal port.

Claudia Roller, CEO of Port of Ham-burg Marketing, anticipates a double-digit growth of almost 14 percent in container throughput for the year 2011 as a whole: "For 2011 we can reckon on container throughput of around 9 million TEU. We estimate that total seaborne cargo throughput in Hamburg for 2011 will reach around 133 million tons. That would represent a gain of nearly 10 percent."

Market analyst Alphaliner says a merger of the three Japanese carriers' container operations is being considered as a potential strategic option in the face of consistently weak earnings in the sector.

Alphaliner points out that none of the individual Japanese carriers currently commands a top-three position in any of their key markets. The consolidation of MOL, NYK and K Line's liner fleets would create the world's fourth-largest container carrier and give the combined Japanese mega-line a market share of 7.5%, compared to the three company's individual shares of between 2.2% and 2.8%.

According to the president of MOL, discussions about a merger of the container operations of Japan's three shipping lines have not taken place yet, but cannot be ruled out in the future. Such a move would lead to the first major consolidation in the industry since 2005, when APM-Maersk acquired P&O Nedlloyd and Hapag-Lloyd acquired CP Ships.

Over the last six years, there have been no significant changes in the composition of the main carriers in the container market, while margins have eroded due to excessive competition.

A combination of the three Japanese lines (J-3) would create the largest carrier in the Far East-North America market, the second-largest carrier in the Far East-South America and Far East-Oceania markets and third largest container lien in the Far East-North Europe and intra-Far East markets.

The ocean carriers of the Asia to U.S. Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) announced plans to individually raise all-inclusive freight rates and charges by a minimum of $400 per 40-foot container.

"Rate levels during 2011 have steadily eroded despite rising inland transport, cargo-handling and other costs," Brian M. Conrad, the TSA's executive administrator, said in a statement. "As carriers look toward building a platform for the 2012-13 contract cycle, the feeling is that a correction is both imperative and overdue."

Transpacific freight rates have plunged this year as a result of overcapacity in the market, and several carriers expect to post losses for 2011.

Conrad said the interim rate increases are separate from TSA's customary annual recommended revenue recovery program that will be announced late this year or early next year in connection with the 2012-13 service contracts, most of which will take effect on May 1, 2012.

Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) cleared a major hurdle when the WTO Working Party on its accession approved, on November 10, 2011, the package spelling out Russia's terms of entry to the organization.

The Working Party will now send its accession recommendation to the Ministerial Conference, scheduled for December 15-17, where Ministers are expected to approve the documents and accept Russia as a WTO Member.

The Russian Federation will have until June 15, 2012 to ratify its accession package. Thirty days after the notification to the WTO of the ratification, the Russian Federation will become a fully-fledged member.

"It has been a long journey, but today Russia has taken a big step towards its destination of membership in the WTO," said Director-General Pascal Lamy.

As part of the accession accord, Russia has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to further open its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy. The deal offers a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment.

From the date of accession, the Russian Federation has committed to fully apply all WTO provisions, with recourse to very few transitional periods.

According to the latest data published by Statistics Canada the country's merchandise exports grew 4.2% in September, while imports declined 0.3%. As a result, Canada's trade balance with the world went from a deficit of $487 million in August to a surplus of $1.2 billion in September. It was the first trade surplus since January 2011.

Exports rose to $39.7 billion, the highest value since October 2008, as exports of energy products rose 11.3% to $9.6 billion. Exports of petroleum and coal products rose 36.4% to $2.0 billion. Exports of industrial goods and of agricultural and fishing products also increased in September.

Imports decreased to $38.5 billion. The decline was led by lower imports of machinery and equipment as well as automotive products. Partly offsetting the decrease in imports were gains in two sectors: energy products, and industrial goods and materials.

Exports to the United States increased 5.0% to $28.2 billion, the highest value since January 2011. Imports from the United States decreased 1.0% to $23.8 billion. As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the United States rose from $2.8 billion in August to $4.4 billion in September.

Exports to countries other than the United States rose 2.3% to $11.5 billion, the fifth consecutive monthly increase. Imports from countries other than the United States rose 0.7% to $14.7 billion. Consequently, the trade deficit with countries other than the United States fell from $3.3 billion in August to $3.1 billion in September, the lowest level so far this year.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced the start this week in Ottawa of the first round of negotiations to modernize the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement. This negotiating round was to wrap up on November 10, 2011.

The Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2002, focuses mainly on trade in goods. An expanded free trade agreement will deepen market access in services and government procurement. It will also cover e-commerce, telecommunications, investment and technical barriers to trade.

"An improved free trade agreement with Costa Rica will create new opportunities for Canadian businesses in many sectors, including agriculture, construction, financial services, government procurement, manufacturing and telecommunications," said Minister Fast.

Costa Rica is Canada's largest trading partner in Central America, accounting for 31% of Canada's two-way merchandise trade with the region in 2010.

The world's airports association, at its Annual General Assembly, unanimously adopted a resolution urging the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to intervene with regard to the proposed European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme.

Airports, through their association, the Airports Council International (ACI), recognize the risk to trade conflict and are extremely concerned about the potential negative effects this would bring to international air transport.

The EU's emissions trading program would force all airlines, regardless of their country of residence, to participate in greenhouse gas trading for any flight landing or departing in the EU, regardless of origin, destination, or the number of stopovers. It has gathered opposition from every airline in the world, including European airlines.

"ICAO is the international authority in matters involving civil aviation and we believe it is correct to have them intervene and resolve this conflict before the scheme is implemented", said ACI Director General Angela Gittens.

ACI members noted that the 2009 ICAO High Level Meeting on Environment declared that ICAO would establish a process to develop a framework for Market Based Measures in international aviation. Respecting this guidance, all parties should work collaboratively to develop this framework.

According to several reports, hundreds of refrigerated containers are presently quarantined in various locations around the world following reports of compressor explosions and incidents of spontaneous combustion. The faulty containers would have caused at least three fatalities.

It appears that the containers involved would have been serviced in Vietnam in March and April of this year and that all major refrigeration machinery brands are potentially at risk.

The cause of the problem would be the introduction of contaminated or otherwise unsuitable refrigerant gas into the containers' systems that causes a chemical reaction when it comes into contact with R134a, oil or air, creating a flammable/explosive mixture.

Shipping lines have issued warnings to clients concerning the handling of possibly dangerous containers.

A three-month operation conducted by 43 countries, in coordination with the World Customs Organization (WCO), has resulted in the seizure of more than one million counterfeit electrical goods.

The operation, known as "Operation Short Circuit," commenced in July 2011 and concluded at the end of September 2011.

During this operation, customs administrations looked for counterfeit power supplies, power adaptors, chargers, surge protectors, extension cords, holiday lights and batteries.

Worldwide, 43 countries discovered 10,272 shipments. The participating nations detained 1,747 shipments and seized 388 shipments, resulting in the seizure of:

In the United States alone, the operation resulted in eighty seizures with an estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price of $5.8 million.

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, "counterfeit electrical articles are particularly troubling, as these illicit products represent a significant threat to public safety as they do not adhere to any standards for testing, quality or operation."

Long-term worldwide trends strongly suggest that the use of paper-and-envelope mail will continue to diminish as online communication and e-commerce expand.

The United States Government had its auditors prepare a report on the future of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the results are not optimistic.

By 2020, the USPS projects mail volume will decline to levels not seen since the 1980s: Total mail volume is projected to decrease by 25 percent, First-Class Mail is expected to decrease by 50 percent, and Standard Mail volume is projected to remain flat.

While dire, USPS's projections could prove optimistic if communication continues to move to digital technologies as quickly as in the recent past.

For the first time, in 2010, fewer than 50 percent of all bills were paid by mail.

Almost 60 percent of mail received by households in 2010 was advertising, while bills and financial statements comprised 22 percent.

These trends underscore the need for USPS's business model to undergo fundamental changes. The situation is similar for every postal service in developed countries.

New York State is set to begin enforcing, in 14 months' time, stringent new ballast water treatment standards for ships transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway that scientists have said are currently technologically unachievable.

Despite the Great Lakes-Seaway having the most stringent regulations in the world to prevent introductions of invasive species, New York State's regulations will require all ships transiting its waters to install treatment equipment to sterilize its ballast water to a standard that is 100 to 1000 times international standards.

Scientists working for the U.S. government and the State of Wisconsin have both concluded that no technology currently exists to achieve this standard.

As all ships must sail through New York waters to pass though the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes, the regulations would effectively choke off all trade through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

For the past year, the Canadian government and the marine industry have been working together to discuss their concerns with U.S. officials.

A new study to demonstrate the impact of a seaway shutdown shows that cargo shipments to ports on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system generate $34.6 billion of economic activity and 227,000 jobs in Canada and the U.S. That breaks down to 98,000 jobs and $15.9 billion in economic activity in Ontario and Quebec.

The study, which is the first to reveal the economic value of the entire bi-national Great Lakes-Seaway System and its more than 100 ports, was simultaneously unveiled on Tuesday by the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in Ottawa and by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari in Washington, D.C.

Canadian shipping executives said that the new data would help inform government policymakers, particularly New York State regulators, that their incoming regulations could impact 72,000 jobs and $10.7 billion of economic activity in the two countries. Canada would be the most severely affected with the potential loss of 55,000 of those jobs and $8.5 billion of those business revenues in Ontario and Quebec.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced that the eManifest implementation timeline for highway carriers will begin on November 1, 2011

In accordance with the eManifest implementation approach, the announcement comes as all transmission options (Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the eManifest Portal) are now available and operating efficiently. The following key dates will apply to eManifest implementation in the highway mode:

• November 1, 2011, to November 1, 2012 - Highway carriers have 12 months to incorporate eManifest requirements into their business processes.

• November 1, 2012, to May 1, 2013 - eManifest requirements are mandatory. Highway carriers deemed to be non-compliant will be denied entry to Canada and issued zero-rated penalties.

• May 1, 2013 - The implementation timeline is complete. Highway carriers deemed to be non-compliant will be denied entry to Canada and issued monetary penalties.

"When fully implemented, eManifest will be a virtually paperless process that starts before shipments even reach the border and will improve two-way communications between trade and the CBSA," said Cathy Munroe, Vice-President, Programs Branch. "By rigorously performing risk assessments on advance commercial information, the CBSA's border services officers will be better able to ensure that shipments identified as being of unknown and high-risk are examined and low-risk, legitimate goods cross the border more efficiently."

According to International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Chairman Spyros M Polemis, "governments have ceded control of the Indian Ocean to pirates and the small deployment of naval forces to the region is like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound".

Speaking at the Maritime Cyprus conference in Limassol earlier this month, Mr. Polemis told shipping professionals: "The fundamental problem is the lack of navy ships that are committed to protecting shipping - a band aid on a gaping wound, although the navies do an excellent job under the circumstances and we commend them for this."

According to Mr. Polemis "by their own admission, the military advise that no ship is completely safe. Sadly, one can only conclude from the current response of many governments that those thousands of seafarers that have so far been captured have simply had the wrong nationality. If they were all Americans or Europeans, the governments' attitude might have been somewhat different. It is really unacceptable that so many governments seem to feel that the current situation can somehow be tolerated, and that a box has been ticked by making a relatively small number of navy ships available to police Somalia's waters and the entire Indian Ocean."

Apologising for his "depressing" remarks he concluded: "We appreciate that governments have many competing priorities, but I am afraid that they still seem to be lacking a coherent strategy to tackle the pirates head on."

ICS is in close contact with both EUNAVFOR and NATO discussing practical solutions to the problems in the Indian Ocean including a possible blockade of the Somali coast and tackling pirate 'motherships'. ICS is also in discussion with Flag States to ensure they take a coherent pan-industry approach to producing a proper framework for the use of armed guards.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the signature of agreements with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The agreements will advance information-sharing between U.S. federal agencies and improve targeting of imports for health and safety violations.

EPA and PHSMA are now part of CBP's Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC), a multi-agency center for targeting commercial shipments that pose potential threats to health and safety.

CTAC provides an avenue for agencies with import safety authority to streamline national operations and to share targeting expertise, tools and best practices.

"By working together to determine which shipments are high-risk, the CTAC helps the government better protect consumers," said Allen Gina, assistant commissioner for CBP's Office of International Trade. "At the same time, the CTAC helps eliminate unnecessary examinations and facilitates low-risk shipments, so everyone benefits."

The addition of EPA and PHMSA brings the total number of agencies that are part of the CTAC to seven. The original CTAC partnership included the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and CBP.

These agencies, each with their own statutory responsibilities for public safety, will work as a team to better target imports that should be examined for possible safety violations.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced on September 23, 2011 the conclusion of its re-investigation of the normal values and export prices of certain carbon steel fasteners from China and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan).

The re-investigation was initiated on April 28, 2011 as part of the CBSA's enforcement of the January 2005 finding made by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, which resulted in the assessment of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the subject goods.

The normal values established under the re-investigation will be effective for subject goods released from the CBSA on or after September 23, 2011. The previous normal values will apply to importations of subject goods that have cleared the CBSA prior to September 23, 2011.

In its announcement CBSA reminded importers that it is their responsibility to calculate and declare their anti-dumping duty liability. When importers are using the services of a customs broker to clear importations, the brokerage firm should be advised that the goods are subject to anti-dumping measures and be provided with sufficient information necessary to clear the shipments.

The Port of Felixstowe inaugurated a new deep water shipping terminal on September 28, 2011. The new terminal, which consists of two berths, is the first stage of a £1bn (billion sterling pounds) plus inward investment programme in Hutchison's UK ports.

The Port of Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, deals with over 40 per cent of the country's container cargo with around £60bn of imports and exports passing through Felixstowe each year. The expansion of the port could add a further £20bn to this figure.

The new berths are the only ones in the UK capable of handling the largest container ships currently on order and the new facility will be equipped with seven of the largest container cranes in the world.

Each crane is able to manage ships with containers stowed 24-wide on deck. This capability will allow the world's largest and most efficient ships to import goods directly to the UK. The new state of the art technology being introduced as part of the expansion, will combine greater levels of customer service with reduced carbon emissions.

Large container ships coming from East Asia to Europe currently only make three or four stops at ports across Europe and with the construction of the new berths Felixstowe will be one of the ports on the ships' calling cards.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) urges governments not to impede the smooth operation of the global maritime regulatory regime by failing to ratify and implement crucial maritime conventions.

The Chamber argues that it is crucial that the same regulations governing matters such as safety, environmental protection, liability and seafarers' working conditions apply to all ships in international trade and that the same laws apply to all parts of the voyage.

ICS - the principal international trade association for shipowners, representing 80% of the world merchant fleet - and its sister organisation, the International Shipping Federation (ISF), started a campaign which reiterates the importance of maritime treaty ratification and which is intended to help member national shipowner associations lobby their governments to support the global regulatory system that shipping requires.

"A global industry requires global rules." said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe. "The failure of new Conventions to enter into force or become widely ratified also gives encouragement to the promotion of unwelcome unilateral or regional regulation."

The instruments which ICS believes that more governments should ratify as a matter of priority include:

ICS expressed satisfaction with the recent entry into force of the IMO Anti-Fouling Systems (AFS) Convention and the IMO Bunker Spill Liability Convention, which featured in the last ICS/ISF campaign update.

ICS reports that the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention and the ILO Maritime Labour Convention have almost received the necessary ratifications to enter into force. Although MARPOL Annex VI (governing atmospheric pollution) has already entered force, ICS suggests that more ratifications are desirable in order to ensure worldwide implementation of the new package of CO2 emission reduction measures that were agreed at IMO in July.

Employees at Australia's Customs and Border Protection announced on Friday that they voted to reject a proposed labour contract.

The employees's union, the Community and Public Sector Union, then advised the employer that its members intend to take industrial action starting Tuesday September 27, 2011.

This action will comprise one and two hour stoppages, and partial work bans at various work locations, including airports, container examination facilities and international mail facilities.

Staff from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), including Quarantine Inspection staff at international airports, will also be holding stop-work meetings in relation to their own stalled pay negotiations.

Customs and Border Protection said it has in place contingency arrangements to impacts on business operations.

They expect the arrangements to minimize impact on cargo and mail operations, however delays are expected in the processing of international travellers at airports.

Major transpacific shipping lines of the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CTSA), wish to advise their customers of changes to the upcoming Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF). The review period will be amended to reflect a quarterly review of this charge. The level effective October 1, 2011 will be adjusted to 9% which will be valid through December 31, 2011 and applicable to all destinations. The next review will take place at the end of November for effect January 1, 2012.

CTSA is a group of 10 ocean and intermodal transportation companies serving the trade from Asia to Canada.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Monday the beginning of a construction project at the Pacific Highway crossing in Blaine, Washington.

The construction, which will take place from September 19 to October 17, will replace the current truck primary processing booth in Lane 1, which is expected to be closed. The other two truck processing lanes will remain fully operational during the construction period.

A new "High-Low" primary processing booth is being constructed to allow CBP officers to process both truck traffic and (lower-height) vehicle traffic from the same structure. This will provide CBP with greater flexibility in expediting the processing of vehicle traffic at the Pacific Highway crossing.

During this time, it is anticipated that there will be an increase in southbound cargo wait times at Blaine.

As a benefit for Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, Free And Secure Trade (C-TPAT FAST) participants, C-TPAT FAST shipments may use the Lynden Port of Entry between 0800 -1600 daily during the construction period. The Port of Sumas is also available for all cargo shipments 24 hours a day.

For trucking companies, brokers, importer and freight forwarders, it is important to note that the port code transmitted on the e-manifest and the entry must be the same.

If the shipper diverts the shipment from Blaine to Lynden or Sumas, CBP can change the port code at the diversion port. However, for all cargo that requires FDA Prior Notice the port code cannot be changed and the shipment must use the port specified in the Prior Notice.

The Federal Government issued an order to continue the import monitoring of carbon and specialty steel products for an additional three-year period to August 31, 2014. As a result, imports of carbon steel and specialty steel products will continue to be monitored without interruption.

Canada has had a program to monitor steel imports since 1986. The program, under which steel importers have to obtain import permits, has been renewed for two- or three-year periods from that date. The current regulatory authority for this program was to expire on August 31, 2011.

The elimination of import monitoring would remove an important source of information used extensively by steel producers to track prices, volumes, and origins of steel imports. The Steel Import Surveillance Program aims to provide stakeholders with accurate and timely statistics on imports of steel into Canada.

Most steel import permits are issued automatically online upon application by customs brokers on behalf of importers. Steel imports cannot be cleared by the CBSA without a permit. The importation of steel covered by the import-monitoring system without an import permit issued by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada may lead to prosecution.

A full range of Canadian steel industry stakeholders (i.e. steel producers, importers, service centres and related associations) were consulted and invited to submit views with respect to the prospective renewal of the monitoring program. Renewal is supported by a range of industry stakeholders, including steel producers, and interests representing steel service centres and steel construction.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) initiated investigations into the alleged injurious dumping and subsidizing of certain pup joints from China. Pup joints are oil country tubular goods made of carbon or alloy steel.

The investigations follow a complaint filed by a producer from Edmonton, Alberta, who alleges that the dumping and subsidizing of these goods are harming Canadian production.

Dumping occurs when goods are sold to importers in Canada at prices that are less than their selling prices in the exporter's domestic market or at unprofitable prices. Subsidizing occurs when goods imported into Canada benefit from foreign government financial assistance.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has begun a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the imports are harming Canadian producers and will issue a decision by November 10, 2011.

While the Tribunal is examining the question of injury, the CBSA will investigate whether the imports are being dumped and/or subsidized, and will make a decision by December 12, 2011.

If the Tribunal determines that an unusually large increase in harmful imports has occurred prior to the CBSA's decision and that the retroactive application of anti-dumping or countervailing duty is therefore justified, duty could be levied on the goods brought into Canada as of September 12, 2011.

Additional information about the investigations can be found on the websites of the CBSA and of the Tribunal.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a study assessing the economic and trade impact of specific trade facilitation measures adopted by Customs administrations.

When seeking to identify the policy areas that lead to the highest increases in trade flows, the most significant trade facilitation measure seems to be the indicator of advance rulings.

Other measures significantly contributing to an increase in trade flows are information availability, streamlining of fees and charges, harmonisation and simplification of documents, and co-operation between border agencies within the country (internal) and with neighbouring countries (external).

Sector specific analysis shows that these indicators are particularly significant for manufactured goods, but less so for agricultural goods.

On the other hand increases in agricultural goods trade seem to be particularly linked to improvements in formalities and procedures. When seeking to identify the policy areas that could help achieve the most significant reductions in trade costs, measures to streamline procedures and advance rulings are the greatest contributors: the former have the potential of reducing trade costs by 5.4% and the latter by 3.7%.

Other measures that have an important cost reduction potential are automation (2.7% in total), and measures to streamline fees and charges (1.7%).

These are quite significant savings bearing in mind that similar studies have estimated that improvements regarding technical barriers to trade taken as a whole would account for 4.5% of trade cost reductions.

Adding all the facilitation measures together, their cost reduction potential would reach almost 10% of trade costs, which is an estimate consistent with several existing studies on the overall impact of trade facilitation on trade costs.

Although there remain a few bright spots, cargo demand is levelling off at the global level according to London-based maritime researcher Drewry Ltd.

If the recent trend in airfreight continues, it spells bad news for ocean lines and trucking operators, as well as shippers whose business depends on buoyant global trade.

Drewry notes that airfreight volumes as reported by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), were in decline for the third consecutive month in July. Traffic is now just 1% higher in the first seven months of the year than it was in the same period last year.

Demand appears to still be growing in the ocean freight sector, but is slowing by the month. Volumes were up by 5.7% year-on-year in June, lower than the 9.6% and 7.4% growth spurts recorded in April and May respectively.

Boding ill for the transpacific peak season, the June numbers showed that U.S. port traffic was down by 4.4%.

U.S. intermodal rail traffic growth remained in positive territory but recorded its lowest year-on-year increase since January 2010. July shipments were up just 1.3% up on the same month last year.

OXFAM and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) would like to see international shipping pay a "carbon price" of $25 per ton on shipping fuel (known as bunker fuel)

The two caritative groups claim that the tax would help cut emissions while generating $25 billion per year by 2020. They propose that the funds be used both to compensate developing countries for marginally higher import costs that could result from the carbon price, and to provide more than $10 billion per year to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The GCF was established at last year's UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico, to channel funds for tackling climate change to developing countries but is currently empty.

According to a report prepared for OXFAM and the WWF, the carbon price would increase the costs of global trade by 0.2 percent - equivalent to just $2 for every $1000 traded.

The report argues that a proposed deal to apply a carbon price to international shipping should be at the heart of the agreement at the UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, later this year.

The tax would tackle the huge and growing greenhouse gas emissions from ships and raise billions of dollars to help developing countries deal with climate change, without unfairly hitting developing countries.

The reports claims that emissions from international shipping are approximately three percent of global emissions - greater than the total emissions from Germany and around twice those of Australia. A single ship can produce more emissions in a year than many small island developing states.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority (AAHK) announced that the three-month public consultation for the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) Master Plan 2030 (Master Plan) concluded last Friday. According to the Airport Authority, the University of Hong Kong's Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC) has received over 29,000 questionnaires and written feedback submissions.

The SSRC is a third-party research institute appointed by AAHK to independently collect, compile and analyse all the views regarding the Master Plan expressed in the media, various engagement meetings, questionnaires filled out by the public and written submissions received during the consultation period. It will submit a report to AAHK in October.

Dr Marvin Cheung Kin-tung, Chairman of AAHK, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the public for their valuable opinions. "The consultation is part of a long planning process, and through it we seek to consult stakeholders and members of the public on HKIA's future development direction. This is a crucial step for formulating the airport's long-term development plan.

"After studying the SSRC's report, we will submit our recommendations on the airport's development direction to the government. We aim to do this before the end of this year. Our recommendations will take into consideration the results of this consultation, which we believe reflects the full spectrum of views of our stakeholders and the general public. Whatever development direction is taken, AAHK will continue to do its best to serve the people of Hong Kong," added Dr Cheung.

The Master Plan puts forward two airport development options for consultation. Option 1 is to maintain the existing dual-runway system but to continue enhancing the terminal and airfield facilities, which would help HKIA meet growth demand up to about 2020. Option 2 is to expand to a three-runway system that would give the airport sufficient capacity to cope with the expected traffic growth up to 2030 and possibly beyond.

Major Trans-Pacific shipping lines of the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CTSA), wish to advise their customers that effective October 1, 2011, the Fuel Recovery Charge will be at the following levels:

The members will continue to monitor fuel prices and will notify their customers of any further adjustments.

CTSA is a group of 10 ocean and intermodal transportation companies serving the trade from Asia to Canada.

Major trans-Pacific shipping lines of the Canada Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CWTSA), wish to advise their customers that effective October 1, 2011 the Bunker Surcharge/Fuel Recovery Charge, Inland Fuel Charge will be at the following levels:

WC Reefer
US $ 823.00 per 20ft container
US $ 1029.00 per 40ft/45ft container

US $ 359.00 per container for rail and combined motor/rail transports
US $ 104.00 per container for all motor transports

CWTSA is a group of 8 ocean and intermodal transportation companies serving the trade from Canada to Asia.

Several news media report that in the course of its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan the U.S. military spent more that US$720 million on late-fees for 20 foot containers that were not returned on time.

The information is revealed in a report to the United States Congress delivered on August 31, 2011.

It appears that the military uses containers not only to transport supplies but also to store them, and sometimes as temporary shelter.

Shipping companies were billing the Pentagon around US$2,200 per late container.

The report, prepared by the U.S. Commission on Wartime Contracting, estimates that between 30 and 60 billion dollars were wasted in the war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Industry Canada's recently published statistics demonstrate that, in 2009, about 86 percent of Canadian exporters were small businesses. This compares with 85 percent in 2008 and 87 percent in 1999.

Small businesses were responsible for $68 billion (25 percent) of the total value of exports in 2009, with an average value of $2 million per firm. Medium-sized businesses accounted for $51 billion (18 percent) of the total value of exports in 2009, with an average value of $13 million per firm. Large businesses accounted for $157 billion (57 percent) of the total value of exports, with an average value of $139 million per firm.

Small business' contribution to the total value of exports decreased by 2.5 percentage points in 2009 compared with 1999, while that of medium-sized firms increased by 8.7 percentage points. The contribution of large firms to the total value of exports decreased by 6 percentage points over the same period.

The proportion of small businesses that export (1.4 percent) is lower than the proportion of small businesses in the overall economy (98 percent). In 2009, 27 percent of medium-sized businesses and 40 percent of large businesses exported. About 2 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises exported goods in 2009. They accounted, however, for over 40 percent of the overall export value in 2009.

Small businesses contributed about 12 percent to total manufacturing exports compared with 66 percent from large firms. In most other industries, however, small businesses made the largest contribution to exports. The largest contributions were in retail trade (79.1 percent), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (72.3 percent) and other sectors (72.0 percent).

Data specialist Alphaliner reports that the world's container shipping industry is heading toward a prolonged slump that could last longer than the 2009 downturn.

Global trade growth is expected to remain behind fleet growth for quite some time, given the absence of a strong rebound of the Western economies. The main carriers' operating margins have slipped this year and the poor operating conditions experienced these days could well last for two more years, given the prevailing oversupply situation.

Unlike the 2009 recession, which resulted in the first fall in demand for container shipping ever experienced by the industry, the current slump is caused by an oversupply of capacity and weak demand growth in the European and US economies.

The lull in container ship orders between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2010 brought the world shipyards' orderbook down from 60% to 26% of the existing fleet, but did not solve the overcapacity problem.

The strong recovery in 2010 bought time for shipping lines. Record earnings helped many of them to restore their battered balance sheets, while additional capital was raised in the hope of a sustained recovery for the industry.

This triggered a new wave of container ship orders and the 2.3 Mteu of capacity contracted since June 2010, pushed the orderbook back to 30%, compared to the existing fleet.

According to Alphaliner some industry sources continue to underestimate the impact of the excess supply problem, citing misleading supply growth figures.

Container shipping lines in the Canada Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CWTSA) have agreed that a General Rate Increase (GRI) will be implemented effective October 1, 2011.

Dry Cargo: From all Canadian Origins to all Asian Destinations within CWTSA $160.00 per 20ft container $200.00 per 40ft container

Refrigerated Cargo: From all Canadian Origins to all Asian Destinations within CWTSA $240.00 per 20ft container $300.00 per 40ft container

CWTSA is a discussion forum of major container shipping lines serving the trade from ports and inland points in Canada to destinations throughout Asia and the Indian Subcontinent (except India).

Shipyards specializing in the repair business have hit difficult times this year. London-based shipping analyst Drewry noted last week that early 2011 brought reports of some startlingly low quotes for ship repairs, notably for steelwork replacement.

The difficult fact for shipyards this year is that ship owners have not recovered from the trauma of late 2008's freight market collapse. Since then, many have gone into minimum maintenance mode. They will only commit to doing what is absolutely necessary. This could be storing up problems for the future. It is also a concern if owners are prioritising cost over quality.

One positive fact for the repair market is that the global fleet continues to grow. Drewry states that this should continue even if not all of the recent newbuilding order glut sees the light of day. However, ship repairers also need ship owners to thrive. Ship repair is a service industry. The traditional view is that shiprepairers' fortunes mirror those of their shipowner clients - but with a time lag. Rising freight rates, therefore, would be in everyone's best interests.

According to the latest quarterly World Economic Survey (WES) from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research, the global economic upswing is faltering, after the first two improved quarters of 2011.

Based on the assessment of 1,080 economic experts, in 117 countries, the World Economic Climate indicator fell by 10 points, from 107.7 in the second quarter of 2011 to 97.7 in the third. The experts responded to the WES survey questions on both the current economic climate, as well as on the next six-month outlook.

The worsening economic climate is largely the result of a decline in indicator markers in Asia, North America, and Western Europe.

The report notes that in the U.S., in particular, the uncertainty regarding the settlement of the debt dispute in the end of June one week before the poll ended, led to a slightly stronger downgrade of the economic expectations.

Latin America was the only region whose economic climate remained unchanged, and Oceania was the sole region to enjoy a rise in expectations.

The report also points out that while WES experts downgraded economic expectations for almost all regions, expectations still remained positive overall.

Latin America was the only region whose economic climate remained unchanged, and Oceania was the sole region to enjoy a rise in expectations.

The report also points out that while WES experts downgraded economic expectations for almost all regions, expectations still remained positive overall.

Canada and Mexico have reached an expanded air transport agreement, which is expected to facilitate increased travel and trade between the two countries.

"As Canada's third largest air transport market, Mexico is an important bilateral aviation partner," said Minister of Transport Denis Lebel. "The expanded air transport agreement builds on the existing air transport agreement to benefit travellers, shippers, and the business sectors of both countries."

This expanded agreement provides a completely open framework for direct flights between Canada and Mexico, thereby allowing any number of airlines from both countries to offer more services between any Canadian and Mexican cities. The agreement also provides greater flexibility to adjust prices according to market forces and modernizes safety and security provisions.

The agreement is being applied on an administrative basis, allowing airlines to offer new services immediately, once designated by the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

The previous modifications to the Canada-Mexico air transport agreement date back to December 2007.

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) announced that it will purchase two more multiple-generator (GenSet) locomotives, which are more respectful of the environment. The initial locomotive was delivered to the MPA in October 2010.

GenSet locomotives make it possible to reduce diesel consumption thanks to a power regulating device that can start up one, two or all three generators, depending on the size of the task at hand.

When the locomotive remains stationary for more than five minutes, the on-board computer puts the locomotive into standby mode, shutting off all the generators. This system helps reduce fuel consumption by 30% and cuts greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50%.

"By purchasing these two new locomotives, the Montreal Port Authority confirms its commitment to make the Port of Montreal a benchmark of the best environmental practices in North America's marine industry," said Sylvie Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority.

How many containers are lost at sea every year? The World Shipping Council (WSC) has seen various statements in public that the industry loses up to 10,000 containers a year at sea. The WSC understood that this number is grossly excessive. Up until now there was no comprehensive statistics kept, as to the number of containers lost overboard.

The WSC surveyed its members about losses, and the carriers that responded represent over 70 percent of the global container ship capacity. WSC assumed for the purpose of this analysis that the container losses for the 30% of the industry that did not respond to the survey would be roughly the same as the 70% of the industry that responded.

Some carriers reported that they lost no containers during the period, while others noted a catastrophic loss, which for the purposes of this analysis was defined as a loss overboard of 50 or more containers in a single incident. Catastrophic losses are rare. The number of containers lost in a catastrophic event can vary greatly -- from 50 to several hundred.

Based on the survey results, the World Shipping Council estimates that on average there are approximately 350 containers lost at sea each year, not counting catastrophic events. When one counts the catastrophic losses, an average total loss per year of approximately 675 containers was observed.

Total industry losses obviously vary from year to year, but these numbers are well below the 2,000 to 10,000 per year that regularly appear publicly, and represent a very small fraction of container loads shipped each year.

In 2010, the international liner shipping industry carried approximately 100 million containers of cargo. 500 lost containers would constitute 0.0005 percent of the loaded containers transported.

Boeing announced that its new 747-8 Freighter successfully completed its certification flight test program Tuesday.

"This is such a great day for the new 747-8 and for all the employees who played a part in designing, building and testing this incredible, game-changing airplane," said Elizabeth Lund, Boeing vice president and general manager, 747 program. "We are in the home stretch in delivering this airplane to our customers."

The first 747-8 Freighter is scheduled to be delivered to launch customer Cargolux in September after certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The 747-8 Freighter is 18 feet and 4 inches (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400 Freighter. The stretch provides customers with 16 percent more revenue cargo volume compared to its predecessor. That translates to four additional main-deck pallets and three additional lower-hold pallets. The 747-8 Freighters will be powered with GE's GEnx-2B engines.

A video detailing the 747-8 Freighter's 17-hour test flight and its road to completing certification testing can be seen at http://goo.gl/pH6J0.

Adding its voice to an international protest movement the National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) renewed its call for the European Union (EU) to suspend application of its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to aviation, in favour of a global solution agreed upon by all affected parties.

According to most of the world's air industry the extra-territorial scope and application of the EU ETS violates fundamental principles of international customary and treaty law.

"Suspending the application of the ETS on aviation is appropriate given the flawed and illegal nature of this initiative, which in actual fact undermines global efforts to combat climate change," said George Petsikas, President of the NACC.

In 2010, the NACC and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) joined a judicial challenge by the US Air Transport Association (ATA) as formal interveners opposing the EU ETS.

The arguments were heard by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on July 5, 2011. The main thrust of the challenge is based on the airline industry's near-unanimous view that the extra-territorial scope and application of the EU ETS violates fundamental principles of international customary and treaty law, and in particular numerous provisions of the Chicago Convention, the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the Canada-EU Air Transport Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol, among others.

Piecemeal regulation as proposed by the European Union is not a solution to reducing aircraft emissions on a global scale, asserts Mr. Petsikas. Only through a coherent, multilateral framework based on principles of mutuality and sovereign non-interference can the aviation industry address environmental threats. To that end, the NACC supports a global approach led by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The National Airlines Council of Canada is a trade association founded by Canada's largest commercial airlines.

Industry analyst Alphaliner reports that, based on current production and deployment patterns, the number of containers provided to support the global container ship fleet is expected to sufficiently satisfy demand over the next two years.

The availability of containers during this year's peak season is less of an issue than some carriers and industry sources initially expected.

Alphaliner says that leasing companies and carriers have ordered sufficient numbers of new containers during the last twelve months, while demand growth has failed to match earlier projections.

The currently-unused inventory of new containers, estimated at over 800,000 teu, would be large enough to meet demand for the remainder of the year. The decreased demand for containers has already seen prices for new 20' dry boxes ease from $2,900 at the beginning of the year to less than $2,500 currently.

Additionally, carriers' ratios of new containers in relation with new on-board slot capacity now lie below 2 to 1.

Over the next two years, the projected annual production of up to 4.5 Mteu of new containers will be sufficient to meet the demand from new-built container ships that enter the market (at 1.4 Mteu in 2012 and 1.8 Mteu in 2013) and from the replacement of old containers (at 1 Mteu per year).

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American neighbors, Canada and Mexico, was 15.7 percent higher in May 2011 than in May 2010, totaling $77.3 billion.

Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones, and other. In May, 84.8 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved via land, 11.1 percent moved by vessel, and 4.1 percent moved by air.

On a month-to-month basis the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico gained 4.8 percent in May 2011 from April 2011. Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors.

U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade both increased compared to May 2010 with U.S.-Canada reaching $46.3 billion, a 15.1 percent increase, and U.S.-Mexico reaching $31.0 billion, a 16.6 percent increase.

In May trade by state, Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada as it has in previous years, at $6.3 billion, a 15.6 percent increase from May 2010.

Texas also continued to lead all states in surface trade with Mexico at $11.2 billion, an 18.8 percent increase from May 2010.

The For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) increased 2.8% in June after decreasing 2.0% in May 2011.

The latest gain put the index at 115.8 (2000=100) in June, up from the May level of 112.6 and the highest since January 2011.

Compared with June 2010, tonnage jumped 6.8%, the largest year-over-year gain since January 2011. In May, the tonnage index was 3% above a year earlier.

"Motor carriers told us that freight was strong in June and that played out in the data as well," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. Tonnage recovered all of the losses in April and May when the index contracted a total of 2.6%.

"After growing 5.5% in the first half of the year from the same period last year, the strength of truck tonnage in the second half will depend greatly on what manufacturing output does," Costello noted. "If manufacturing continues to grow stronger than GDP, I fully expect truck freight to do the same."

Port Metro Vancouver announced that it will implement a Truck Traffic Pilot Program requiring container trucks to use only Major Road Network authorized routes in Vancouver, in an effort to mitigate the impact of container trucks accessing the Port via city streets.

The Port Authority and the City of Vancouver have been working together to address community concerns regarding an increase in the number of container trucks travelling on Nanaimo Street (north of Broadway) en route to the McGill/Commissioner Street entrance to the Port.

"The City of Vancouver is committed to addressing the concerns of residents impacted by container truck traffic on Nanaimo Street," said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. "This issue is a priority and by working with the Port on mitigation strategies, we will be able to better manage truck traffic on authorized truck routes in a way that balances local community needs with efficient Port operations."

"As an important economic generator for Vancouver and the region, Port Metro Vancouver understands the need to work with communities that may be impacted by Port operations," said Chris Badger, Chief Operating Officer, Port Metro Vancouver. "Together with the City, and with the cooperation of the trucking community, we are confident this pilot program will have a positive effect and reduce the impact of container truck operations on residents of Vancouver."

The 90-day pilot program for container truck companies and drivers will begin on August 25, 2011, when Port Metro Vancouver will direct container trucks a designated Major Road Network.

During the 90-day pilot period, local streets will be monitored jointly by both the City of Vancouver and Port Metro Vancouver. The City of Vancouver will carry out truck counts in mid-September to monitor the effectiveness of this trial program. The City of Vancouver and Port Metro Vancouver will continue to meet regularly and evaluate the change.

Indian Customs will launch an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) pilot project later this year, following consultations with the private sector

The announcement follows a visit to New Delhi this week by the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Kunio Mikuriya, to discuss progress within Indian Customs.

The Indian Central Board of Customs and Excise recently opened a National Operation Center to support its information system and enable better data and risk management.

Secretary General Mikuriya said that, additionally, "Indian Customs has stressed its commitment to promoting Globally Networked Customs to facilitate AEO-related information among other Utility Block areas and this latest development will pave the way for Mutual Recognition of AEO with other countries, the ultimate benefit of the AEO program".

Weekly North American rail traffic showed mix results in early July according to the Association of American Railroads.

U.S. railroads originated 281,387 carloads for the week ending July 16, 2011, down 0.3 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 230,324 trailers and containers, up 1.2 percent compared with the same week last year.

Fourteen of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases from the comparable week in 2010, including: iron and steel scrap, up 34.8 percent; metals and products, up 18.7 percent, and petroleum products, up 18.3 percent. Groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included: waste and nonferrous scrap, down 17.3 percent; coal, down 6.7 percent, and primary forest products, down 5.8 percent.

Canadian railroads reported 74,588 carloads for the week, up 5.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 51,408 trailers and containers, up 2.9 percent compared with 2010.

Mexican railroads reported 13,931 carloads for the week, up 9.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 9,323 trailers and containers, up 73.5 percent.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 28 weeks of 2011 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 10,536,554 carloads, up 2.5 percent compared with the same point last year, and 7,812,128 trailers and containers, up 6.7 percent compared with last year.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) announced a new partnership to support President Obama's goal of doubling exports by 2014.

The partnership will assist U.S. seaports leverage federal and local resources to help new-to-export small and medium-sized firms to achieve export sales.

The AAPA and the Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration will help interested ports develop and host industry-led workshops, seminars, and other events that provide exporters with a basic knowledge of export requirements.

U.S. seaports are a critical conduit for most U.S. merchandise trade, with more than $455 billion in exports flowing through America's sea ports in 2010.

For ocean exporters, U.S. seaports are the nexus between the United States and the global economy. More than 75 percent of U.S. merchandise trade by volume - and more than 36 percent by value - leaves the United States by water.

"Ocean transport carries more U.S. international merchandise than air cargo, trucks, railroads, and pipelines combined," said Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sánchez. "This new partnership with America's seaports will expand U.S. exports through increased education and outreach to U.S. businesses, creating a win/win situation for everyone."

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from international shipping at a meeting las week at IMO Headquarters in London. The measures are the first ever mandatory global greenhouse gas reduction regime for an international industry sector.

The newly adopted Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) sets technical standards for improving the energy efficiency of certain categories of new ships which will, in turn, lead to less CO2 emissions, an approximate reduction of 25-30% by 2030.

The EEDI will become mandatory in 2015, and will require a minimum energy efficiency level for different ship types and sizes. The EEDI will be applied to the largest segments of the world merchant fleet, and is expected to cover as much as 70% of emissions from new ships.

A ships' CO2 emissions are directly proportional to its fuel consumption, with, on average, 3.1 tonnes of CO2 being released from each tonne of fuel burnt. The EEDI will require, in the first phase (2015-2019) an efficiency improvement of 10% and will be tightened every five years, to keep pace with technological development and reduction measures. Through its decision today, the IMO has set reduction rates until the period 2025 to 2030 when a 30% reduction in energy consumption is mandated for most ship types calculated from a baseline representing the average efficiency for ships built between 1999 and 2009.

The Canadian General Freight Index's (CGFI) results for April indicate that the cost of ground transportation for Canadian Shippers increased notably in April when compared to March due to increases in both Base Rates and Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers.

CGFI's Total Freight Cost Index rose by 1.7% in April when compared to March, the largest single-month gain since July 2010. The Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers, increased 1.1% during the same period. In addition, average fuel surcharges assessed by carriers increased from 18.8% of Base Rates to 19.9%, and contributed significantly to the rise in freight costs.

Of note is that fuel surcharges increased for the 7th consecutive month, and have reached their highest point since November 2008.

"Lately, increasing fuel prices have been the major factor affecting transportation costs", commented Doug Payne, President of Nulogx, the CGFI sponsor.. "However in April we saw a notable increase in Truckload Base Rates begin to contribute to this rise in freight costs" continued Payne.

Rotterdam-based Cargoshell B.V. is heading towards commercialization of its whole new container concept, a collapsible container made of composite materials that could be integrated into the current standardised ocean transport chain.

Next September, Germanische Lloyd will test the Cargoshell container for its ISO certification. Containers have to meet strict certification requirements and are tested by independent classification bureaus. New containers may only be released to the market once they have been certified.

A work group consisting of market specialists in the field of composites and sea containers as well as an engineering bureau has been assembled for the certification project.

Some specific issues have been improved from an earlier model, in order to make the container conform better to the market. For example, roll-up doors have been replaced by hinged doors. These adjustments were implemented without compromising the ground-breaking innovations of the original concept, such as substantial weight reductions, and the ability to be broken down by one person within 30 seconds.

While maintaining the successful qualities of the current container, Cargoshell offers a number of vital innovations. The most important is the sizable reduction in CO2 emissions that would be realized if Cargoshell replaces the current container in use around the world.

Since Cargoshell is constructed of fibre-reinforced plastic composite materials, the new container is much lighter than the current steel container. A second vital innovation is the fact that Cargoshell containers are collapsible. Steel containers take up the same amount of space whether they are empty or full. An empty Cargoshell, however, takes up only 25% of the volume of a full container. These weight and space savings reduce the operational costs, making Cargoshell even more attractive from a financial perspective.

Interesting views of the Cargoshell container are available on the company's website: www.cargoshell.com.

Port Metro Vancouver reports in its latest newsletter that the Vancouver Gateway has experienced a marked improvement in import container terminal dwell performance over the past year.

According to the newsletter container dwell times have been reduced by approximately 30 per cent, to consistently fewer than three days.

One of the main reasons for this improvement in performance is the collaborative manner in which container terminals and the two main transcontinental railways servicing the Gateway, CP and CN, are working together to achieve service efficiencies and improve supply chain performance.

This new approach has been enhanced by the port-wide supply chain collaboration agreements signed between the Port and CN and the Port and CP, as well as service agreements that both railways have in place with individual terminal operators.

The result is an operational shift towards a new, more collaborative and effective approach and is expected to generate further supply chain performance improvements in the future.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reports that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was 12.1 percent higher in April 2011 than in April 2010, reaching $73.8 billion.

The BTS notes that the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in April 2011 remained 0.7 percent below the early recession level of April 2008.

Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones and other. In April, 84.7 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land, 11.1 percent moved by vessel, and 4.2 percent moved by air.

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totalled $44.6 billion in April, an 11.8 percent increase, and U.S.-Mexico totalled $29.1 billion, a 12.4 percent increase.

In April trade by state, Michigan continued to lead all states in surface trade with Canada at $5.8 billion, up 6.6 percent from April 2010. Texas continued to lead all states in surface trade with Mexico at $10.1 billion, up 10.8 percent from April 2010.

The top three commodities imported from Canada and Mexico have remained the same over the last year. The top three commodities imported from Canada by all land modes in April were mineral fuels, oils, and waxes; vehicles; and computer-related machinery and parts, totaling $12 billion. The top three commodities imported from Mexico by all land modes in April were vehicles, computer-related machinery, and electrical machinery and parts, totaling $10.5 billion.

The largest increase in U.S.-Canada commodity in the last year was mineral fuels, oils, and waxes, up 17.0 percent, and the largest increase in U.S.-Mexico trade was computer-related machinery and parts, up 18.2 percent.

Electrical machinery, vehicles, and computer-related machinery and parts are exported from the United States to be assembled in Canada and Mexico, and then imported back to the U.S. as finished goods.

UK Customs personnel to join strike action on Thursday June 30 when around 250,000 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members will walk out on issues of pensions, jobs and pay.

The UK's Border Agency (UKBA) warned that the impact of the strike would be different at individual ports, airports and international rail terminals, but added it had contingency plans in place and "will work hard to keep delays to a minimum".

At issue are changes the British Government wants to make in pension benefits and the age of retirement for its public sector workers.

The Union claims that "the government's proposed pension changes will mean millions of people having to pay more and work longer for less pension."

The Lake Carriers' Association reports that shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 2.9 million tons in May, an increase of 36.4 percent over April, but a decrease of

Limestone shipments from U.S. quarries fell 14 percent compared to a year ago and are 26 percent off May's 5-year average. Loadings at Canadian quarries slipped by nearly 40 percent compared to both a year ago and the month's 5-year average.

For their part, shipments of coal on the lakes totaled 2.9 million tons in May, an increase of 28 percent over April, but a decrease of 7.5 percent compared to a year ago.

Coal loadings at Lake Superior and Lake Erie ports fell 12.4 and 13.2 percent respectively. Shipments from Lake Michigan terminals increased 45.4 percent.

Finally, iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 6.1 million tons in May, an increase of 6.5 percent over April, but a decrease of 2.6 percent compared to a year ago.

Iron ore shipments from U.S. ports totaled 5,449,808 tons, a decrease of 2.9 percent compared to a year ago. Loadings at Canadian ports were virtually unchanged from last May.

The American Trucking Associations' latest Trucking Activity Report indicates that turnover for long haul truck drivers increased in the first three months of 2011.

The turnover rate for drivers at large truckload fleets rose to an annualized rate of 75% in the quarter ended March 31 - up from 69% in the fourth quarter of 2010 and a low of 39% in the same quarter last year.

"The driver market is tightening," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. "We hear nearly every day from fleets who cannot find enough drivers to meet demand."

Turnover increases as the demand for drivers tightens because drivers tend to jump from carrier to carrier, according to ATA's report. The turnover figure is the highest since the second quarter of 2008.

Turnover at small truckload fleets rose just one percentage point to 50% in the first quarter, reaching its highest point since the third quarter of 2008. Less-than-truckload fleets continued to experience a very low turnover rate, with the figure rising to 8% from 6% the previous quarter.

"With the economy continuing to recover from the Great Recession, the implementation of new regulations and the number of retirees outpacing the number of drivers entering the industry, I expect to see the turnover rate continue to rise," Costello said.

According to London-based Container Trades Statistics Ltd., January to April Exports from Europe to seven regions it monitors totalled 5.46 million TEUs; Imports totalled 7.46 million TEUs, some 8.5% up on a year ago.

The company's latest monthly newsletter states that, compared to March 2011, April volumes softened on all monitored trades in and out of Europe except Africa (Sub Saharan).

European Imports from Asia were marginally down 0.4% but still 3.9% up on a year ago. Exports to Asia were 9.4% down on March, a high volume month following the Lunar New Year, but this is also up 3% on last year.

Year on year growth in the Europe to India / Middle East trade lane was maintained: Imports to Europe were up 17%; Exports were up 8%. But both directions were down on March by 2.8% and 6% respectively.

For North America, year on year growth continued to be positive. Imports to Europe were up 13%; Exports up 7%.

The Chairman of Ukraine's State Customs Service, Mr. Ihor Kaletnik, was in Geneva last week to deposit his country's instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (revised Kyoto Convention) with the World Customs Organization.

The Convention is regarded as a blueprint for effective and modern Customs procedures, and will enter into force in the Ukraine in September 2011.

WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya said, "Accessions to this important Customs instrument are beginning to accelerate as more and more Customs administrations recognize its critical role in managing cross-border trade today."

Some of the Convention's key elements include the application of simplified Customs procedures in a predictable and transparent environment, the maximum use of information technology, the utilization of risk management, a strong partnership with the trade and other stakeholders, and a readily accessible system of appeals.

Having entered into force on 3 February 2006, the revised Kyoto Convention now has 76 Contracting Parties.

According to Alphaliner the idle container ship fleet has reached its lowest levels since August 2008 and it now approaches regular pre-crisis levels.

At the beginning of this month, the Paris-based data gathering company recorded only 63 ships - for 80,000 TEU - as idle. This figure is expected to reduce by a further 20,000 TEU in the coming weeks.

Is is reported that the number of ships of above 1,000 TEU in long-term lay up has shrunk to less than 15 units, including a handful of mothballed US-flagged ships.

High demand for container ships in the first half of this year reduced the idle fleet but the outlook remains uncertain: Low utilisation levels on a number of key routes and insufficient freight rates could force carriers to scale back deployed capacity later in the year.

Alphaliner says there have been moves by a few carriers to cut down capacity in the last two months but the vast majority of carriers continued to bring new capacity into the market. Out of 32 main carriers surveyed by Alphaliner, 27 carriers added capacity over the last twelve months while only five carriers reduced their operated capacity.

Marine Terminal Operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced that they will raise the current Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) to $60 per TEU in order to sustain continued operation of PierPass OffPeak gates. The TMF adjustment is effective July 4, 2011.

The Operators claim that hourly labor costs have increased 31 percent since the last price setting in 2006. The terminals have operated the OffPeak gates at a loss since the program's start in 2005. The shortfall between TMF revenues and OffPeak gate costs was $52.3 million in 2010.

"It is clear that absent some action, TMF revenue will continue to fall short of OffPeak gate costs and endanger the program," said Bruce Wargo, president of PierPass, the non-profit formed by the West Coast MTO Agreement in 2005 that runs the OffPeak program. "With 55 percent of non-exempt cargo movements taking place during OffPeak hours, the program has become an important element of port operations."

A number of options were evaluated by marine terminal operators to cut the losses, including adjusting the rate, decreasing the services offered, or instituting a fee on OffPeak cargo. Adjusting the rate was determined by the marine terminal operators to be the most effective and least disruptive way to reduce the losses.

Beginning in mid-2012, the TMF will be adjusted annually based on changes in Pacific Maritime Association maritime labor costs.

OffPeak provides an incentive for cargo owners to move cargo at night and on weekends, in order to reduce truck traffic and pollution during peak daytime traffic hours and to alleviate port congestion.

The Antwerp Port Authority announced that it will reward "clean ships" calling at the port. Beginning July 1st the most environment-friendly ships will be granted a discount of 10% on the tonnage dues. Tonnage dues are the fee that a shipping company has to pay the Port Authority for each ship that enters the port, calculated on the basis of the gross tonnage.

The discount stems from an initiative by the International Association of Ports and Harbours, in which the port authorities of Le Havre, Bremen, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp introduced the Environmental Ship Index (ESI).

Shipping companies can register their ships for this index at www.environmentalshipindex.org. On the basis of the data entered, such as fuel consumption and emissions, each ship is given a score on a scale from 0 to 100 (from highly polluting to emission-free). So far more than 250 ships have been given a score. The ports themselves decide what advantages to offer participating ships.

In the case of Antwerp, seagoing ships with a score of 31 or more will be granted a discount of 10% on the tonnage dues. The Port Authority will guarantee this discount for a period of at least three years, so offering continuity for shipping companies that invest in improving the ESI score of their ships.

The introduction of the ESI forms part of the Port Authority's policy of sustainable development of the port. This new international standard is a useful tool for port authorities to promote investments in more environment-friendly ships. Antwerp Port Authority uses low-sulphur fuel for its own fleet. In addition, ships and barges are able to use onshore power supplies at various locations in the port, so they do not have to run their engines while at berth.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a further drop in its 2011 airline industry profit forecast to $4 billion. This is a reduction of more than half the $8.6 billion profit forecast in March and a 78% drop compared with the $18 billion net profit recorded in 2010. On expected total revenues of $598 billion, a $4 billion profit equates to a 0.7% margin.

"Natural disasters in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, plus the sharp rise in oil prices have slashed industry profit expectations to $4 billion this year. That we are making any money at all in a year with this combination of unprecedented shocks is a result of a very fragile balance. The efficiency gains of the last decade and the strengthening global economic environment are balancing the high price of fuel. But with a dismal 0.7% margin, there is little buffer left against further shocks," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

Fuel costs are the main cause profit reduction. The average oil price for 2011 is now expected to be $110 per barrel (Brent), a 15% increase over the previous forecast of $96 per barrel. For each dollar increase in the average annual oil price, airlines face an additional $1.6 billion in costs.

Growth rates for both cargo and passenger markets have been revised downward because of higher fuel costs. Passenger demand is now expected to grow 4.4% over the year, a full 1.2 percentage points below the 5.6% previously forecast in March. Similarly, cargo demand is expected to increase 5.5% and not 6.1% as predicted earlier.

Asia-Pacific carriers are expected to earn $2.1 billion - the most profitable of all regions. North American carriers will see the $4.1 billion profit of 2010 fall to $1.2 billion. European carriers will deliver a $500 million profit, down from $1.9 billion in 2010.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in collaboration with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), announced that they will be implementing enhanced controls on cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes from the European Union due to current E. coli outbreak in Europe.

The agencies report that there is no indication at this point that any contaminated product has been shipped to Canada. Volumes are very low as the amount of fresh product imported from European countries account for less than one per cent of fresh product entering Canada.

However, as a safety precaution, incoming shipments from the European Union will be identified and the CFIA will intensify sampling and testing of these products for the presence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, the E. coli strain linked to the outbreak in Europe.

The CFIA will continue to work closely with the European Union, as well as other trading partners and international organizations. As German government officials are still investigating the cause of the E. coli outbreak in Europe, these measures will be adjusted, as warranted, to ensure the Canadian food supply remains protected.

The CFIA's enhanced surveillance controls will add an additional safeguard to Canada's existing import controls. CFIA maintains rigorous controls and tracking systems for imported food.

In announcing a 20-year development blueprint for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) the Airport Authority said the most interesting avenue will be to build a new runway to increase capacity. It would enable HKIA to meet the city's air traffic demand up to and possibly beyond 2030 while further strengthening its position as a leading regional and international aviation hub.

Another option would be to maintain the existing two-runway system, which would help meet Hong Kong's aviation demand in the medium term only.

Local stakeholders and the public are invited to submit their views and comments during a three-month public consultation exercise which started on June 3, 2011. A series of roving exhibitions, public forums and stakeholder briefings will form a key part of the exercise, which will end on 2 September 2011.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reiterated its support for the construction of a third runway. "Aviation is a critical part of Hong Kong's economy. It connects 1,300 regional head offices to their markets and gives Hong Kong an important global presence as a major gateway to China. But the Hong Kong hub can only fulfill its important economic role if it has sufficient capacity to grow. For this, a third runway is needed," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

The transport association noted that HKIA is rapidly approaching its effective capacity of 74 million passengers and 6 million tonnes of cargo. In 2010, HKIA served a record 50.9 million passengers and 4.1 million tonnes of cargo. IATA airlines serving HKIA forecast that by 2014, 62.2 million passengers and 5.3 million tonnes of cargo will travel to and from Hong Kong.

The trade association Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) published an article on its website advising manufacturers and importers of ongoing power outages in China that may cause production and shipping delays.

CME cites Pennsylvania-based Sino-Consulting, who warns that 26 provincial regions under the management of the State Grid Corporation of China will suffer combined power shortages of 30 million kW this year alone. At least 10 grids covering such important regions as Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai may even face rationing of electricity.

According to the article the rising price of coal prices is the main cause of power shortages. In 2004, China suffered the worst power shortages in more than a decade, cutting or limiting power to 27 of its 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

According to Sino-Consulting 2011 may be even worse and densely populated areas are expected to be hit harder than ever before.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) reported a small decline in international air freight volumes in April, reflecting the lingering effect of the Japan earthquake.

Total Asia Pacific air cargo fell 2% compared to levels seen in the same month last year. Coupled with a 2.1% increase in available freight capacity the average international load factor for April declined 2.9 percentage points to 68.5%.

On a slightly brighter note, AAPA members carried a total of 15 million passengers in April, 1.6% more than in April 2010.

Commenting the monthly results AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman said: "Growth in passenger traffic for the month was underpinned by stronger demand on long haul international routes. On the other hand, air cargo demand was relatively soft in April."

On the occasion of the annual International Transport Forum held in Leipzig, Germany from May 25-27, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) renewed its call for immediate action on piracy, urging governments to take action against the increasing number of pirate attacks occurring off the Somali coast.

ICC said the past year has witnessed an escalation in both violence and the number of attacks on ships and their crew. According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau, there were 219 attacks in 2010 off Somalia, in which 49 vessels were hijacked and 1,016 crew members taken hostage.

Pirates continue to strike despite measures taken by the United Nations Security Council and the presence of naval units in the area of the Gulf of Aden, and more and more ship owners have had to resort to using private security firms to protect their seafarers and ships.

In 2010, the One Earth Foundation estimated the economic cost of piracy on the supply chain to be between US$7-12 billion.

"This is of great concern to any industry having to navigate through the Gulf of Aden to deliver goods by water," ICC said.

Prepared by the ICC Commission on Transport and Logistics, the call for action said: "As the World Business Organization, ICC urges governments to recognize that piracy, in addition to its effect on the safety of seafarers, has an important financial impact on global trade and shipping, and furthermore poses increased threat on the stability and security of energy supply lines not only for major industrial nations."

ICC called on governments to improve the rules of engagement given to the navies present in the area, and refocus the efforts of the UN and other international bodies to ensure that pirates are brought to justice and that required institutions in central Somalia are established to maintain economic and social standards.

Together with ship owners and trade associations around the world, over 20 CEOs from key shipping and trading companies have endorsed the ICC Call for Action on Piracy.

OTTAWA, May 29, 2011: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public about the possibility of Di-Ethyl Hexyl Phthalate (DEHP) being added to certain foods and beverages imported from Taiwan.

The CFIA is actively working with Health Canada, international food safety partners and importers to identify the affected products that may be in the Canadian market. Affected products will be subject to recall and posted to the CFIA website.

The health risks from phthalates are associated with prolonged exposure. Based on the information available to date, the levels of DEHP used fraudulently in the foods that have been implicated in the current food recalls in Taiwan are unlikely to lead to any acute toxic effects. For more information on phthalates visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/_2011/2011_07fs-eng.php

Although the immediate health risk associated with these products is considered to be low, this advisory is being issued as a result of the Government of Canada's ongoing investigation into phthalates in products that may have been imported into Canada.

Updates on the CFIA activities related to phthalates are available at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/specif/phthal/phthale.shtml or by calling 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

Lured by attractive ship building prices and the strength of last year's market recovery, containership owners have ordered 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units (Mteu) of new capacity since June 2010, outstripping the deliveries recorded in the previous period, which reached 1.4 Mteu, according to Alphaliner.

This rapid rise in ordering activity in the last twelve months has brought back concerns of over-capacity in the container shipping markets, with the level of deliveries in 2013 likely to hit a new record.

With all 2011 and most of 2012 delivery slots currently booked, attention no turns to 2013 slots.

Scheduled deliveries for 2013 have surged from 380,000 teu a year ago to 1,590,000 teu today and there is still some available shipyard capacity for 2013 deliveries.

If all current options, letters of intent and intended orders were exercised, 2013 vessel deliveries could exceed 2 Mteu. This would mark the highest-ever annual level of containership newbuilding.

Alphaliner cites Maersk's ten 'EEE'-class 18,000 teu ships, which are the largest units planned for delivery in 2013. Options for 20 additional vessels of the same size have yet to be exercised for 2014-15 delivery.

Furthermore, Evergreen has committed to 35 ships of 8,800 teu (including five chartered units ordered by Costamare), of which 22 are earmarked for delivery in 2013.

Other carriers and non-operating owners have joined or are planning to join the new capacity race.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) announced a drop in total cargo tonnage handled in April but said strong growth continued in flight movements and passenger volume. Flight movements surged 12.1% from a year earlier to 27,685 while passenger trips increased 8.5% to 4.5 million. Cargo tonnage amounted to 330,000 over the same period, down 6.5% year on year.

The growth in passenger traffic in April was mainly driven by local resident travel as well as visitor traffic, which registered yearly growth of 13% and 8% respectively. Passenger traffic to/ from South East Asia performed particularly well.

The decline of cargo throughput for the month was mostly caused by a 9.5% drop in exports compared to the same month last year. Both imports and transshipments decreased by 3% in April. Taiwan, Japan and the Mainland experienced double-digit year-on-year declines.

Stanley Hui Hon-chung, Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said he was glad to see passenger traffic and flight movements at HKIA continuing to perform well. Commenting on cargo, he said, "The year-on-year decrease is mainly the result of a higher base from the same period last year. The disruption to the logistics and supply chains of many industries caused by the earthquake in Japan in March also played a part in the decrease in tonnage. Despite the current slowdown, the industry is cautiously optimistic of the future of air cargo in the later part of the year, which is the usual peak time for air cargo."

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a news release that it is encouraged by the improved coordination of European authorities thus far in managing airspace in light of the Grimsvotn volcanic eruption. However, IATA cautioned that the absence of a formal agreement at the political level to respond in a coordinated and harmonized manner leaves passengers and shippers vulnerable to fragmented decision-making.

The 2010 volcanic ash crisis resulted in unnecessary blanket airspace closures because European states took uncoordinated decisions based on a theoretical ash dispersion model with no empirical testing.

Over the last year the European Commission, working with European agencies, including Eurocontrol and airlines, developed a new approach which recommends that:

• Regulators should accept the capability of airlines to conduct their own safety risk assessments prior to flight in any ash affected area.

"Safety is always our top priority and without any compromise. Work over the last year has put in place a European crisis coordination structure that is facilitating a much more effective management of this ash crisis at a working level. But Grimsvotn is also a dramatic reminder of the disappointing lack of progress at the political level on the Single European Sky. The potential for a patchwork of inconsistent state decisions on airspace management still exists because there is a major disconnect between the improved process and state decisions on airspace availability," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

Airline safety risk assessments augment the modeling of the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center with empirical data and are supported by airline safety management systems. The UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Norway are among the states that accept airline safety risk assessment procedures.

IATA is working closely with the European Aviation Safety Agency to bring the remaining European states on board with this process which has a proven track record in the US and elsewhere.

It is estimated that the mismanagement of 2010 volcanic ash crisis cost airlines $1.8 billion in lost revenues and cost the global economy as a whole $5 billion.

According to the latest quarterly World Economic Survey by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) the global economic climate is at its brightest since 2007, but there may be trouble ahead.

Topping last quarter's four-year high, the ICC world climate indicator reached 107.7 points in April, far above its 1995-2010 average of 96.9.

The figure, based on a survey of over 1,000 economists in 120 countries, combines respondents' increasingly positive appraisals of their countries' economic situation with their outlook for the next six months, which has dipped slightly while remaining confident.

Despite its overall optimism, the report highlights marked regional variations, and factors that could upset further global economic recovery in the next six months. Public budget deficits were top on the experts' list of urgent problems, ahead of high inflation and unemployment.

Among the risks that could hit the world economy in the next six months, pushing it off the road to recovery, the ICC/Ifo report cited excessive international capital movements and potential oil price shocks driven by tensions in supply.

World economic growth is expected to reach 3.2% in 2011, up slightly on last year's level. Experts cite the main growth engines as China, India and certain Latin American countries such as Peru and Argentina.

The survey is prepared for ICC by the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research.

The Port of Rotterdam, Europe's busiest port, is concerned that its lead over Hamburg and Antwerp may be jeopardized in coming years without a multibillion-dollar program to free up crowded access roads as Asian trade swells container volumes.

The Dutch government should consider charging tolls for tunnels and highways vital to the port and use proceeds to accelerate infrastructure work, according to the Port's Chief Executive Officer Hans Smits.

"Rotterdam's inaccessibility is its Achilles heel," Smits said. "Much needs to be done, but the government budget is insufficient. This applies all over Europe; governments are cutting deficits while infrastructure needs extra investment."

The Port of Rotterdam, at the mouth of the River Rhine, is also in talks with upstream harbors such as Duisburger Hafen AG about establishing inland terminals where containers could be transferred from barges and trains to trucks or smaller ships, thereby avoiding congested Dutch highways entirely, he said.

Rotterdam's container traffic increased 12 percent last year to 112.3 million tons, stretching its lead over Hamburg, which posted a 10 percent gain to 78.4 million tons.

Still, its German competitor aims to triple volumes over the next 15 years by building a new terminal. Antwerp in Belgium, currently Europe's No. 2 container port with a volume of 102.5 million tons in 2010, said in October it will invest 1.6 billion euros on expansion over the next 15 years to remain competitive.

According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, import cargo volume at the United States' major retail container ports is forecast to level off this month at about the same numbers as last year after nearly 18 months of year-over-year gains, and is expected to remain steady into mid-summer before resuming gains.

"After nearly a year and a half of volume increases, it's not surprising to see some leveling off," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Retailers are being cautious with how much merchandise they import due to economic pressures such as higher commodity prices, but overall consumer demand remains strong."

U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.08 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units in March, a gain of only 0.3 percent over the same month a year ago. The number was down 2 percent from February, traditionally the slowest month of the year. While the increase was small, it was the 16th month in a row to show a year-over-year improvement after December 2009 broke a 28-month streak of year-over-year declines. One TEU is one 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent.

April was estimated at 1.18 million TEU, a more typical increase of 4 percent over April 2010. But May is forecast at 1.26 million TEU, a decline of 0.6 percent from May 2010 - a small drop but the first year-over-year decline since November 2009. June is forecast at 1.31 million TEU, a decline of 0.1 percent from a year ago, and July is forecast at 1.38 million TEU, a decline of 0.4 percent. Year-over-year increases are expected to resume in August, forecast at 1.46 million TEU, up 2 percent from last year, and in September, forecast at 1.49 million TEU, up 11 percent.

The first half of 2011 is forecast at 7.1 million TEU, up 4 percent from the first half of 2010. Global Port Tracker forecasts only six months beyond actual numbers, so a forecast for the full year is not yet available. Imports during 2010 totaled 14.7 million TEU, a 16 percent increase over 2009.

Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates.

U.S. Senators and members of the House of Representatives see Canada as a stable and reliable source of energy, but they are concerned about what they perceive as lax border security and show little support for Canada-U.S. trade, according to a new report, What Congress Thinks of Canada, from the Fraser Institute.

The report examines what U.S. senators and House representatives think of Canada by analyzing transcribed congressional debates between 2001 and 2010, where the focus of discussion was Canada or Canadian policy.

It found that members of Congress generally view Canada in a positive light when it comes to trade in energy and environmental management. Most legislators, with a few notable exceptions, see Canada as a stable source of energy imports and a key component in their strategy for energy security. The report found no indication of widespread opposition to the oil sands.

But while energy and the environment elicited positive views from American legislators, the same cannot be said for border security, where the report found persistent and repeated allegations that Canada is lax about terrorism and was the source of some of the 9/11 hijackers and of illicit narcotics.

"When discussing border security, American politicians tend most often to speak of the Canadian and Mexican borders in roughly the same manner," said Alexander Moens, Fraser Institute senior fellow and the report's co-author.

Canada was highly regarded in the areas of defence and foreign affairs, apart from a handful of negative comments regarding Canada's lack of participation in the Iraq military intervention. Politicians from both parties and in both chambers voiced overwhelming praise for Canada's contributions to NATO, continental defence, and commitment to the security of Afghanistan.

The study is based on the premise that a cooperative approach towards Canada-U.S. relations serves Canada best.

"The report's findings should be of interest to Canadians and Americans alike, as improved cooperation is the key to North American prosperity and security," Moens said.

Port Metro Vancouver announced the eleven recipients of its Blue Circle Award for 2010. Launched last year, this award recognizes the most eco-friendly vessels that call at the Port.

The Blue Circle Award acknowledges industry commitment to Port sustainability by recognizing the extraordinary environmental achievements of ships that participate in Port Metro Vancouver's EcoAction Program for Shipping. The program offers a financial incentive for cruise and shipping lines to reduce ship emissions.

Port Metro Vancouver's emissions reduction programs have attracted international acclaim, having been awarded the Globe 2010 ecoFreight Award for Sustainable Transportation and nominated for the International Sustainable Shipping Award. Shore power at Canada Place represents a key initiative that has contributed to the success of the Port's Air Action Program. Port Metro Vancouver anticipates a 40 per cent increase in shore power-enabled ships during the 2011 cruise season.

• APL (Canada)
• Grieg Star Shipping (Canada) Ltd.
• Hapag-Lloyd (Canada) Inc.
• Holland America Line
• "K" Line
• Maersk Line
• Princess Cruises
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises
• Seaboard International Shipping Co. Ltd.
• Silversea Cruises
• Westwood Shipping Lines

Under Port Metro Vancouver's EcoAction Program for Shipping, vessels that qualify will be eligible to receive the Blue Circle Award, a recognition reserved for only the highest emissions reduction achievements.

According to a new analysis by The Boston Consulting Group the United States is expected to experience a manufacturing renaissance within the next five years as the wage gap with China shrinks and certain U.S. states become some of the cheapest locations for manufacturing in the developed world.

As Chinese wages are rising at about 17 percent per year and the value of the yuan continuing to increase, the gap between U.S. and Chinese wages is narrowing rapidly.

Meanwhile, flexible work rules and a host of government incentives are making many states - including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama - increasingly competitive as low-cost bases for supplying the U.S. market.

After adjustments are made to account for American workers' relatively higher productivity, wage rates in Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin are expected to be about only 30 percent cheaper than rates in low-cost U.S. states. And since wage rates account for 20 to 30 percent of a product's total cost, manufacturing in China will be only 10 to 15 percent cheaper than in the U.S.-even before inventory and shipping costs are considered. After those costs are factored in, the total cost advantage will drop to single digits or be erased entirely, Sirkin said.

Products that require less labor and are churned out in modest volumes, such as household appliances and construction equipment, are most likely to shift to U.S. production. Goods that are labor-intensive and produced in high volumes, such as textiles, apparel, and TVs, will likely continue to be made overseas.

According to the report a number of companies, especially U.S.-based ones, are already rethinking their production locations and supply chains for goods destined to be sold in the U.S. For some, the economics have already reached a tipping point.

The Boston Consulting Group is a global management consulting firm and a leading advisor on business strategy.

The World Customs Organization's (WCO) Deputy Secretary General, Sergio Mujica, met staffers from the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and the Government Accountability Office in Washington DC in April, in continuance of the Organization's policy on constructive engagement with the U.S. Congress on the 100% cargo scanning law.

Congress officials were informed about the latest developments on the WCO SAFE initiative and risk management, as an alternative to the U.S. 100% scanning approach. In all the meetings, the WCO's constructive engagement policy was highly supported and appreciated.

Whilst in the U.S. capital, the Deputy Secretary General took the opportunity to meet with officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to discuss supply chain security issues.

A series of other meetings focused on Customs capacity building assistance and support were held with various stakeholders including Customs administrations, donor agencies and other international and regional organizations.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance unveiled the result of its study on cargo crime in Canada. The purpose of the study was to clearly explain cargo crime in Canada and to promote awareness of the issues and challenges facing Canada in coming to grips with the problem of cargo crime, estimated to be a $5 billion a year problem in this country.

Cargo crime covers a number of criminal acts including theft, larceny and robbery. It is also linked to smuggling and national security threats. Too often it is incorrectly perceived as a victimless crime. But the effects reach much further than its direct stakeholders to the Canadian economy as a whole.

Cargo that is stolen and sold in illegal markets shifts revenues from legitimate businesses to criminals and depletes tax revenues. What is more disturbing is the recent increased use of violence in perpetrating cargo crime, putting the well-being of truck drivers and other industry employees at risk.

The study finds that the involvement of organized crime, which uses the proceeds of cargo crime to fund other illegal activities such as drug smuggling, cannot be understated. Cargo crime requires a network of criminals to both commit the theft and distribute the stolen goods.

The study says there are many challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in dealing with cargo crime. For example, the law, as currently written, does not differentiate cargo theft from general property theft.

Penalties do not seem to match the seriousness of the crime. Police sources note that someone caught with $10,000 in cocaine will spend time in prison, but someone caught stealing $1-million in plasma TV's may not even go to jail.

These two issues result in a lack of enforcement resources being deployed to combat cargo crime. Cargo crime does not benefit from a sufficiently high profile with federal and provincial governments to compel them to take necessary legislative and policy action. As a result, carriers are less likely to report thefts because of lack of success by law enforcement agencies in solving these perceived low level crimes.

Another issue hampering efforts to combat cargo crime is the lack of information sharing and standardized reporting on cargo crime across the country.

Click here (pdf) to view the study's executive summary, and the potential solutions to the Canada-wide problem.

A report from ComPair Data shows rates and available capacity are inextricably linked when it comes to container shipping. The quarterly report, the Rate-Capacity Nexus, shows how capacity and rates on key North American trades fluctuated throughout 2010, giving a complete picture of how these two crucial variables are influenced by one another.

The report shows that carriers enjoyed bumper rates on the main routes to North America in the first half of 2010 thanks to the strategy of pulling capacity and shelving ships in late 2009 and early 2010.

Rate-Capacity Nexus also demonstrates how quickly those rates receded in the fourth quarter when capacity wasn't pulled in late 2010.

ComPair Data examines the relationship between freight rates and capacity on trades to and from North America in a new quarterly report, Rate-Capacity Nexus. The report shows how allocated capacity - that is, the space ComPair Data estimates carriers allocate to specific trade lanes - moves quarterly in relation to freight rates.

The rate and capacity data illuminates how the liner industry deviated from the strategy that worked so well in late 2009 and early 2010 - that is, pulling capacity on key lanes during the slack season and using slow steaming to absorb capacity arriving in the form of new vessel deliveries.

While slow steaming has remained as a fixed component of carrier strategy, lines didn't withdraw services or idle excess vessels to a large enough extent to maintain rate stability.

A new collective agreement between the International Longshore Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association has received wide support by ILWU Canada members.

"Collective bargaining is alive and working well at Pacific Gateway ports," said ILWU Canada President Tom Dufresne.

Details of the agreement are being released today following the May 3rd ratification by the ILWU's membership.

The term of eight years provides unprecedented stability and reliability to everyone associated with the Pacific Gateway - ILWU members and employers alike.

"The interests of ILWU Canada members and the employer are aligned when it comes to having an agreement that delivers reliability and predictability in the workplace. This is a win-win agreement," Dufresne said.

The agreement includes a new program for maternity and paternity leave and an average wage increase of 3.5% every year of the agreement and a cost of living factor starting in year 6.

"The agreement will deliver the kind of financial stability our members need. The employer has also agreed to pension enhancements, a benefit of great importance to ILWU members," Dufresne said.

Ship and dock foremen in ILWU Local 514 are covered by a separate agreement which is still under negotiation.

Mexico will join the international ATA Carnet System on May 16, 2011. The Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce (CANACO) will administer the ATA Carnets, which are international customs documents that allow for the duty and tax-free temporary import and export of goods in participating countries for up to one year.

ATA Carnets are particularly useful for companies bringing samples to customers, exhibiting at trade fairs or transporting equipment. They improve trade opportunities by both reducing customs procedures, and significantly minimizing costs.

Mexico has long been identified as one of the priority target countries by the network of organizations already affiliated with the ATA guarantee chain, administered by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The addition will bring to 71 the number of countries accepting ATA Carnets, which work like passports for goods.

Mexico's entry into the ATA chain will also facilitate trade relations between Mexican business and their foreign partners.

Dock workers walked out at four Australian container ports to back their demands for increased pay and pension contributions.

A 24-hour walkout by members of the Maritime Union of Australia was held Saturday at docks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and strike action at a terminal in Fremantle was held on Monday, May 2nd.

The terminal operator, stevedoring company Patrick, is Australia's biggest container port operator. It has been in talks with the union for a new workplace agreement since June with negotiations stalling on pay and productivity.

Saturday's action affected 15 ships carrying 17,797 containers, according to a company statement.

A tentative new five-year national rail agreement covering wages, benefits and working conditions has been reached between the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC). The tentative agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, and extends through Dec. 31, 2014.

The tentative agreement, which amends the existing national agreement, must be ratified by each affected UTU craft under the craft-autonomy provisions of the UTU Constitution. The existing national agreement remains in force under provisions of the Railway Labor Act.

Details of the tentative agreement are being withheld pending its presentation to a yet-to-be-scheduled meeting of the Association of UTU General Chairpersons. General chairpersons will then have 15 days to submit written questions. The questions and answers will be provided to all members prior to the ratification vote.

Railroads represented by the NCCC include BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and many smaller railroads. Some 38,000 UTU members are affected by the tentative new agreement.

The For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) increased 1.7 percent in March after falling 2.7 percent in February 2011. The latest gain put the index at 115.4 (2000=100) in March, the highest level since January of this year (116.6).

Compared with March 2010, the Index's tonnage climbed 6.3 percent, which was higher than February's 4.4 percent year-over-year gain, but below the 7.6 percent jump in January. and 6.1 percent from the first quarter 2010.

"Despite my concern that higher energy costs are going to begin cutting into consumer spending, tonnage levels were pretty good in March and the first quarter of the year," said ATA Chief Economist and Vice President Bob Costello.

Looking ahead, Costello said, "While I still think the industry will continue to grow and recover from the weak freight environment we've seen in recent years, the rapid spike in fuel prices will slow that growth." Costello also noted that as long as U.S. manufacturing activity remains strong, truck tonnage will benefit.

The European Union's Naval Force in Somalia (EU NAVFOR) had to release eighteen suspected pirates that had been detained by the Finnish warship FNS Pohjanmaa since April 6th.

The suspected pirates were detained after allegedly attacking the Singapore-flagged vessel MV Pacific Opal on April 5, 2011.

They were released after prosecution requests to a number of states, who were considered to have an interest in the case, proved to be unsuccessful. The states either decided not to prosecute or could not provide an intent to prosecute within the required time.

According to the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, the State that seized the suspected pirates has the right to prosecute them. If this State doesn't want to prosecute the suspected pirates, other States will be asked to consider the case. In general, the Flag State of the attacked or pirated vessel is the next State to be contacted. Other States that could be asked to prosecute the suspected pirates are States who's nationality the crew members are from, the State the shipping company is from or any other State that has a national link to the case.

EU NAVFOR is not able to detain pirates indefinitely as would be is in breach of the regulations of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The suspects were returned to Somalia on the morning of April 21st, and are now free.

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) announced that it signed a definitive agreement with Viterra Inc. for the grain handling company to lease and operate the MPA Grain Terminal.

The Port's grain terminal is a Canadian Grain Commission licensed transfer elevator which operates year round and has a storage capacity of 262,000 metric tonnes.

The terminal is located in the deepest inland seaport in North America and connects directly to both CN and CP rail networks. It provides direct shipping routes to various destinations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

"This terminal is an excellent strategic fit within our North American grain handling and marketing operations," said Bob Miller, Viterra's Senior Vice-President, North American Grain. "It provides a wide range of logistical options to support efficient movement of high quality bulk and containerized food ingredients to key domestic and international markets."

The agreement was signed following a selection process led by the MPA, and successful due diligence conducted by Viterra.

"Our agreement with an agri-business company that specializes in grain such as Viterra will make it possible to consolidate and increase grain traffic at the Port of Montreal, and enable the grain terminal to improve its competitive position while still providing high calibre service to Quebec grain producers", stated Sylvie Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Montreal Port Authority "Our grain terminal will now be run using the same business model as our other terminals, that is to say, by a specialized private operator, which will contribute greatly to its future success."

(Reuters) - Trucks laden with cargo containers on Monday appeared to operate as usual on roads leading to ports in China's coastal commercial hub, Shanghai, where officials sought to defuse lingering anger among truck drivers who went on strike last week over rising costs.

The drivers' strike disrupted shipments at China's busiest port and brought shivers of unrest about rising costs and fees to Shanghai, which has sought to remake itself as a symbol of outward-looking prosperity.

Over the weekend, the Shanghai government cut fees in a bid to defuse anger over high fuel prices among the independent contractors who haul goods to and from the city's string of ports. Many drivers working as company employees on fixed wages did not join the protest.

The strike, which began on Wednesday, was a brief but telling symptom of the pressures facing the Chinese government over inflation, which in March hit 5.4 percent from a year earlier, magnifying the ruling Communist Party's jitters about protests erupting over prices, taxes and fees.

By Monday morning, it appeared that the Shanghai government's push to douse the discontent was working. Roads leading to the city's docks were busy with traffic.

But several drivers said that despite their success in cutting fees, making a decent living from the fiercely competitive trucking sector would remain tough.

"The government's response has been fairly reasonable, but this is largely a problem with the market. With so many drivers out there competition is tough, and it won't be so easy to fix. The strike is just a way to communicate to the government," said Li Wenbing, a 31-year-old truck driver from Henan province in central China, home of many of the aggrieved drivers.

"The government's new regulation won't have much impact on my wages. At least after four days parked here I am well rested."

Large numbers of police officers continued to line streets around the Baoshan port area, and officials had set up a half dozen outdoor stands where drivers could register any complaints.

"The situation has only been resolved to a degree. Frankly, the new rules aren't that much help," said a 26-year-old independent driver from Henan who would not give his name.

The drivers have complained about high operating costs, citing fuel-price increases, low salaries, and irregular fees and fines imposed by authorities. Some said logistics companies were colluding to charge them higher fees.

China said in early April it would raise retail gasoline and diesel prices by 5-5.5 percent to record highs.

The Party leadership is especially jumpy about threats to its control following online calls for "Jasmine Revolution" protests inspired by anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Arab world, and has detained dozens of dissidents.

But the Chinese government has also said it wants to channel more wealth to workers and farmers, and narrow an income gap that has fed public ire.

When workers at Japanese-owned vehicle parts suppliers struck in southern China last year, officials encouraged the companies to offer wage rises and other gains.

Alphaliner reports that higher volumes and rate increases boosted container shipping lines operating margins in 2010. Industry-wide aggregate operating profits reached an estimated 14 billion dollars last year, which made 2010 the most profitable year for carriers in the industry's history.

A number of carriers chalking up record gains which almost fully made up for the aggregate operating loss of 15 billion dollars suffered by carriers in 2009.

According to Alphaliner, the total operating profits of 19 of the Top 25 carriers surveyed reached 11.4 last year compared to an operating loss of 13.2 billion dollars in 2009. Alphaliner estimates that the six remaining lines in the Top 25 which do not publicly disclose their financial performance, as well as other smaller lines made more than 2.5 billion dollars collectively, bringing the total industry profits to over 13.9 billion dollars last year.

Almost all carriers turned around from last year's negative results. Average operating margins recovered significantly to 9% in 2010 amongst the main carriers surveyed, compared to a negative margin of 16% in 2009.

A national port reform agreement was signed last week that could signal then end of recurring work stoppages at French ports.

Plans by the government of France to transfer port workers to the private sector and increase the age of retirement met strong resistance from unions, who staged a series of strikes at French ports over the past two years.

A breakthrough on agreements involving government, unions and port authorities and covering all major French ports coincided last week with the signing of a national agreement on the linked issue of retirement age. It now appears that workers can start to be transferred to the private sector.

The port of Marseilles, for one, will begin the transfer of some 400 port authority personnel to private stevedoring companies in May.

The Marseilles authority said the agreements will bring French terminal operations in line with the practice at other major European ports.

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) reports that hiring in the trucking industry picked up in the fourth quarter of 2010. ATA also notes an increase in the turnover rate for linehaul truckload drivers which indicates an increased demand for drivers as the economy recovers.

According to ATA's quarterly trucking activity report, truckload and less-than-truckload carriers increased payrolls in the last three months of 2010. Small truckload companies increased their employment by 0.8%, all within the driver pool, while large truckload companies boosted total employment by 0.3%, adding linehaul drivers but trimming back their local driver pools.

The survey also showed that after hitting a record low of 39% in the first quarter, turnover among linehaul drivers at large truckload fleets rose to 69% (annualized rate) in the fourth quarter, its highest level since the second quarter of 2008. Third-quarter turnover was 49%.

Turnover at small truckload fleets rose to 49% in the fourth quarter from 44% and LTL turnover remained exceptionally low at 6%.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the increased hiring, coupled with rising turnover, indicated that fleets are responding to signs of the growing economic recovery.

"Fleets are clearly hiring more drivers as demand for freight hauling increases," Costello said. "In addition, while part of the turnover can be attributed to regulatory changes, we believe the bulk of this churn is due to increased demand for drivers."

"As the recovery strengthens, we're likely to see demand for drivers and trucking services continue to increase, with that demand manifesting itself in rising turnover rates and ultimately, once again, a shortage of truck drivers," he added.

Unite, Britain's largest union, began balloting its members for strike action at London Heathrow airport's Swissport Cargo on April 18, 2011, in a dispute over the use of agency workers and the imposition of new employment contracts for new workers.

Swissport's management has turned down the union's offer to invite a conciliation service to help find a solution to their disagreement. For this reason, Unite claims it has no other choice but to ballot for strike action.

The dispute has arisen over the company's interpretation of the use of agency workers within some employment contracts and the imposition of new terms and conditions for new workers who would be paid less.

Unite gave the management of Swissport Cargo notice of intention to ballot for strike action on April 8.

"Over a dozen airlines now face the real possibility of heavy disruption to their cargo operations because Swissport management is refusing to genuinely try to resolve this dispute," said Unite's regional officer, Kevin Hall.

The dispute concerns Swissport Cargo in Heathrow. Swissport Cargo is the world largest cargo handling service. Its clients include Quantas, South African Airlines, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, JAL, Swiss Airlines, Martinair, Finnair, TAM Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The ballot result will be announced on May 4th and strike action could take place 7 days after that.

The first three months of 2011saw piracy at sea hit an all-time high with 142 attacks worldwide, according to the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) global piracy report.

In the first quarter of 2011, 18 vessels were hijacked, 344 crew members were taken hostage, and six were kidnapped, IMB reported. A further 45 vessels were boarded, and 45 more reported being fired upon.

The sharp rise was driven by a surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia, where 97 attacks were recorded in the first quarter of 2011, up from 35 in the same period last year.

"Figures for piracy and armed robbery at sea in the past three months are higher than we've ever recorded in the first quarter of any past year," said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, whose Piracy Reporting Centre has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991.

In the first three months of 2011, pirates murdered seven crew members and injured 34. Just two injuries were reported in the first quarter of 2006.

Of the 18 ships hijacked worldwide in the first three months of the year, 15 were captured off the east coast of Somalia, in and around the Arabian Sea and one in the Gulf of Aden. In this area alone, 299 people were taken as hostage and a further six were kidnapped from their vessel. At their last count, at the end of March, IMB figures showed that Somali pirates were holding captive 596 crew members on 28 ships.

The IMB reports that large tankers carrying oil and other flammable chemicals are particularly vulnerable to firearm attack. Captain Mukundan said: "Three big tankers of over 100,000 tonnes deadweight have been hijacked off the Horn of Africa this year. Of a total of 97 vessels attacked in the region, 37 were tankers and of these, 20 had a deadweight of more than 100,000 tonnes."

A number of countries are employing their navies to take a tough stance against piracy. In a recent show of force, commended by the IMB, the Indian navy captured 61 Somali pirates on a hijacked ship off India's west coast.

Elsewhere, in the first quarter of 2011 nine incidents were reported off Malaysia and five incidents have been recorded for Nigeria.

Contract negotiations were held last week between the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada with the assistance of Federal Mediator Bill Lewis.

Additional meetings were scheduled for this week and started on Wednesday, April 13th.

The contract covering longshoremen along British Columbia's coast ports expired on March 31, 2010.

Neither side has given the mandatory written 72 hour strike or lock-out notice and as such, a lawful work stoppage cannot occur.

Such stoppage is all the more unlikely as the Minister of Labour has, during a Federal election and in the name of national interest, the power to prevent a strike or lock-out until 21 days following the election. It is widely assumed that the current Minister would exercise this power, given the economic importance of the harbours that would be affected by any work stoppage.

The Japanese government has begun scanning container ships leaving from the harbours in Tokyo bay for radiation emissions.

The move by Japan's transport ministry is primarily a bid to alleviate concerns about contamination from a crippled nuclear plant for shipowners, crews, and the foreign harbours where the ships are destined.

Ships found to have radiation readings exceeding a standard level will not be permitted to leave the ports of Tokyo, Kawasaki or Yokohama.

A report prepared for the U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) says that import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to be up 9 percent in April over the same month last year.

"These numbers are an indication that the economy is recovering and retailers are expecting continued increases in sales through the summer and beyond," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "There are challenges ahead from rising prices for gasoline and other essentials, but inventories are under control and retailers are optimistic."

The U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.1 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units in February, traditionally the slowest month of the year and the latest for which actual numbers are available. That was down 8 percent from January but up 10 percent from February 2010.

It was the 15th month in a row to show a year-over-year improvement after December 2009 broke a 28-month streak of year-over-year declines. One TEU is one 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent.

March was estimated at 1.2 million TEU, an increase of 11 percent over March 2010. April is forecast at 1.24 million TEU, up 9 percent from a year ago; May at 1.32 million TEU, up 4 percent; June at 1.38 million TEU, up 5 percent; July at 1.45 million TEU, up 5 percent; and August at 1.54 million TEU, up 8 percent.

The first half of 2011 is forecast at 7.4 million TEU, up 8 percent from the first half of 2010. For the full year, 2010 totaled 14.7 million TEU, a 16 percent increase over 2009. Last year's percentages were high because 2009's 12.7 million TEU was the lowest level seen since 2003.

Global Port Tracker, which is produced for NRF by the consulting firm Hackett Associates, covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.

A new report from the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) says that improvements to the environmental performance of the North American freight system will help safeguard regional economic competitiveness.

Entitled Destination Sustainability: Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Freight Transportation in North America, the report demonstrates that environmental sustainability is not the only advantage to reducing shipping's greenhouse gas emissions.

"This report is something of a roadmap to both sustainability and prosperity," said CEC Advisory Group Chair Bruce Agnew. "It turns out that, in the freight transportation sector, the best policies and investments for reducing freight-related greenhouse gas emissions are also some of the most effective measures for driving improvements to efficiency and competitiveness."

The Secretariat of the CEC - a trinational commission established as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - examines environmental matters arising as part of continental trade and makes occasional recommendations to the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the CEC Council of cabinet-level (or equivalent) environmental authorities.

The report, which focuses on road and rail transport, finds that while emissions from light-duty vehicles are expected to drop by 12 percent by 2030, freight truck emissions are projected to increase by 20 percent. The report also considers the efficiency (and inefficiencies) in the current system, as well as considering the aggressive investments that other trade blocs are making in new infrastructure and lower-carbon transportation-investments that may be outpacing efforts in North America.

"Reducing the environmental impact of freight transportation in the face of increasing trade and economic growth in North America requires much more than continued progress on fuel economy and transport technology," said CEC Executive Director Evan Lloyd. "This report calls on our three governments to adopt a vision of an integrated, intelligent freight transportation system for North America."

"Without such a vision, and the transformational investments that go with it, GHG emissions from freight transportation will continue to increase and the NAFTA countries will risk losing their competitive edge," Lloyd said. "But the report identifies clear opportunities, especially in light of infrastructure-related stimulus investment, to get this right."

According to the report the NAFTA partners should consider forming a ministerial-level North American Transportation Forum that will work in cooperation with an industry, expert and stakeholder group to foster an integrated, intelligent freight transportation system, a more seamless and efficient set of linkages that bring the three countries - functionally if not literally - closer together.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is warning that the cost diesel will rise sharply as Ottawa's new biofuel content rule becomes mandatory on July 1st.

With the price of diesel fuel already escalating, jumping almost 10 per cent between February and March and over 37 per cent year-over-year, the CTA says the federal government requirement that on-road diesel sold in Canada must contain an average two per cent biofuel content will make things worse.

Given that trucks - the largest buyers of diesel fuel - move 90 per cent of all consumer products and foodstuffs, CTA warns this could also lead to higher prices to consumers for all goods.

CTA gives the example of the United States, where there is a somewhat more mature biodiesel market, prices are, depending on the level of biofuel blended into the diesel, running at one to eight cents per litre above the price of regular diesel fuel. For Canadian truckers this could mean annual increases in diesel fuel costs (the second largest component of cost for trucking companies and the largest cost for small independent operators) in the range of $2,100-$6,000 per truck depending where biodiesel price increases fall in Canada.

According to CTA, a leading feedstock to be used in producing biodiesel (canola) is already at record highs despite record volumes, so the cost impact on Canadian truckers could be even greater. In addition, biodiesel is costly to produce and there is a severe shortage of biofuel production and blending capacity in Canada.

It is widely acknowledged that Canada will have to import 85 per cent of the biodiesel need to comply with the mandate. The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, which represents petroleum producers, recently called upon the government to delay the implementation of the biodiesel mandate until its members can build the necessary blending facilities required to satisfy the regulation.

"All of these things add up to one thing," says David Bradley, CEO of the trucking alliance, "higher prices for consumers. The only question is by how much. The biodiesel mandate is only going to make things worse. They can't even guarantee us that the stuff won't gum up most truck engines at the kinds of blend rates we are likely to see at certain times of the year in various parts of the country. There is no protection for the consumer."

A new analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) demonstrates that growth in the G7 economies, not including Japan, appears to be stronger than previously projected, with accelerating private sector investment and trade boosting recovery, according to new analysis from the OECD.

"The outlook for growth today looks significantly better than it looked a few months back," OECD Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan said during a presentation of the OECD's latest Interim Economic Assessment. "Growth perspectives are higher all across the OECD area, and the recovery is becoming self-sustained, which means there will be less need for fiscal or monetary policy support." The disaster in Japan following last month's tragic earthquake and tsunami casts uncertainty over the country's near-term outlook, and it is still too early to determine the full cost to the economy, the OECD said. For this reason, the Interim Assessment contains no projections for Japan.

Against this background, the OECD says that economic growth in the G7 economies outside Japan could rise to an annualised rate of about 3% in the first half of 2011.

Unemployment remains problematic, with the OECD-wide unemployment rate 2 percentage points higher than at the onset of the crisis. Inflationary expectations have been creeping upwards, driven by rising commodity prices, but underlying inflation rates are still low, reflecting the large excess capacity that remains in labour and product markets.

Instability in the Middle East and North Africa and an associated possible further increase in oil prices could act as a drag on economic activity in the near term, while uncertainty stemming from sovereign debt risks in the Euro area periphery could also prove problematic.

On the upside, non-financial corporate balance sheets look very healthy, which could add momentum to economic growth via private investment, and labour markets look better than expected a few months ago, which could have a favourable impact on private consumption.

According to the United States' Trade Representative the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement negotiations advanced last week.

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam made considerable progress in the sixth round of negotiations held in Singapore.

To ensure they had the time they needed to maximize progress, the TPP countries extended the length of the round in Singapore and some U.S. negotiators also traveled to Malaysia and Vietnam before and after the formal round to advance the market access negotiations.

During this round, the United States and TPP countries made substantial headway toward a key goal of developing the legal texts of the agreement, which include commitments covering all aspects of their trade and investment relationship.

Recognizing the priority of this negotiation as well as the challenge of negotiating a regional agreement with nine countries, each country began showing the type of flexibility that will be needed to successfully conclude the negotiation.

As a result, the teams were able to narrow the gaps in their positions on a wide range of issues across the more than 25 chapters of the agreement.

The seventh round will be held during the week of June 20 in Vietnam, and, as in Singapore, this round will be extended to give negotiators the opportunity to further advance their work. The TPP countries are seeking to make as much progress as possible ahead of the APEC Leaders' meeting in November in Honolulu.

The cost of ground transportation for Canadian shippers, meaning the base rates charged by truckers, has dropped for the fourth consecutive month in December, while Fuel Surcharges assessed by carriers rose to the highest level in over 2 years, according to results published by the Canadian General Freight Index (CGFI).

The CGFI Total Freight Cost Index decreased by .4% in January compared to December, while the Base Rate Index, which excludes the impact of fuel surcharges assessed by carriers, decreased 1.5%. The CGFI is still 2.5% above the April low point and 1.8% above last year's result for the same period.

Average fuel surcharges increased substantially for the fourth consecutive month from their September low of 13.0% to 16.3% in December.

"The increase in fuel surcharges is continuing to offset the decreases in base rates being charged by carriers", commented Doug Payne, President of Nulogx, the CGFI's sponsor. "As fuel prices continue to increase we envision escalating transportation costs in the coming months for Canadian shippers" continued Mr. Payne.

According to the seventh annual Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) Survey, 47 per cent of air carriers reached or exceeded an 'excellent' rating compared to 32 per cent last year.

The survey, which measures carriers and airports on specific criteria and ranks these to identify above or below average performance in individual areas, is conducted by Air Cargo World. Carrier ratings are determined by freight forwarders and airport ratings are determined by airlines.

This year's result "indicates a significant improvement in standards, undoubtedly triggered by increased competition in the face of economic pressures", according to Steve Prince, publisher of Air Cargo World. "The ACE Survey provides a benchmark for the industry with quantifiable customer feedback on key performance measurements."

Cargo handling airports rated highest overall by airfreight carriers in the one-million-or-more tonnes category were Memphis in North America, Amsterdam in Europe and Singapore in Asia.

Top rankings for airports with smaller freight capacity were Oakland, Denver and Orlando in North America; Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig and Frankfurt Hahn in Europe; Santiago and Campinas in Latin America; Osaka in Asia; and Abu Dhabi and Tel-Aviv in Middle East & Africa.

Oakland's performance improved significantly this year, with an overall performance rating of 116, up from 94 in the 2010 ACE Survey. Leipzig's overall rating also jumped from 94 last year to an impressive 119, tying for top spot in its regional tonnage category.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics announced that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico was 19.5 percent higher in January 2011 than in January 2010, reaching US$67.7 billion.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico in January 2011 was actually up 42.7 percent in two years from January 2009, which at $47.5 billion had the lowest amount of trade of any month since January 2004.

Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones and other. In January, 85.1 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land, 10.7 percent moved by vessel and 4.3 percent moved by air.

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $40.3 billion in January, up 17.8 percent compared to January 2010. Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in January with $5.0 billion.

U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $27.5 billion in January, up 22.1 percent compared to January 2010. Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in January with $9.6 billion.

Contract negotiations between the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada were set to resume today in Vancouver with the assistance of Federal Mediator Bill Lewis.

Substantive progress was achieved by the parties during previous meetings but negotiations stopped on March 16 as the ILWU bargaining committee had to withdraw temporarily due to scheduling conflicts.

The contract covering longshoremen along British Columbia's coast ports expired on March 31, 2010.

Neither side has given the mandatory written 72 hour strike or lock-out notice and as such, a lawful work stoppage cannot occur.

According to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy, the Organization now risks failing to deliver the breakthrough needed in April in order to conclude the Doha Round negotiations this year, jeopardizing the world economy and the most vulnerable countries.

"Now is the time for all of you, and in particular those among you who bear the largest responsibility in the system, to reflect on the consequences of failure," he said in an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, which oversees talks in the various subjects, and which he chairs.

He urged members "to reflect on the costs of the non-Round to the world economy as well as to the development prospects of Members, in particular the smaller and least-developed which are more dependent on an improved set of global trade rules.

"And above all, it is time to think about the consequences of the non-Round to the multilateral trading system which we have so patiently built over the last 70 years. It is the time to think hard about multilateralism, which your leaders, yourselves and myself preach at every occasion. In politics, as in life, there is always a moment when intentions and reality face the test of truth. We are nearly there today."

Delegations broadly echoed his concern, some arguing that progress is still possible provided members show the political will to produce give and take.

Mr Lamy said gaps remain too wide in a range of issues for the negotiating group chairs to produce the revised draft negotiating texts that members have agreed should be produced by Easter.

He identified one issue as the biggest stumbling block at this stage: "NAMA sectorals". This is about proposals for major trading countries - including emerging economies - to allow duty-free or lower-than-normal duty on imports in particular sectors within the non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and Chicago O'Hare International Airport (O'Hare) signed a memorandum of understanding initiating bilateral cooperation as "sister airports".

The agreement outlines various areas of cooperation to build a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between two of the world's busiest airports in all aspects of aviation and its related businesses, such as exchanging expertise in dealing with customer service and sharing information on new technologies.

HKIA is among very few airports in the world that handle high volumes of passenger and cargo traffic. In 2010, the airport served 51 million passengers and 4.1 million tonnes of cargo. Over 95 airlines operate flight services at HKIA to and from about 160 destinations worldwide, including around 45 points on the Mainland.

O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport together comprise one of the largest and busiest airport systems in the world. O'Hare is the largest airport in the State of Illinois and the Midwest of the United States. It handles 67 million passengers and 1.57 million tonnes of cargo annually with flights to nearly 200 cities worldwide.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) published, on March 28, guidelines to provide information to importers and brokers in preparation for the elimination of itinerant carrier codes, applicable to all modes, on April 1, 2011.

Specifically, this will affect the process of obtaining release where an itinerant or 77YY carrier code would have been used for the creation of a Cargo Control Number (CCN) to facilitate the control of cargo and release processing.

Effective April 01, 2011 the CBSA will no longer accept generic itinerant carrier codes for any mode of transportation and all carriers must have and utilize a unique identifying carrier code. This includes carriers importing both personal and commercial goods to Canada.

The guidelines describe a "carrier" as: "a person or company who transports goods into Canada and can move goods by air, highway, sea, rail or international mail and who is compensated for these services."

According to the guidelines, "carriers arriving in Canada who do not have a valid carrier code will need to make arrangements to have the goods released at the the first port of arrival or in the case of highway importation, voluntarily return to the U.S."

There are exceptions for commercial goods carried by paying passengers onboard traveler's commercial conveyances (bus, taxi, plane, ship etc.) or by a driver of a "not for hire" non-commercial conveyance (i.e. personal vehicle or own company's vehicle).

The following is excerpted from the 24 March 2011 edition of The Journal of Commerce ”joc.com”.

All Japanese ports affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of the country on March 11 have now reopened, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The Port of Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture reopened on Thursday, becoming the last of the 15 major ports along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku and Kanto regions to become usable again.

The Ports of Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture and Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture reopened Tuesday and Wednesday.

The 15 ports are now usable for both disaster-related and ordinary purposes, the ministry said...

2011 Budget

The CSCB attended the Stakeholder's Lock-up, prior to the presentation of Budget 2011 by the Minister of Finance. Details from that budget that are of interest to members include the

introduction of three generic HS classifications with duty rates of 0%, 8% or 20%, depending on the description of the goods.

- a reduction in the number of tariff items to facilitate the classification of imported goods and eliminate "end-use" provisions;

- making the Customs Tariff more user-friendly, including restructuring the List of Countries and Applicable Tariff Treatments to make the various tariff treatments more transparent; and

- revoking obsolete provisions such as those under Part 2, Division 4 (Special Measures, Emergency Measures and Safeguards) which can no longer be used.

The newly formed Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG) is taking shape as the four founding member associations have finalized and signed the basic principles of the Group. Air cargo security and e-commerce will be the Group's top priorities. The founding members are the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) and the Global Shippers' Forum (GSF).

The advisory group's role is to establish a vision and strategy for the global air cargo supply chain and to present joint industry positions to third parties, including inter-governmental organisations such as WCO and ICAO.

GACAG members have also agreed to address the issues of customs and trade facilitation and sustainability of the global air cargo industry.

FIATA, IATA, TIACA and GSF commenced the process that has led to the formation of GACAG last November at the TIACA Air Cargo Forum and Exposition in Amsterdam. The founding associations signed a letter of intent committing to work towards the formation of an industry advisory group to ensure the air cargo industry had a strong, unified voice in its dealings with worldwide regulatory authorities and other bodies whose decisions directly impact on air cargo.

Canada's two main railways have issued customer advisories as the significant snowfalls across the U.S. Mid West and the Canadian Prairies this past winter are likely to cause spring floodings.

Southern Manitoba in particular faces the possibility of significant spring flooding. This year's forecast calls for the highest water levels since 1997.

Railways have identified areas at risk of significant flooding near Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in Iowa.

Both railways are monitoring the situation and deploying equipment and personnel near flood zones in order to be ready to act to protect equipment and customer shipments.

The top 10 categories of intellectual property rights-infringing products seized by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2010 were footwear, consumer electronics, wearing apparel, handbags/wallets, optical media, computers/hardware, cigarettes, watches/parts, jewelry, and pharmaceuticals.

In an announcement tallying its fiscal year 2010 efforts to reduce the trade in stolen intellectual property, CBP reported a total of19,959 seizures, a 34 percent increase over 2009 numbers.

It was the fifth year in a row that footwear was the top product seized, accounting for more than 24 percent of the entire domestic value of rights-infringing goods.

China continues to be the number one source country for counterfeit and pirated goods seized, accounting for 66 percent or $124.6 million of the total domestic value of seizures, followed by Hong Kong at almost $30 million.

Jordan accounted for the third highest domestic value in 2010, due to several high-value seizures of cigarettes, followed by India where a lot of counterfeit pharmaceuticals originated.

The total domestic value of the fake goods seized by CBP in fiscal year 2010 totaled $188.1 million. The estimated manufacturer's suggested retail price, the value the goods would have had if they had been genuine totaled $1.4 billion.

The Federal Government launched the Rail Freight Service Review in 2008 to address ongoing issues with rail freight service and fulfil a government commitment as part of the 2008 process that amended the Canada Transportation Act.

The review was conducted by an independent panel of three persons. The panel consulted with stakeholders, received written submissions from across the rail-based logistics chain, and submitted its final report to the Minister of State (Transport) on December 22, 2010.

The government has now announced that it accepts the panel's commercial approach and its four key elements:

While accepting the recommendation to initiate a six-month facilitation process, the government will go further than the panel outlined in its report. The facilitation process will not only focus on developing a streamlined commercial dispute resolution process but also develop a template service agreement, in consultation with shippers, railways and other stakeholders.

Canada's two major railways expressed their opposition to what they call government plans for increased regulation to address shippers' concerns over rail freight service.

According to CN president and CEO Claude Mongeau, the "panel's recommendations are drifting backward toward more regulation instead of encouraging the current momentum for positive change.

The president and CEO of Canadian Pacific, Fred Green, said that additional regulation for relationships outside of commercial agreements is completely unwarranted.

While the railways were clearly unhappy with the prospect of stricter regulations, several industrial shipper groups were pleased with the announcement.

The Canadian Industrial Transportation Association, the Forest Products Association of Canada and the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada approve what they see as a re-balancing of the market power between the buyers and sellers in the rail freight market in Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in coordination with other government and international partners, is closely monitoring the situation.

Rigorous controls and tracking systems are in place for imported food, plants and livestock, and additional actions will be taken as necessary to protect the integrity of Canada’s food supply.

Q2. Will the CFIA start testing food from Japan for radiological contamination?

Japanese products currently available for sale in Canada were shipped prior to the earthquake and, therefore, would not have been affected by radiological contamination resulting form the Japan nuclear situation.

Given the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami, products are not being shipped from Japan. Once exporting resumes, the CFIA, in consultation with partners and international authorities will assess any potential risk associated with Japanese food, plants and animals. Measures, such as testing may be implemented as warranted to assure that Canada's food supply remains protected.

Q1. Is testing for radiation in food a normal practice of the Government of Canada?

As part of Health Canada’s total diet study, the government collects information on normal background levels of radionuclides in food. The total diet study is a survey of contaminants in food and is an important tool used to estimate Canadian’s exposure to contaminants through the food supply.

In fact, Canada is one of the only countries in the world that includes the measurement of levels of radionuclides as part of a national total diet study. This information gives us a very good idea of the normal levels of these materials in food, and will allow us to be much better prepared to respond to situations such as the one currently underway in Japan.

Since the Total Diet Study in 2000, Health Canada has been evaluating levels of radionuclides in food on an annual basis. All results to date have indicated extremely low background levels of radionuclides, below the limits of our testing technology.

The study provides us with baseline data; since any results above that detection level would be clearly noticeable.

Q3. What is the detection limit of the Total Diet Study, and would levels above that limit represent a risk to Canadians?

Currently, the tests used as part of the total diet study can detect radionuclides as low as 2 becquerel per kg. This is an incredibly low level.

Our ability to detect contaminants in food is constantly improving. We can now test for microscopic levels of contamination that would not have any impact on the health of the consumer. This is why it’s important to consider not only the substance, but also the amount we are exposed to before knowing whether there is a risk.

In this case, even if we detected a level slightly higher than our detection levels, it would not necessarily mean that there was a risk to Canadians. It would depend on the level found, what food it was found in and how much of that food Canadians eat.

Health Canada has implemented what are called action levels for radionuclides in food, which can be applied during a radiation related emergency. The action level is applied to specific radionuclides based on the risk they represent and are significantly higher than the detection limits used.

The CODEX Alimentarius, an international scientific organization focussed on food additives and contaminants has also established recommended limits for specific radionuclides in food which are consistent with Health Canada’s action levels.

Testing for radiation in food is a complicated process that is only conducted in a laboratory setting. For the total diet study, samples of foods are collected and prepared as they would be eaten in the home (cooked vs. raw, cooking methods etc).

Once the food is prepared, samples are taken and are tested for the various contaminants that the total diet study measures.

In the case of radionuclides, the samples are sent to a specialized laboratory in the Radiation Protection Bureau of Health Canada where radiation experts use specific equipment to detect targeted radionuclides of concern that may be present in the food.

The total volume of agri-food imports from Japan to Canada was approximately $42.6 million in 2010.

Japan's share of Canadian food imports is very small - less than 0.3 % of food entering Canada.

According to an annual survey of the North American softwood lumber industry, the single most important event that occurred in the industry in 2010 was the surprisingly strong growth of lumber exports to Asia (mainly China and Japan). This created the spark that lit the market at the beginning of 2010 and pushed lumber prices to a peak in April 2010 not seen since May/June 2006.

While the average annual FOB mill price for one thousand board feet of lumber was only US$181/Mbf in 2009, it jumped to US$255/Mbf in 2010 an incredible year-over-year gain of 41%!

Output of the 13 western Canadian companies in the top 20 was up by an average of 30% in 2010, versus the seven eastern Canadian companies that expanded their production by an average of 15%.

As western North American lumber producers look toward Asia, there is a sense of optimism that hasn't been seen in the industry for several years. It is expected that lumber output volumes in 2011 will exceed 2010 production levels. For mills in the rest of North America that can't take advantage of Asian markets, they will have to be patient and wait for the anticipated recovery in the U.S. housing market.

The survey is part of the WOOD Markets Monthly International Report, which has been published since 1996 by http://www.woodmarkets.com and provides analysis and forecasts on the North American and international lumber, panel and timber markets and industries.

The following is from the 16 March 2011 edition of the “American Shipper”.

Many U.S. wood pallet makers say they are ready for requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that will require all wood pallets moving between the countries to be treated in line with international standards against wood-eating pests.

“It’s coming,” said Bruce Scholnick, president and chief executive officer of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Wooden Pallet and Container Association, in an interview. “Heat treating is a well regarded and effective instrument against non-native invasive species.”

The elimination of the U.S.-Canadian bilateral agreement on wood pallets was a key topic at the NWPCA’s annual conference in late February. “Our members are prepared,” Scholnick said.

On Dec. 2, 2010, APHIS proposed regulations to remove an exemption that allows wood packaging materials from Canada to enter the United States without first meeting treatment and marking requirements that apply to these materials from all other countries.

The agency said the action is needed to prevent the introduction and spread of pests via wood packaging materials from Canada.

In 2004, APHIS amended its treatment regulations for imported wood packaging materials, such as pallets, crates, boxes, and blocking and bracing, to correspond with standards established by the International Plant Protection Convention’s International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15. This standard requires these materials to be either heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide and marked with the approved IPPC symbol.

APHIS said the less restrictive requirements for Canadian wood packaging materials were initially based on the premise that U.S. forests share both a common boundary with Canada and, to a reasonable degree, the same forest pests. However, a recent agency risk analysis found there are unique forest pests and pathogens to Canada that have the potential to be introduced or reintroduced into the United States via the movement of untreated wood packaging materials.

Among the pests of concern for APHIS in the U.S.-Canadian cross-border trade are the brown spruce longhorned beetle, European oak borer, emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, European woodwasp, the fungus Ophiostoma tetropii, and vascular wilt.

CFIA agrees with APHIS on a need for a “harmonized approach” to ending the exemption from ISPM 15 on wood packaging materials moving between Canada and United States.

While APHIS has yet to set its final implementation date for the rule ending the ISPM 15 exemption for Canadian wood pallets, the agency said there will be a period of “informed compliance.” During this time, wood packaging material that is not treated will be allowed to enter. However, the carrier will be notified that the materials will be required to comply once ISPM 15 is fully implemented, which is expected after a period of 32 months, Scholnick explained.

“What is important for shippers to know is that during the ‘informed compliance’ period, if insect infestation is found, loads will either be refused or treatment required prior to entering,” said Gary Sharon, vice president of Litco International. “For companies shipping back and forth between Canada and the U.S., now is the time to convert to ISPM 15 approved export pallets and other packaging to avoid unnecessary costs and delays.”

Vienna, Ohio-based Litco, a member of NWPCA, manufacturers “presswood” pallets and packaging material, which meet the ISPM 15 requirements without heat treatment or fumigation.

Scholnick said it’s the association’s hope that eventually the federal government will require all pallets -- both those engaged international and domestic commerce -- meet the ISPM 15 standards. “APHIS needs to make the global standard the only standard, which would help get rid of these various state quarantines that currently affect the pallet industry,” he said. — Chris Gillis

The World Trade Organization (WTO) reports that the value of world merchandise trade was 17% higher in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the same period of 2009.

Comparing the fourth quarter of 2010 with the same period in 2009, the WTO reports that the region with the largest trade growth rate was South and Central America with exports growing by 25% and imports by 30%.

Asian exports rose by about 23% and imports by around 22% on a "year-on-year" basis.

North America's exports were up 18% while imports rose 16%, while Europe's progression was slower, with exports at 10% and imports at 11%.

The WTO will publish a more comprehensive analysis of the annual picture with statistics in volume terms, the latest trends and a forecast for the coming year in early April.

The Freight Carriers Association of Canada (FCA), which represents motor carriers engaged in for-hire trucking in the Canadian domestic market, and the North American Transportation Council (NATC), which represents Canadian and U.S. based motor carriers engaged in for-hire trucking in the North American transborder market have recommended rate increases to their members.

FCA has reviewed cost increases in Canadian labor and non-labor expenses (excluding fuel). Based on its analysis FCA is increasing the Canadian Domestic base rate scales they offer to the industry by 2.6% effective March 28, 2011.

NATC is increasing the cross-border rates they offer to the industry by 4.6% effective March 28, 2011. This increase is based on Canadian cost increases coupled with revenue need information from U.S. sources.

As the U.S. economy continued to recover in 2010, there was a significant increase in retail activity, especially during late November. And with greater amounts of shipments headed to stores, cargo thieves took advantage.

A wide array of product types was targeted, and 11 major commodities suffered sizable loss. Five categories accounted for 53% of cargo thefts that year: electronics at 17%; apparel and accessories at 10%; prepared food and beverages at 13%; base metals at 7%; and plastics and rubber products at 6%.

Consumer demand drives supply in the black market. With the increase in theft incidents, loss value grows. However, the most-targeted commodity does not necessarily suffer the highest aggregate loss in terms of dollar value. For example, electronics were the number one stolen item in 2010, but the dollar value of pharmaceuticals stolen was greater.

The information comes from CargoNet's first annual cargo theft summary report. The report is designed to provide a summary snapshot of U.S. cargo theft based on details from more than 1,700 incidents that occurred in 2009 and 2010.

In 2010 there were 1035 cargo theft incidents, a significant increase over 2009, when there were 700 thefts. For example, California had 2.4 times more thefts in 2010 than 2009 due, in part, to increased foreign trade between the U.S. and Asia.

Texas also had a significant increase in thefts in 2010, which can be attributed to an increase in logistics operations in the state.

Following a previous advisory on amended Transport Security Administration (TSA) cargo regulations, we have been in contact with the TSA and are pleased to advise you that we fully resume our cargo operations while maintaining a heightened level of security as required by these new measures.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and are very pleased to have arrived at a rapid resolution.

Should you have any further questions, your local Sales team will be glad to assist you.

Consequently the weight of all shipments travelling in vans and containers
must be reduced when departing from and returning to Québec.

European imports were higher on all trades compared to December 2010, except Australasia and North America according to London-based data aggregator CTS Ltd. Exports fared less well, slipping on all trades.

Imports into Europe from Asia grew year on year by nearly 17% and were 9% up on December. Exports on the other hand took a 6% drop from December.

After three successive months of growth in the last quarter of 2010, European exports to India and the Middle East recorded a significant 13% decline in December 2010. Conversely, imports grew by 7% compared with December 2010.

For the North America trade the third monthly decline in succession was recorded both for imports and exports. January was 1.2% down on December 2010 for Imports and 11% down for exports.

After two successive months of decline, imports from South and Central America to Europe recovered by 6% on December 2010. Exports continued to decline for the third month in succession with January down 9% on December 2010.

European imports plummeted 25% on the Australasia trade. Exports also dropped substantially by 17%. Both imports and exports for January 2011 were lower than for any month during 2010.

Directly from Air Canada Cargo Website

United States Transport Security Administration (TSA) Update

The U.S. Transport Security Administration (TSA) has issued an emergency amendment to security measures which will take effect March 10, 2011.

Given the short notice, it will not be possible for us to implement the necessary measures to ensure compliance and as a result, we are required to embargo all cargo flown to the U.S. effective March 10, 2011 until further notice. Shipments already accepted prior to this date will be carried to destination.

Discussions continue with TSA as well as other country security agencies to find ways to mitigate this situation as quickly as possible.

Additional updates will be provided as they become available. In the meantime, should you have any questions, your local Sales team will be glad to assist you.

We are doing our best to minimize disruptions to our operations and thank you for your understanding during this time.

A shortage of ocean containers could develop in the coming months as container manufacturing fails to keep up with growing vessel slot capacity according to Alphaliner estimates. The box-inventory-to-vessel capacity ratio will drop to 1.99 by the end of this year from 2.03 in 2010. This is the lowest ratio on record.

The number is far below the 2.99 boxes per slot of 2000. The ratio has been declining gradually during the last decade, due in part to the more efficient management of container equipment by carriers.

However, the financial crisis cause a significant drop in 2009 as carriers and leasing companies disposed of a large part of their older stock as utilisation levels fell.

The manufacturing of new containers was essentially halted in 2009 as demand fell. Only the production of reefer boxes and special equipment continued during that year.

Carriers were largely unprepared for the surge in demand that occurred in 2010, resulting in acute container shortages in the Far East. This prompted some carriers to accelerate the repositioning of empty containers from Europe and North America.

The container imbalance has stabilised since July, as the production of boxes took off again while the scrapping of older units was virtually halted. The fall in demand during the fourth quarter, following the end of the summer peak season, has also helped to bring back the balance.

While carriers look better prepared for the forthcoming summer season, the surge in new box prices could dampen additional orders for new containers.

Upon closing fiscal year (FY) 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a few facts outlining the various functions and achievements of the organization:

CBP officers at more than 330 ports of entry inspected 352 million travelers and more than 105.8 million cars, trucks, buses, trains, vessels and aircraft.

CBP processed $1.99 trillion in import value and collected $32.3 billion in duties, taxes, and fees - increases of 15.8 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, compared to FY 2009.

CBP completed more than 3,200 validations of members of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a voluntary government-business initiative to strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. border security.

CBP responded to 1,600 reported trade violations received through e-Allegations-a web-based system that facilitates public reporting of alleged trade violations-a 60 percent increase over FY 2009.

CBP completed 379 audits of importers and related parties, resulting in the collection of nearly $23 million in revenue.

CBP's Laboratories and Scientific Services evaluated 1,776 cases involving the possible importation of products with serious safety issues including antibiotics in honey, flammability of children's wear, cadmium in children's jewelry, and the importation of mislabeled food products.

CBP initiated nearly 3,700 import safety seizures during FY 2010, an increase of 34 percent over FY 2009; and nearly 20,000 seizures for intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, an increase of 34 percent over FY 2009.

CBP graduated 117 CBP officers, 1,215 Border Patrol agents, 48 agriculture specialists, 88 import specialists, 112 Air and Marine agents, 31 entry specialists and 62 regulatory auditors from training.

CBP has deployed more than 1,500 canine teams throughout the nation, including more than 300 new teams, for human/narcotic detection, search and rescue, agriculture detection, and currency/firearms detection. The Canine Program also increased training partnerships with other agencies, including with the Government of Mexico.

At yesterday’s meeting of the BCCC EDI-PARS subcommittee, the subcommittee addressed the issues of mandatory EDI for release and an increase to the number of HS lines required on a release request. Both these have been subjects of interest and advocacy for the CSCB for many years.

Following are some early key points from that meeting.

Mandatory EDI for Release

Currently, unless there is an identified exception, EDI must be used to request the release of goods when the total number of invoice lines is 100 or less.

The following dates for mandatory EDI have been suggested:

Effective September 2011, release requests must be submitted to CBSA via EDI if the total number of invoice lines is 250 or less.
Effective February 2012, release requests must be submitted to CBSA via EDI if the total number of invoice lines is 500 or less.
Effective June 2012, release requests must be submitted to CBSA via EDI if the total number of invoice lines is 999 or less.

Exceptions will continue to be allowed. In cases where there is no valid exception and EDI is not utilized, a B3 “C” type will be required.

Number of HS Lines

Currently CBSA requires a minimum of 5 HS lines to be shown on a release request.

The following dates for an increase in the number of lines are under consideration:

Effective September 2011, a minimum of 10 HS lines must be shown.
Effective February 2012, a minimum of 20 HS lines must be shown.
Effective June 2012, minimum of 100 HS lines must be shown.
HS on all line items will be required by January 2013.

For those circumstances where the HS code is unknown at the time of the release request, CBSA has proposed the use of a new HS to identify them. For these goods, additional information can be shown in the description field of the release request, such as the first four digits of the classification. These goods will be targeted for further review by CBSA, however, goods will not be unnecessarily detained.

Comments on the above can be sent to the CSCB at cscb@cscb.ca by Monday, March 14th.

The governments of the United States and Mexico announced that they had reached an agreement in principle to implement the long-delayed cross-border trucking provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The agreement upholds previous requirements for Mexican trucks operating on U.S. highways, notably that Mexican fleets apply for and receive authority from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; demonstrate they meet the same safety standards as U.S. fleets and that those trucks are prohibited from hauling freight between destinations within the United States.

Mexico has been imposing tariffs of 10 percent to 45 percent on U.S. goods including vegetables, wine, juices, sunglasses and toothpaste following the 2009 cancellation of a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks into the U.S.

"We'll lower 50 percent of tariffs to all the products, horizontally, once the agreement is signed," said Mexican Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari at a press conference. "The 50 percent remaining will be lifted once the U.S. grants the first authorization to operate to a Mexican truck," he said. The tariffs affect $2.4 billion worth of goods, the White House said on March 3.

The trucking accord should be signed by June and Mexico expects the first truck to the enter the U.S. in four months.

The owner of an antiques cooperative Massachusetts was sentenced to 33 months in prison for illegally importing and trafficking in Narwhal tusks and Sperm Whale teeth, the Department of Justice and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) announced this week.

He was found guilty by a Boston jury on eight counts including conspiracy, Lacey Act violations and smuggling for buying and illegally importing Sperm Whale teeth and Narwhal tusks into the United States, as well as selling the teeth and tusks after their illegal importation.

The market value of the teeth and tusks illegally imported and sold was determined to be between $200,000 and $400,000.

Sperm Whales are listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Narwhals are listed as "threatened" under the ESA, and are listed on Appendix II of CITES. It is illegal to import parts of either the Sperm Whale or the Narwhal into the United States without the requisite permits/certifications, and without declaring the merchandise at the time of importation to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Alphaliner reports that carriers are facing increasing pressure on margins as rising fuel prices, coupled with weakening freight rates, have resulted in operating losses on a number of key trade lanes, including the Far East-Europe trade.

Bunker fuel prices have jumped by 24% since January and are at the highest level in 29 months. Meanwhile spot freight rates have dropped by 14% over the last eight weeks, with the rates to North Europe now at $1,200/teu compared to $1,400/teu at the end of last year.

Spot rates recorded from Shanghai has dropped by 37% from their peak in mid-July of last year when rates hit $1,900/teu.

Bunker fuel surcharges which range from $530- 680/teu for Far East-North Europe shipments in March could rise to over $700/teu if bunker prices remain at current levels.

This would leave the base freight rate (excluding surcharges) at only $500/teu if spot rates fail to strengthen over the coming weeks. This is "well below" the estimated $600-$800 per 20-foot box required to break even on the Far East-Europe trade, according to Alphaliner.

The ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) said it is moving closer to having to advise seafarers to consider avoiding working in all the areas affected by Somali pirates' criminality - including the Indian Ocean.

The global union federation, which numbers 201 maritime trade unions representing 720,000 seafarers worldwide, took the step after a week-long consultation sparked by the increasing number and range of Somali pirate attacks, and by their now routine use of extreme violence and death threats against the 800 mariners they are currently holding hostage.

The ITF also endorsed the need to neutralise the threat of the captured, hostage-crewed motherships that are allowing pirates to roam the Indian Ocean unmolested, recommended the carrying of military guards on ships, and recognised the use of private armed guards, subject to certain conditions.

ITF seafarers' section chair Dave Heindel commented: "The world has lost control of piracy. Each day it's becoming more savage and more widespread. All the Arabian Gulf and most of the Indian Ocean are now effectively lawless. Yet there is a way that control can be regained: by actively going after pirates, stopping them and prosecuting them. Not this ludicrous situation of taking away their guns and setting them free to strike again."

These latest move by the ITF reflect growing concern or even disgust across the shipping industry that pirates are being allowed to endanger lives, kill and put a stranglehold on vital trade routes almost at will.

The ITF, BIMCO, the International Chamber of Shipping, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and InterManager have already warned that 'ship owners and their crews will be re-evaluating their current determination to ensure that this vital trade route remains open - over 40% of the world's seaborne oil passes through the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The shipping industry will be looking at all possible options, including alternative routes, which could have a dramatic effect on transport costs and delivery times.

Members of the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) at the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have ratified a new contract by 82 per cent in a series of cross country membership meetings that took place over the last two weeks.

The new four years agreement, which extends to the end of 2014, includes increases in wages, benefits, retirement incentives and language improvements around work rules and skilled trades.

CAW Local 101 represents 2,100 shopcraft (skilled trades) workers at CP. A tentative agreement was reached on February 5 as the two sides were facing down a strike deadline of February 8.

CAW National President Ken Lewenza offered his congratulations to the bargaining committee for their hard work in securing a deal that was overwhelmingly approved by members at CP. "This was a challenging round of negotiations and I believe the deal we reached with CP makes important improvements in the work lives of our members," said Lewenza.

Hello my name is James Eaglesham. I have been a proud employee of ROE logistics for the past 3 years. They have been nothing but supportive and generous by sponsoring me on this journey I am about to embark on. I am training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's Team in Training.

My training is getting harder and harder every week that goes by. I am getting up early on Saturday mornings to train in this crazy cold weather, sometimes I don't think I can go on but then I think of why I am doing this and another gear kicks in. The farthest I have ran so far is 8km. My ½ marathon is going to be 21.1 km, on May 29th, 2011. OH MY GOD I don't want to think that far ahead yet. lol. Please support this great cause by clicking on my link below and donating as little as you want. Anything will help. http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2864791&Lang=en-CA

Here are some statistics you can be apart of making bigger if you just donate a small portion of the money in your wallets.

British Columbia's Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands, Pat Bell, announced that, for the first time ever, China is the number-one overseas destination for B.C. lumber in terms of value as well as volume.

B.C. lumber exports to China for 2010 are valued at about $687 million, more than double the value of shipments in 2009 and, for the first time ever, exceed the value of softwood products shipped to Japan.

December 2010 broke all previous monthly export records with about 667,000 cubic metres of softwood lumber shipped at a value of about $107 million. This was more than all of 2003.

Of the 20.8 million cubic metres of lumber exported last year, 22 per cent went to China and 59 per cent was shipped to the U.S.

Provincial governments are publishing their seasonal/spring weight restrictions for truck transportation. The restrictions limit the total weight of trucks, and their cargo, to protect roadways made fragile by the transition from winter frost to spring thaw. In Quebec for example a 5-axle tractor-semi-trailer will have its maximum weight reduced from 41 500 kg to 36 500 kg during the thaw period. This also has an effect on the total admissible weight of containers.

Quebec's restrictions will start March 14th for "Zone 1" and move to further north zones as the month of March progresses.

New Brunswick will start March 6th in the south and expand to the north on March 13.

British Columbia's restrictions evolve with the province's coastal climatic conditions.

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is pleading with governments and politicians for solutions to the dangers of badly prepared shipping containers.

The ITF is backing and participating in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Dialogue Forum on Safety in the Supply Chain in Relation to Packing of Containers, being held in Switzerland this week.

The Forum is the first truly worldwide examination of the safety problems linked to overloaded, badly packed or inadequately secured freight containers, and those carrying undeclared dangerous goods.

ITF general secretary David Cockroft explained: "At their best containers are a key link in the world supply chain, at their worst they are a danger to the lives of workers and the public. Their use across transport sectors - lorry, port, rail, ship - makes this of particular relevance to the ITF and its transport worker members. We're therefore delighted to see the ILO recognising the need for debate."

"So far, best practice and self regulation have failed to stop the worst kind of incidents, and we're therefore recommending that international mandatory instruments be developed that guarantee that those handling and moving containers are informed of their weight, state of packing, stowage and securing, as well as their centre of gravity and whether or not any fumigants or dangerous substances are present."

The ILO states that: "Many accidents in the transport sector are attributed to poor practices in relation to packing of containers, including the overloading of containers. This has caused major concern particularly because the victims can be the general public, transport workers, or their employers, who have no control over the packing of containers.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said this week it is concerned that there could be serious disruptions at the land border unless industry is given adequate time to prepare for the impending rule changes governing treatment of wood packaging materials (WPM) moving between Canada and the United States.

Currently international standards requiring treatment and marking stamps are applied to WPM entering the United States and Canada from third countries but the rules are not applied against WPM used for Canadian or U.S. origin goods moving across the border. This exemption is set to be progressively removed.

According to a written submission by CTA to the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), CTA argued that enforcement should not begin "until APHIS and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), working with industry, are satisfied that there are enough WPM compliant pallets in circulation to meet the demands of Canada - US trade."

This recommendation was echoed by the Government of Canada in its own submission, where it was noted that "a shortage of treated WPM available to business and shippers in Canada and the U.S. would have serious consequences for Canada -U.S. trade and North American competitiveness." The federal government went on to argue that "Canada urges the U.S. to delay full enforcement - until at least 2013."

According to the US Department of Agriculture, there are 320 million pallets used each year in transporting Canadian goods into the United States.

As announced at the end of last year, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) are moving forward to remove the current exemption for wood packaging being shipped between the two countries, as outlined in the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) No. 15.

This standard requires wood packaging to be heat-treated or fumigated with methyl bromide. Wood packaging moving between Canada and the continental United States has been exempted from this requirement because it was thought that existing pest-specific regulatory controls were providing sufficient protection.

With a number of invasive species being introduced into the two countries, the CFIA and the USDA-APHIS have jointly agreed to begin enforcing the international standard.

Canada and the United States are working together on implementation of the standard, including a phased-in approach based on consultation processes in each country.

A December 2011 memorandum said both countries are aiming for full implementation of ISPM No. 15 for wood packaging material as early as the summer of 2012.

Canada announced that it would be taking action against the European Union (EU) ban on seal products by requesting the establishment of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel on this issue.

"The Government of Canada remains committed to defending Canada's sealing industry," said the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Ottawa began formal action against the European Union's ban on seal products in a request for World Trade Organization consultations in November 2009.

These consultations, which took place on December 15, 2009, failed to resolve the matter and the European Union then published, on August 17, 2010, additional measures outlining how the ban and the exceptions to it would be implemented.

On August 19, 2010, one day before the ban came into effect, Canada announced that it would request the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel, as soon as possible, to rule on the European Union ban on seal products.

On October 18, 2010, Canada requested follow-up WTO consultations with the European Union on the additional measures published on August 17, which outlined how the European Union ban on seal products and the exceptions to it would be implemented.

The follow-up consultations were held on December 1, 2010 and again failed to resolve the matter.

Statistics Canada reports that the country's merchandise exports rose 9.7% to $37.8 billion in December, led by a 16.5% gain in volumes of energy products.

Energy products accounted for over half the growth in the value of exports, followed by industrial goods and materials, which reached a record high. Notable increases were also recorded in exports of machinery and equipment, agricultural and fishing products as well as forestry products.

The value of imports edged up 0.7% to $34.8 billion. Import prices rose 0.4%, following four months of decline, while volumes increased 0.3%.

All import sectors except other consumer goods posted gains in December. The main sources of growth were energy products, agricultural and fishing products as well as automotive products.

As a result, Canada's trade balance with the world went from a deficit of $115 million in November to a surplus of $3.0 billion in December, the first trade surplus since February 2010.

On the strength of energy products, exports to the United States rose 10.8% to $26.7 billion, the highest value since November 2008, while imports were up 2.3%. Consequently, Canada's trade surplus with the United States increased from $3.0 billion in November to $5.1 billion in December, the largest trade surplus since October 2008.

Exports to countries other than the United States increased 7.3%, the sixth consecutive monthly gain, while imports declined 1.9%. Canada's trade deficit with countries other than the United States declined from $3.1 billion in November to $2.1 billion in December.

Serial No. 787
Date: January 27, 2011

1.0 Purpose

1.1 The purposes of this Notice are:

a) to inform importers of the Minister’s policies and practices respecting the administration of the 10,000,000 kilogram (kg) per year tariff rate quota (TRQ) for milk protein substances (MPS) with a milk protein content of 85% or more by weight, calculated on the dry matter, that do not originate in a NAFTA country, Chile, Costa Rica, or Israel. It should be read in conjunction with the Import Allocation Regulations and the Import Permit Regulations. Where elements of the present Notice augment these Regulations, those elements are to be read as expressions of the Minister’s normal practices and procedures;

b) to inform importers of the 10,000,000 kg TRQ for MPS for the period of April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012:

(i) 6,500,000 kg is reserved for eligible historical end users, as defined in section 6.1(a);

(ii) 1,000,000 kg is reserved for eligible new entrant end users, as defined in section 6.1(b);

(iii) 2,000,000 kg is reserved for eligible historical non-end users, as defined in section 6.1(c); and

(iv) 500,000 kg is reserved for eligible new entrant non-end users, as defined in section 6.1(d);

c) to invite applications for the 8,500,000 kg TRQ available for allocation to eligible historical importers for the period of April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012;

d) to invite applications for the 1,500,000 kg TRQ available for allocation to eligible new entrants for the period of April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012;

e) to inform importers of the 10,000,000 kg TRQ for MPS for the period of April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013:

(i) 7,000,000 kg will be reserved for eligible historical end users, as defined in section 6.1(a);

(ii) 1,500,000 kg will be reserved for eligible new entrant end users, as defined in section 6.1(b);

(iii) 1,000,000 kg will be reserved for eligible historical non-end users, as defined in section 6.1(c);

(iv) 500,000 kg will be reserved for eligible new entrant non-end users, as defined in section 6.1(d);

f) to inform importers of the 10,000,000 kg TRQ for MPS for the period of April 1, 2013 onward:

(i) 7,500,000 kg will be reserved for eligible historical end users, as defined in section 6.1(a);

(ii) 2,000,000 kg will be reserved for eligible new entrant end users, as defined in section 6.1(b);

(iii) 500,000 kg will be reserved for eligible new entrant non-end users, as defined in section 6.1(d);

2.0 Coverage

2.1 This Notice replaces Notice to Importers No. 763 dated February 17, 2010. It refers to Item 125.2 of the Import Control List, milk protein substances, that are classified under tariff items No. 3504.00.11 or 3504.00.12 in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Customs Tariff; namely milk protein substances with a milk protein content of 85% or more by weight, calculated on the dry matter, that do not originate in a NAFTA country, Chile, Costa Rica, or Israel.

2.2 This Notice should be read in conjunction with Notice to Importers No. 783 dated November 2, 2010, which describes the Minister’s policies and practices concerning supplemental imports of dairy products.

2.3 Importers who require a determination as to whether the tariff classification of the product they intend to import is within the scope of this Notice are to contact the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Tariff Division at 613-957-1468, fax: 613-952-3971.

This Notice is available in its entirety on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website at:
http://www.international.gc.ca/controls-controles/prod/agri/dairy-laitiers/notices-avis/787.aspx?lang=eng

Important information concerning the elimination of carrier code "77YY"

With the implementation of eManifest in the highway mode beginning on October 31, 2010, the generic itinerant highway carrier code "77YY" will no longer be accepted for commercial cross-border activity. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will assign a unique carrier code that will become a legislated requirement for all carriers.

To prepare carriers and drivers currently using code "77YY", a transition period will begin on May 1, 2010, until the final elimination of code "77YY" on March 31, 2011.

For further information on the process for obtaining a carrier code, visit the Commercial Carriers section of the CBSA Web site or call the Border Information Service:

From within Canada – toll free:		1-800-461-9999
United States – long-distance charges apply:	East West	506-636-5064 204-983-3500
TTY within Canada – toll free: (for those with hearing or speech impairments)		1-866-335-3237

For more information about eManifest, visit the CBSA Web site at www.cbsa.gc.ca

Over the past two years most ocean liner carriers have implemented to various degrees the practice of slow steaming by which the normal service speed of ships is reduced in an effort to reduce bunker fuel costs which account for a high proportion of ship operating costs.

Slow steaming is a complex issue with advantages and disadvantages for both carriers and shippers depending on trade conditions and commodity transported.

Although ocean carriers initially took these measures in response to severely depressed international trade conditions caused by the recession, slow steaming also is used to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in response to new environmental initiatives and concerns.

While a good deal of commentary and analysis have appeared in the trade press regarding the benefits that carriers derive from slow steaming services, information about how this practice has affected American exporters and importers is limited.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has decided to request public comment on the effects of slow steaming practices on ocean liner operations, shippers' supply chains and their underlying businesses, capacity availability, container availability, ocean freight rates, fuel surcharges, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The unrest in Egypt is causing several disruptions to the country's supply chain, however various media report that through traffic in the Suez canal is moving apace, under the watchful eye of the Egyptian military.

The waterway, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, handles about 8 percent of global seaborne trade.

Shipping lines using the canal said they had no plans to divert vessels at this time. It is expected that Suez will remain open and the only foreseen problem would be that canal workers may have difficulties getting to work.

The canal was previously closed for four months in 1956-57 and for eight years from 1967.

The purpose of this notice is to confirm that February 1, 2011 marks the end of the twelve-month transition period leading up to the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) implementation of a strengthened commercial importation process respecting goods contaminated with soil and/or related matter (soil).
Goods contaminated with soil are not admissible into Canada. Non-compliant goods will be refused entry and ordered removed from Canada at the first point of arrival (FPOA) under the authority of the Plant Protection Act and the Health of Animals Act.
Under highly regulated circumstances, however, and where operational capacity exists, goods contaminated with soil may be allowed to be cleaned within a CBSA-controlled environment at the FPOA by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)-approved mobile wash facility. Alternatively, these goods may be allowed to proceed by a bonded carrier to a CBSA-bonded facility within the existing urban environment of the FPOA for cleaning by a CFIA-approved wash facility, provided such action will not result in the introduction of soil into the environment. Where the above-mentioned conditions cannot be met, the goods will be refused entry and ordered removed from Canada. Note: Plants and plant products are not eligible for remedial action.
The client is responsible for all associated costs – including the inspection, handling, transportation, storage, cleaning, and/or disposal of contaminated goods.
The CFIA is responsible for establishing the policy regarding the importation of goods contaminated with soil. The CBSA is responsible for administering and enforcing that policy to the extent it applies at the border.
This strengthened approach is in line with the CBSA's existing commercial processes and procedures, as well as the CFIA's policy regarding the importation of goods contaminated with soil. It further ensures that the CBSA maintains appropriate control over the contaminated goods, thereby preserving the safety and security of Canada and Canadians.
Inquiries and comments about this notice should be directed to:

Food, Plant and Animal Program
Programs Branch
Canada Border Services Agency
Telephone : 613-957-6868
Fax : 613-946-1520
E-mail : fpa-ava@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

This memorandum has been updated to reflect changes to the Regulations for Determining the Country of Origin Goods Imported From a NAFTA Country for the Purpose of Specifying That Certain Goods be Marked and the Regulations for Determining the Country of Origin Goods Imported From a non-NAFTA Country for the Purpose of Specifying that Certain Goods be Marked.
The section titled Penalties has been added to reflect the authority to issue administrative monetary penalties for failure to comply with marking requirements.
Terminology has been updated to reflect changes in the Canada Border Service's Agency's (CBSA) organizational structure.
Paragraphs 38 and 39 were simplified to clarify proper procedures.
In Paragraph 47, there is new information on Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) for failure to mark goods.
In Paragraph 49, there is additional contact information.
Group 3's item 2, within Appendices A (Schedule I) and B (Guide to Schedule I), only applies to goods coming from non-NAFTA countries.
Item 6 (from non-NAFTA list) within Appendices C (Schedule II) and D (Guide to Schedule II) no longer shows the description of the tariff classifications mentioned within this section.
Item 7 (from the NAFTA list) of Appendices C (Schedule II) and D (Guide to Schedule II) no longer shows the description of the tariff classifications mentioned within this section.
Appendix F – Regional Contacts – is updated.

Dockers and port workers are set to stage a four-day nationwide strike on Friday, Jan. 28, continuing the long-running dispute over pensions and working conditions.

The dockers will walk out on Friday and Sunday and other port workers, including crane operators, will stay off the job on Saturday and Monday.

The strike will will halt mainly container traffic and bulk shipments but will not affect oil traffic and passenger ships.

In observance of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, most factories and offices in mainland China will be closed from February 2, 2011 to February 8, 2011, and in Hong Kong from February 3, 2011 to February 5, 2011.

Several factories and offices close a few days earlier and reopen a few days later to allow workers to travel to and from home.

Delays are expected in all modes of the shipping industry throughout the Holiday.

The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) has dropped plans to strike at the Canadian National Railway (CN) on January 25, 2011 after reaching tentative contract agreements with the company early this morning, following a 48-hour marathon negotiation session.

The new contract has the full support of the CAW master bargaining committees, comprised of four different bargaining units. According to the company, the settlements contain progressive provisions that would help CN retain and attract skilled employees critical to its workforce in the years ahead.

Full details of the tentative agreements are being withheld pending ratification, which the CAW expects to complete before the end of February, 2011.

The CAW represents approximately four thousand workers in four distinct bargaining units at CN and CNTL (a subsidiary of CN) - mechanical, clerical/intermodal, excavator operators, and owner-operator truck drivers.

The Port of Halifax reports a return to growth in 2010 as the world economy continued to improve. Halifax's containerized cargo growth rate has also kept pace with competitor ports around North America.

The port authority announced that containerized cargo volume growth (measured in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units - TEUs) was strong, with total throughput of 435,461 TEUs versus 344,811 TEUs in 2009, an increase of 26.3%. Compared to 2008, the port's containerized cargo grew by 12.4%.

With the exception of bulk cargo, every cargo category (containerized, breakbulk and roll-on/roll-off) realized growth this year. The continued sluggishness in bulk cargo throughput was due to the weak U.S. economy which showed less demand for oil and gypsum.

Breakbulk cargo increased by 23.7% in 2010 compared to year-end 2009, primarily because of an increase in machinery and metals imports and forest products exports.

Ro/Ro cargo increased by 15.9% to 264,779 MT in 2010. This was due to an increase in automobile imports and exports through the port.

The following is excerpted from the 21 January 2011 edition of The Journal of Commerce ”joc.com”.

Canadian imports are slowing, but accelerating exports give ports a reason to grow

Canada came out of the gate last year with stronger economic growth than its huge neighbor to the south, so its ports benefited from trade volume that rebounded from a mostly dismal showing in 2009.

Import volume benefited from a surge in capital investment by Canadian companies. But toward the end of last year and moving into 2011, growth slowed sharply, dampening prospects for import growth. Although the Canadian dollar has strengthened considerably, export growth is expected to accelerate as economic growth picks up in the U.S. and in emerging markets in Asia that are buying a growing, though still small share of Canada’s exports.

The only problem with the brightening outlook for exports is that the composition and destination of exports highlights a more troubling long-term trend in Canada’s trade position. The country is exporting fewer manufactured goods to the U.S. and more commodities to the rest of the world. Like the U.S., which counts wastepaper as its single largest commodity export, Canada appears to be working its way down the value-added chain and exporting more resource-based inputs into production of goods elsewhere in the world. Wood pulp and wastepaper now account for 13.9 percent of Canada’s total exports, closing the gap with exports of motor vehicles and parts, mostly to the U.S., which account for 17.3 percent of total exports.

Canada’s exports to China more than doubled from 2000 to 2010 and now account for about 2.7 percent of the total. “It’s a relatively small proportion of our exports, but it is a growth area,” said Dawn Desjardins, assistant chief economist of the Royal Bank of Canada.

The U.S. still represents by far the largest market for Canadian exports, absorbing an approximately 79 percent share, according to Desjardins. “Since most of our exports go to the U.S., it really does matter,” she said.

Still, that share is the lowest since the early 1980s before the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement. It’s also down from the average 86.3 percent in the 2000-04 period. Canada’s exports to the U.S. increased 11.9 percent in value last year, measured in Canadian dollars.

Desjardins expects Canadian exports in dollar terms to increase 9.1 percent this year, up from 6.2 percent growth in 2010, based on projected 3.4 percent U.S. economic growth. “We’re looking at increased exports of autos and auto parts because of the increased pace of auto sales in the U.S.,” she said.

Canadian imports increased 13.4 percent in Canadian dollar terms.

“We saw our investment cycle kick in, and we are big importers of capital goods,” Desjardins said. But she expects import growth to slow to 7.7 percent this year, “reflecting the fact that we have already had this big surge in capital investments. So we’ll have somewhat slower demand on that side of the equation.”

Container throughput at Vancouver, Canada’s biggest port, soared beyond forecasts in 2010, increasing an estimated 17 percent, “so we’re right back at numbers that approximate the peak in 2007-2008,” said Peter Xotta, vice president of planning and development at Port Metro Vancouver. The final numbers for the year aren’t out yet, but throughput should come in at about the peak of 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units it hit before the Great Recession took hold.

But the outlook this year is for slower growth, back to the 5 to 6 percent range.

Fueling the port’s exports were Asian demand for Canadian grain, coal and forest products. “China is becoming a consumer of all manner of agricultural products, and it’s a major market for us,” Xotta said.
Forest products exports, while strong in both container and breakbulk shipments, would have been even stronger if not for the shortage of container equipment that afflicted West Coast ports. Imports of Asian products for Vancouver’s target markets in Toronto and Montreal were strong, as were imports bound for the U.S. Midwest, which accounts for about 5 percent of the port’s total import volume. Imports bound for the U.S. increased to 150,000 to 170,000 TEUs from 100,000 TEUs previously.

The strong growth was helped by the completion of a third berth at Vancouver’s Deltaport Terminal early last year, and by agreements on new performance levels with Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways. The port plans to add intermodal capacity enhancements around Deltaport and is considering more infrastructure developments in Roberts Bank by 2020. The port also is working with British Columbia’s provincial government and the federal government to invest C$750 million in 18 road and rail projects that will speed rail freight movement by eliminating street-level rail crossings by 2014.

Canada’s newest container port, Prince Rupert in British Columbia, saw no slowdown in growth. Container throughput there increased almost 30 percent last year to 343,366 TEUs. The port’s total tonnage of containerized and bulk cargo jumped 35 percent...

Prince Rupert is predominantly a destination for North Asian imports that CN transports from the dock to Chicago and Memphis, but export volume to Asia is growing, reflecting the overall increase in Canadian exports of such primary materials as agricultural products, forest products and plastics. The port totaled 149,000 export TEUs last year, of which laden exports were 63,000 TEUs, up 63 percent from 2009...

The port is assessing the environmental impact of Phase 2 of its expansion plan, which will boost capacity from 750,000 TEUs now to 2 million TEUs. Maher Terminals and CN, the port’s principal operators, will determine if and when the expansion proceeds, depending on volume growth. Meanwhile, the port authority is exploring ways to boost effective capacity through investments in new cranes, a second berth and increased rail capacity.

Montreal, Canada’s biggest East Coast port, also expects solid growth in container volume this year after 2010 throughput climbed 6.8 percent to 1.3 million TEUs. The port’s overall tonnage increased 5.7 percent to 25.9 million tons. Tony Boemi, vice president of growth and development at the Montreal Port Authority, said the port is forecasting 7 to 8 percent growth in container throughput this year. “We were forecasting that we would get back to our peak of 2008 by 2013,” he said. “We have now advanced those forecasts to reach those levels in the early part of 2012.”

Montreal’s growth isn’t coming from new liner services but from the increase in Asian import volume Mediterranean Shipping Co. is transshipping onto smaller vessels at its hubs at Freeport, Bahamas, and at Algeciras, Spain.

Boemi said another source of growth is increased trade with Latin America, “the biggest new market for us.” He said the port’s exports of base commodities to Asia are increasing, as are imports of consumer products from that region.

The port recently completed a new common gate for three of its four container terminals, which will automate the truck movements...

The port’s annual capacity is now 1.6 million to 1.8 million TEUs. “The improvements plus our optimization plans will drive the capacity up to 2 million to 2.2 million TEUs,” he said.

The port also is considering plans to expand the existing Contrecoeur Terminal and is conducting an environmental impact study.

At Halifax, container throughput increased 26.3 percent last year to 435,461 TEUs, compared with 344,811 TEUs in 2009. “A lot of the growth came from organic growth spread equally across our customer base,” said George Malec, vice president of business development and operations at the Halifax Port Authority.

The port is targeting its marketing on exports of Canada-grown pulse foods — high-protein peas, beans and lentils — to rapidly growing markets in Turkey, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Throughput grew in 2010 from the addition of the port’s second direct string from Asia, the joint Asia-Express service between MOL and the CKYH alliance. In addition, CMA CGM added a call on its Black Pearl service, the first direct Canadian container service connecting with the west coast of South America.

But 2011 doesn’t look quite as good. “We’re still cautiously optimistic about getting back to previous levels, but the growth in 2011 won’t proceed at the same velocity as 2010,” Malec said. “There’s likely to be a softening of the growth curve. The recovery is still under way and quite fragile.”

The port is preparing for future growth, however. Halifax will complete the C$35 million expansion of the Halterm Terminal by next January, adding a second post-Panamax berth. It also is undertaking a C$60 million redevelopment of the breakbulk terminal at Richmond Terminals, which will give it a new berth that may accommodate roll-on, roll-off vessels.

Alphaliner reports that container ship capacity is expected to grow by an average annual rate of 8.7% over the next two years, with 1.26 million TEU due to be added in 2011 and 1.33 million TEU in 2012, based on Alphaliner projections. These figures follow the 1.20 million TEU which have been added to the fleet in 2010. This level of capacity addition remains a key concern for the industry.

The fourth quarter slowing in demand has started to hurt carriers' load factors and Alphaliner's estimates of vessel utilization levels on the Far East-US and Far East-Europe routes dropped to only 80% in December, the lowest levels recorded since May 2009. Attention must now be shifted to utilization levels in the next two months, as these will determine the direction of freight rates after the Lunar New Year celebrations in the Far East.

A large part of the new capacity added in 2010 was absorbed by the increased demand that was caused by the rapid economic recovery. Throughput volumes at the world's five busiest container ports grew by 18% on average in the first three quarters of 2010, but the average growth at these ports has slowed to 8% in the fourth quarter, with the trend towards slower growth likely to persist into 2011.

The European Union (EU) will soon introduce new regulations on the marketing of construction products, and more specifically on the labelling of hazardous substances.

Construction products containing hazardous substances will have to be clearly labelled as such, to protect the health and safety of construction workers and users of construction works.

Under the new regulation, the "declaration of performance" already required for every construction product will have to include information on hazardous substances, as required by the 2006 REACH Regulation, so as to make the contents clear to all potential users and ensure a high level of protection of health and safety.

In addition, the European Commission will draw up a report assessing the specific needs for information on these hazardous substances.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports that the number of pirate attacks against ships has risen every year for the last four years. Ships reported 445 attacks in 2010, up 10% from 2009. While 188 crew members were taken hostage in 2006, 1,050 were taken in 2009 and 1,181 in 2010.

"These figures for the number of hostages and vessels taken are the highest we have ever seen," said Captain Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre, which has monitored piracy worldwide since 1991. "The continued increase in these numbers is alarming.

"As a percentage of global incidents, piracy on the high seas has increased dramatically over armed robbery in territorial waters," said Captain Mukundan. "On the high seas off Somalia, heavily armed pirates are overpowering ocean-going fishing or merchant vessels to use as a base for further attacks. They capture the crew and force them to sail to within attacking distance of other unsuspecting vessels."

Hijackings off the coast of Somalia accounted for 92% of all ship seizures last year with 49 vessels hijacked and 1,016 crew members taken hostage. A total of 28 vessels and 638 hostages were still being held for ransom by Somali pirates as of 31 December 2010.

According to a survey by Export Development Canada (EDC) the country's exporters are less confident about their near-term prospects than they were last spring.

Peter Hall, EDC's Chief Economist reports that "trade confidence staged an impressive run that took it from the depths in the fall of 2008 to its highest level in eight years in the spring of 2010, thanks to a rebound in export sales and a resilient domestic economy."

EDC's semi-annual Trade Confidence Index (TCI) declined to 74.1 in the fall 2010 from 78.8 in the spring of 2010. While the decline is a setback, the TCI remains at a level that is consistent with positive growth in trade. However, the 4.7 point decline was in marked contrast to the three previous increases of 1.4 points (spring 2010), 8.9 points (fall 2009) and 7.5 points (spring of 2008). The fall of 2008 was the lowest point on record, with a score of 61.

The fall of 2010 survey showed a decline in all five elements of the survey, which gauge expectations for domestic sales, export sales, domestic economic conditions, global economic conditions and international business opportunities over the coming six-month period.

"For the most part, there is not much to cheer about in this report, with one key exception: in spite of their feelings about economic conditions, exporters were relatively chipper about global sales prospects," he said.

"Although slightly down from the last survey, 49 per cent of exporters expected increased near-term sales. Put these together with those expecting static sales performance and the number soared to 89 per cent. Most respondents cited growing demand for products and expansion into new markets as reasons for their sales optimism."

Volatile winter conditions from the past week in the mountain regions between Calgary and Vancouver have continued over the weekend and are forecasted to continue this week. CP’s winter plan is being fully executed and CP is working extensively with Parks Canada avalanche control teams to mitigate higher risk snow areas between Revelstoke and Lake Louise. In an attempt to remove snow from high risk areas, Parks Canada has fired an unprecedented number of explosive avalanche control rounds in the last few days which impacted the railway significantly. A large natural avalanche occurred at Three Valley, west of Revelstoke, and controlled avalanches were triggered at Ross Peak, Wakely and Illecillewaet, between Golden and Revelstoke. Snow removal crews are in place and clearing the tracks as soon as it is safe to do so. An additional four controlled avalanche shoots were planned in Rogers Pass area Monday night.

A high number of trains have been staged due to the outages and will be metered through the area as safe operations permit over the next week to ten days. Highways between Golden and Field, BC and between North Bend and Kamloops, BC have been closed since Friday due to significant snowfall, avalanches, snow control activities, and hazardous winter road conditions.

With more snow in the forecast, train plans could be further impacted. A service alert has been initiated from Calgary to Kamloops with anticipated shipment delays of 48 to 72 hours. As CP continues to manage operations between Calgary and Vancouver, traffic backlog in the Alberta and Saskatchewan corridors should be expected. In order to assist with timely recovery efforts CP will be carefully managing traffic volumes moving into their yards and terminals. CP will be working closely with customers on traffic destined into the affected areas.

In eastern Canada, heavy snowfall and low temperatures in Toronto and south-western Ontario are resulting in minor delays as snow removal crews work the network. All other areas of the network are experiencing normal winter conditions with the winter clean-up of the U.S network between Portal and the Twin Cities on plan. For specific shipment and problem resolution inquiries, please contact the CP Customer Service Team.

Unionized workers at Canada's two main railways gave their unions a strike mandate if labour talks fail.

The Canadian Auto Workers union announced last week that the strike deadline at Canadian National Railway (CN) is January 25, and the deadline at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) is set for February 8, after contracts expired December 31.

The union, which began talks in October, said it represents 2,100 mechanical services workers at CP and about four thousand employees at CN doing clerical, shopcraft, intermodal and truck driving work.

According to the union talks have been "challenging" with both railways, which are demanding concessions from workers, and negotiations on work rule, lifestyle, benefits and overtime issues are far from agreement.

Management at both railways have said they remain optimistic that they can reach agreements with their employees.

CN advised that, in the event of a strike or lockout, it has developed a contingency plan to operate the railway safely, and as efficiently as possible, with the objective of providing the best service to as many customers as possible under such circumstances.

CP advised that it has trained 1,200 managers and has a comprehensive contingency plan in place to fully operate the railway should a labour dispute occur.

Incoterms rules are standard trade definitions most commonly used in international sales contracts. Devised and published by the International Chamber of Commerce, they are at the heart of world trade.
Incoterms is short for "International Commercial Terms". The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) introduced the first version of Incoterms in 1936. The current version of Incoterms is called Incoterms 2010.

For an in-depth look at the 2010 Incoterms, please visit the Incoterms page on our website.

incoterms2010

Rules for any mode or modes of transport:
EXW - EX WORKS
FCA - FREE CARRIER
CPT - CARRIAGE PAID TO
CIP - CARRIAGE AND INSURANCE PAID TO
DAT - DELIVERED AT TERMINAL
DAP - DELIVERED AT PLACE
DDP - DELIVERED DUTY PAID

Rules for sea and inland waterway transport:
FAS - FREE ALONGSIDE SHIP
FOB - FREE ON BOARD
CFR - COST AND FREIGHT
CIF - COST INSURANCE AND FREIGHT

Dock workers at many of France's major harbors are staging more walkouts, since Wednesday, over issues of retirement age and the privatization of some facilities.

• Le Havre: Strike from Wednesday January 12th, 2011, 06:00 until Monday January 17th, 2011, 06:00, 5 day strike.

• Fos: Strike from Wednesday January 12th, 2011, 06:00 until Friday January 14th, 2011, 06:00, 2 day strike. Strike will most likely be extended to Friday January 14th, 2011, 20:00. Strike from Friday January 14th, 2011, 20:00 to Sunday January 16th, 2011, 20:00, 2 day strike.

• Marseilles (East Basin): Strike on Wednesday January 12th, 2011, from 06:00 until 20:00, 2 shifts are impacted for time being, situation is however likely to worsen.

Delays are to be expected, in both import and export shipments.

The Government of Canada announced the expansion of the country's air transport agreement with Algeria.

"We are pleased to announce that Canada and Algeria are expanding their air transport agreement. This demonstrates the strength of the relationship between Canada and Algeria and our growing commercial and tourism ties," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon after a bilateral visit with Algeria.

The new agreement will permit the number of weekly flights from Algeria to Canada to rise from two to three during the winter season, and from two to four during the summer season. These increases will help respond to the rapid growth in demand for air travel between the two countries.

Since the launch of the Blue Sky Policy in November 2006, the Government of Canada has negotiated expanded agreements with nine countries.

The air agreement with Algeria was first signed in 2006.

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) hopes to be able to export more grain than originally planned and has increased its 2010-11 export target by almost two million tonnes over mid-summer projections. However, the final tally will remain challenged by a lower-grade crop resulting from poor weather conditions during the 2010 growing season.

The Board has announced an export target of 17.4 million tonnes, down a million tonnes from the last two crop years.

"Grain prices have moved to relatively high levels, which is good news for farmers with grain in their bins," CWB Chief Operating Officer Ward Weisensel said. "However, the crop also presents a number of marketing challenges, as we work to familiarize customers with the positive intrinsic qualities of the grain produced on the Prairies this year."

This year's CWB marketing program targets exports of 11.8 million tonnes of wheat, four million tonnes of durum and 1.5 million tonnes of bulk barley.

Extremely wet growing and harvest seasons across most of the Prairies resulted in below-average production and quality for wheat, durum and barley. Production of the six major western Canadian grains was 42.3 million tonnes, down more than 20 per cent from 54.3 million tonnes last year. Spring wheat grades are the lowest since 2004, a stark contrast from the previous four years, when excellent crop quality resulted in at least three-quarters of the crop falling into the top two grades.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano met with the World Customs Organisation's (WCO) Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya met at WCO headquarters recently to discuss international efforts to ensure the security of air cargo and the global aviation supply chain.

Mr. Mikuriya and Mrs. Napolitano explored innovative ways in which the global Customs community and the U.S. Government could work in partnership to shore up the international trade supply chain.

Discussions also centered on the role of Customs in air cargo security, available WCO instruments and tools, measures to enhance cooperation, and the possible way forward.

Discussions on the issue were held recently, during the 64th Session of the WCO Policy Commission which took place in Shanghai, China in early December. These critical discussions resulted in the WCO issuing a Communique on Air Cargo Security which strongly advocates a partnership approach.

In this context the WCO will be working closely with ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and IATA (International Air Transport Association) in seeking ways in which air cargo, an important link in the global trade supply chain, can be furthered secured from future threats.

"Global trade is the foundation of global prosperity and any attempt to compromise or disrupt the global trading system requires a swift and concerted response from all international stakeholders," said Secretary General Mikuriya. "The international Customs community will be doing all it can to secure air cargo through a combination of measures including enhanced risk management, strengthened cooperation, wider intelligence and information sharing, further research, and supportive capacity building activities," Mikuriya added.

Total cargo handled in the port of Rotterdam in 2010 rose to 430 million tonnes, 11.1 % more than in 2009 and 2.1% more than in the previous record year 2008.

Total imports increased by 12% to 306 million tonnes, while exports rose by 9% to 124 million tonnes. Bulk was up by 11%, likewise containers/breakbulk. Coal throughput fell by almost 2 percent while agribulk remained stable. Other types of cargo showed an increase: ore and scrap (71%), other dry bulk (22%), crude oil (4%), mineral oil products (7%), other liquid bulk (8%), containers (12%), roll on/roll off (5%) and other general cargo (16%).

"This result is above expectations," said Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO. "This year throughput was particularly stimulated by the 15% growth in world trade and the flourishing German economy. In 2011, government cutbacks will be more strongly felt throughout Europe. On the other hand, Rotterdam will continue to feel and pass on the heartbeat of the world economy. I am therefore cautiously optimistic about throughput which I expect to grow by 2 to 3 percent to around 440 million tonnes".

Handling of containers improved by almost 12% in comparison with last year and at 112 million tonnes was once again the most important cargo category in Rotterdam. Growth in TEU (Twenty foot Equivalent Units) was back to "normal" increases this year (Rotterdam is also an empty container hub): up 14% to 11.1 million TEU.

Rotterdam further expanded its position in the quantitatively biggest trade route, the one between Europe and Asia. More and more ships of steadily increasing size are being used on this route and these are able to call at Rotterdam more easily than at competing ports.

Transhipment (directly related to deepsea ships) of cargo heading for the Baltic region also did well. Other transhipment regions are declining: the UK/Ireland as a result of competition from the English ports, while Spain/Portugal is showing a geographic shift.

British Columbia's Ministry of Agriculture reports that the province's agri-food and seafood industries exported $2.3 billion worth of goods, as of October 2010, including $206.9 million worth of domestic fruit and nuts, and $108.9 million worth of domestic vegetables.

Exports from the province's agri-food and seafood sectors increased over eight per cent in the first 10 months of 2010.

End-of-year estimates indicate B.C.'s producers will generate close to two per cent more in total livestock sales in 2010. The sale of lamb, eggs and honey are anticipated to rise in 2010 as a result of increased demand. Sales from crop and livestock commodities are estimated at $1.769 billion.

B.C.'s top agricultural trading partners include: the U.S., Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea, receiving over $2 million combined in agri-food and seafood products for the first 10 months of 2010.

Shanghai overtook Singapore as the world's biggest container port for the first time in 2010, handling 29.05 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units), according to an announcement by city officials.

The port handled about 500,000 TEUs more than Singapore last year.

The boost from the World Expo and the economic recovery helped the city's container and cargo throughput, officials said.

Shanghai's cargo throughput hit about 650 million tons in 2010, remaining the world's biggest. The city handled 590 million tons of cargo in 2009.

Shanghai's container throughput had totaled 25 million TEUs in 2009, the world's second-largest for that year.

This memorandum has been revised to reflect amendments to the Energy Efficiency Regulations; it outlines responsibilities of the Canada Border Services Agency and Natural Resources Canada and provides procedures for the control of importation of energy-using products.

To obtain the full document in an alternative format, please send a request to: publishing.publications@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

Full Document: PDF (290 Kb)
Last modified: 2011-01-06

Summary

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) assists Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) in the administration of the Energy Efficiency Act and the Energy Efficiency Regulations. This memorandum outlines the procedures for the control of importation of energy-using products. These regulations do not apply to personal importations.

References

Issuing office	Other Government Department Programs Unit Commercial Border Programs Division Border Programs Directorate Programs Branch
Headquarters file	68522
Legislative references	Energy Efficiency Act Customs Act
Other references	D22-1-1
Superseded memoranda D	D19-6-3, dated August 15, 2001

This guide, Other Government Departments and Agencies: Reference List for Exporters, lists some of the most commonly exported commodities that may require permits and/or certificates from other federal government departments and agencies.

The guide is available on CBSA's website at:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5131-eng.html

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners was 14.9 percent higher in October 2010 than in October 2009, reaching $70.6 billion.

The value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico rose 3.3 percent in October 2010 from September 2010. Month-to-month changes can be affected by seasonal variations and other factors. In October, 86.1 percent of U.S. trade by value with Canada and Mexico moved on land.

U.S.-Canada surface transportation trade totaled $40.7 billion in October, up 12.2 percent compared to October 2009. The value of imports carried by truck was 11.6 percent higher in October 2010 compared to October 2009, while the value of exports carried by truck was 13.7 percent higher during this period.

Michigan led all states in surface trade with Canada in October with $5.3 billion.

U.S.-Mexico surface transportation trade totaled $29.9 billion in October, up 18.8 percent compared to October 2009. The value of imports carried by truck was 17.2 percent higher in October 2010 than October 2009 while the value of exports carried by truck was 13.8 percent higher. Texas led all states in surface trade with Mexico in October with $10.9 billion.

As the strong recovery in freight volumes led ocean carriers to take on new tonnage over 2010 the 20 biggest container carriers have increased their operated capacity by 14% over the last 12 months. Alphatainer reports that the total capacity operated by the top 20 carriers has reached 12.3 Mteu compared to 10.8 Mteu as at January 2010 and 10.6 Mteu as at January 2009.

The share of the Top 20 carriers as a percentage of the global liner fleet has risen from 79% to 83%, as the large carriers' capacity additions outpaced the overall increase in liner capacity.

Over the same period, the top 20 carriers have also reduced their idled capacity from 740,000 teu or 6.9% of their operated capacity as at 1 Jan 2010 to only 136,000 teu currently or 1.1% of these carriers' operated fleet.

18 of the 20 carriers increased their operated capacity, with only NYK and K Line logging a decline in the last 12 months. Amongst the gainers, MSC recorded the largest increase, having added 375,000 teu to its fleet, a 25% increase.

The European Union (EU) published its final statistics for maritime port activity in 2009. The numbers show that Rotterdam and Antwerp remain the largest ports for cargo.

After growing steadily between 2002 and 2007, the total weight of goods handled in maritime ports in the EU27 remained nearly stable at 3.9 billion tonnes in 2008. It then fell by 12% to 3.4 bn tonnes in 2009 as the result of the economic crisis. As for the sea transport of passengers, the number of passengers embarking or disembarking1 in maritime ports in the EU27 has remained relatively stable at around 410 million since 2003. In 2009 it fell by 2% to 403 mn.

The EU countries with the largest total weight of goods handled in maritime ports in 2009 were the United Kingdom (500 mn tonnes or 15% of the EU27 total), Italy and the Netherlands (both 470 mn tonnes, 14%), Spain (360 mn tonnes, 11%) and France (320 mn tonnes, 9%). These five Member States all registered a decline of between 10% and 13% in 2009, in line with the EU average.

In 2009, the highest numbers of passengers embarking or disembarking in maritime ports were recorded in Italy (92 mn passengers or 23% of the EU27 total), Greece (88 mn, 22%), Denmark (44 mn, 11%), Sweden (31 mn, 8%), Germany (30 mn, 7%), the United Kingdom (28 mn, 7%), France (25 mn, 6%) and Spain (21 mn, 5%). For these Member States the change in the number of passengers between 2008 and 2009 ranged from -7% in Denmark and France to +2% in Italy and Germany.

Among the top ten cargo ports in terms of tonnes of goods handled, Rotterdam (350 mn tonnes weight of goods handled, -10% compared with 2008) was the largest port in 2009, followed by Antwerp (140 mn tonnes, -17%), Hamburg (90 mn tonnes, -20%) and Marseille (80 mn tonnes, -14%). All of the top ten ports showed decreases in the total weight of goods handled between 2008 and 2009, ranging from -1% in Amsterdam to -20% in Hamburg.

Dover (13 mn passengers, -5% compared with 2008) was the largest port in terms of the number of passengers disembarking or embarking in 2009, followed by Paloukia Salaminas and Perama (both 13 mn, -2%).

A study prepared for the Asian Development Bank Institute demonstrates how China's trade surplus is probably over stated, using using the productions of one of today's star cell phones as an example.

In the paper, the authors use the iPhone as a case to show that, under the current trade calculation system, even high-tech products invented by United States companies will not increase U.S. exports, but on the contrary exacerbate the U.S. trade deficit.

Apart from its software and product design, the production of iPhones primarily takes place outside the U.S. Manufacturing iPhones involves nine companies, which are located in China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taipei,China, Germany, and the U.S. All iPhone components produced by these companies are shipped to Foxconn, a company from Taipei, China, for assembly into final products and then exported to the U.S. and the rest of the world.

In 2009 the iPhone contributed US$1.9 billion to the US trade deficit with China. However, most of the bilateral deficit associated with iPhone trade did not originate in China as Chinese workers contributed a very small portion of the value-added to an iPhone sold in markets. The decomposition on the production costs of the iPhone shows that it costs only US$6.50 per unit to assemble all parts and components into a ready to use iPhone. The assembly cost accounts for merely 3.6% of the total manufacturing cost (e.g., the shipping price).

According to the Bank's study, the imported components from other countries greatly inflate the export value, and if iPhone exports from China to the U.S. were calculated based on the value-added contributed by Chinese labor, i.e., the assembling cost, the value of China's iPhone exports to the U.S. would be much smaller, at only US$73.5 million. Accordingly, the trade deficit associated with iPhone trade would also drop substantially.

The study concludes that unprecedented globalization, well organized global production networks, repaid development of cross-country production fragmentation, and low transportation costs all contributed to rational firms such as Apple making business decisions that contributed directly to the US trade deficit.

Global production networks and highly specialized production processes apparently reverse trade patterns: developing countries such as China export high-tech goods-like the iPhone-while industrialized countries such as the U.S. import the high-tech goods they themselves invented. In addition, conventional trade statistics greatly inflate bilateral trade deficits between a country used as export-platform by multinational firms and its destination countries.

The Antwerp Port Authority reports that, by the end of this year, the port of Antwerp is expected to have handled 178 million tonnes of freight, up 13% from the recession year of 2009. The increase is mainly due to container freight, which has once more passed the 100 million-tonne mark and indeed set a new record!

The container volume rose by 17.8% to 102,775,000 tonnes. In terms of TEU it was up by 16.1% to 8,483,000 TEU. Ro/ro for its part also increased, by 14.8% to 3.6 million tonnes.

Liquid bulk also performed very well in 2010, setting an all-time record just like containers. The other side of the coin is conventional/breakbulk, which although it did better than in 2009 still remains below the 2008 level. Despite this Antwerp remains the leading breakbulk port in Europe, although this position has been coming under increasing pressure lately.

The volume of bulk freight is trending up once more, up 7% on the previous year. Both liquid bulk (up 4.8%) and dry bulk (up 12.0%) recorded growth figures. Liquid bulk has even performed better than in 2008, having expanded by 5.4 % since then.

Crude oil (up 20.67%) and chemicals (up 18 %) are the absolute top performers in this segment. While dry bulk has done better than in 2009 (up 12%), it still lags well behind its 2008 level (down 28.8%). The volume of coal handled continues to decline (down 16.3%). The volumes of ore (up 19.5 %), grain (up 14.5 %), fertilisers (up 56.8%) and sand and gravel (up 22 %) are all rising once more.

The number of seagoing ships calling at Antwerp has risen once more: in 2010 there were 14,750 calls, an increase of 6.0%. The gross tonnage also rose, by 8.5%, to 288,950,000 GT. The figures show that Antwerp is further strengthening its position as the second-largest container port in Europe.

Weekly North American rail traffic posted strong gains over 2009 for the pre-holiday week ending Dec. 25, 2010, with U.S. freight railroads originating 256,098 carloads, up 29.3 percent compared with the same week last year. The Association of American Railroads also reports that intermodal traffic for the week totaled 177,249 trailers and containers, up 25.1 percent compared with the same week in 2009, with container volume up 24.2 percent and trailer volume up 29.9 percent.

Carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 33.3 percent compared with last year. In the West, carload volume was up 27.2 percent compared with the same week in 2009.

For the first 51 weeks of 2010, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 14,580,055 carloads, up 7.3 percent from last year, and 11,115,442 trailers or containers, up 14.3 percent from the comparison week in 2009.

Canadian railroads reported volume of 67,334 cars for the week, up 21.5 percent from last year, and 39,108 trailers or containers, up 28 percent from 2009. For the first 51 weeks of 2010, Canadian railroads reported cumulative volume of 3,729,258 carloads, up 16.9 percent from last year, and 2,408,743 trailers or containers, up 15.7 percent from last year.

Mexican railroads reported originated volume of 12,948 cars, up 20.8 percent from the same week last year, and 5,656 trailers or containers, up 3.6 percent. Cumulative volume on Mexican railroads for the first 51 weeks of 2010 was reported as 701,439 carloads, up 18.1 percent from last year; and 347,909 trailers or containers, up 22.3 percent.

Combined North American rail volume for the first 51 weeks of 2010 on 13 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 19,010,752 carloads, up 9.4 percent from last year, and 13,872,094 trailers and containers, up 14.7 percent from last year.

An extensive program was launched in 2010 by the Port of Seattle to register newer, cleaner drayage trucks that access its container terminals. Beginning January 1, all drayage trucks must adhere to new Clean Truck Program Guidelines to enter Port of Seattle Cargo Terminals.

So far, nearly all trucks have the required "Green Gateway" sticker, and terminals have not had any unusual back-ups, or longer lines. Port staff were available on site for any last minute registrations.

The program was designed to support the goals of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, which aims to lower emissions from all sectors of maritime operations. So far, over 5,929 trucks and over 1,100 trucking companies/truck owners are registered in the Drayage Truck Registry.

Trucks with engines older than model-year 1994 may be eligible for a $5,000 incentive through a special program which continues until the end of January.

Due to the increasing possibility of a strike at Canada Post, we ask that all our customers refrain from sending cheques via Canada Post after Monday June 30, 2011. There is a distinct possibility that those cheques will not be delivered, and may be trapped in “limbo” for an unspecified period of time.

For those customers to whom ROE has provided terms, we can accept payment via VISA, AMEX or MASTERCARD. Alternatively, payments can be sent to ROE via courier, electronically transferred, or wired.* Please note that you are required to maintain your account within your applicable terms in order that there is no interruption of our deliveries to you.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause. Hopefully Canada Post and their union employees can reach a settlement before the deadline.

Please feel free to contact your salesperson or customer service representative if you require any further information.

On Saturday, 23 April 2011 the Shanghai Transportation & Port Administration Bureau has released an announcement confirming to adjust certain fees and costs which was the cause for the strike initiated local trucking companies. At this point we do not anticipate any further disruptions and consequently delays once any remaining backlogs are cleared.

Please kindly be advised that the strike action in SHA has begun as of 10 am this morning, April 20, 2011.
Hundreds of strikers and several trailers were placed on the road in front of the port terminal gate to stop the traffic.
These actions were taken to protest the domestic fuel expense increased and the high handling fees charged by port
terminal operators, e.g. doc fee, container lift on/lift off fee.

Delays in receipt of export containers may result in possible knock-on effects to sea freight with possible delays or rollovers from carriers.

At this early stage we have not been advised which specific containers are affected.

If you require further information please contact your dedicated account manager.

Container shipping lines in the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CTSA) have called for a General Rate Increase (GRI), effective May 1, 2011.

Effective May 1, 2011, member carriers in the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (CTSA) say they intend to raise Asia-Canada rates across the board by US$400 per FEU for Vancouver local and door cargo, and by US$600 per FEU for all intermodal and East Coast all-water shipments, with other equipment sizes rated per formula. The new rates will apply to all CTSA origins, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

GRI for cargo destined to Vancouver (not moving inland on rail):
USD $320.00/20ft
USD $400.00/40ft
USD $450.00/40ft HC
USD $505.00/45ft
USD $8.00/CBM (LCL)

GRI for all other Canadian destinations:
USD $480.00/20ft
USD $600.00/40ft
USD $675.00/40ft HC
USD $760.00/45ft
USD $12.00/CBM (FCL)

CTSA is a discussion forum of 10 major container shipping lines serving the trade from Asia to ports and inland points in Canada. Members include:

American President Lines, Ltd. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line)
COSCO Container Lines, Ltd. Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K. Line)
Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan), Ltd. Orient Overseas Container Line, Inc.
Hapag Lloyd AG Yangming Marine Transport Corp.
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd. Zim Integrated Shipping Services

Celeste Hill
ROE Logistics Inc.
Client Services Manager / Responsable, Services à la clientèle

10340 Côte de Liesse #210, Lachine, QC H8T 1A3
Tél: (514) 636-8880 ext. 246| Cel: (514) 833-7822
Fax: (514) 636-3888
www.roelogistics.com

ROE Logistics Inc.
10340 Cote-de-Liesse Suite #210
Lachine, Québec H8T 1A3

In order to further optimize our services, PLEASE NOTE that Effective Monday, April 4th, 2011 our two Montreal offices (Cote-de-Liesse and Bridge Street locations) will be merged. As of this date,
we will all be located at the ROE Head Office location.
THE NEW ADDRESS WILL BE:

ROE Logistics Inc.
660 rue Bridge St.,
Montreal, QC H3K 3K9

Please note that our email addresses, telephone (and extensions) as well as our fax numbers will remain the same.

We kindly request you to make the necessary changes in your files and to inform your colleagues.
We look forward to working with you from our amalgamated location.
Thank you!

Several factories and offices close a few days earlier and reopen a few days later to allow workers to travel to and from home.

Delays are expected in all modes of the shipping industry throughout the Holiday.

Please be advised that our office will be closed on Wednesday, 26th January
2011 on account of national holiday (Republic day).
We will resume to work on 27th January 2011.

Survival Rates (ages 15-99)	1960	2006
Leukemia	10%	46%
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma	33%	56%
Hodgkin Lymphoma	30%	84%
Myeloma	6%	31%