Michael S. McDaniel, Editor & Publisher, Countryman & McDaniel,
forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.
- EU
Hits DP ......... as
the European Commission has affirmed a formal
suit filed by UPS in 1994 that Deutsche Post is setting predatory prices,
cross-subsidising its commercial products with revenue from its monopoly
services & creating an unfair & unlevel competitive playing field.
The
decision found Deutsche Post abused its dominant market position in Germany
by offering special rates to mail-order companies in exchange for sending
all
parcels of a certain size with them & also that it shipped packages for
special customers at below cost prices since 1995. As a result of the EC
ruling, UPS called on the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to act quickly to
revoke a foreign air freight forwarder license granted to DHL Worldwide
Express, which is owned by the Deutsche Post. The ruling included a US$21.6M
fine & might result in a separation of DP's monopoly letter mail
services &
its competitive parcel business that compete directly with the private
sector.
- Monopoly
Extended........ as
the Germany says it plans to extend
the domestic letter monopoly of Deutsche Post AG through 2007 from 2002.
The
plan requires parliamentary approval & would prolong Deutsche Post's
exclusive delivery license in a market that accounts for the majority of the
company's income.
- Cheaper China ......... as
it has initiated a new round of tariff
reductions effective Jan. 1, 2001, covering a total of 3,462 items, or 49%
of
all tariff items in China. The reduction represents another significant
tariff concession made by China in anticipation of its WTO accession. As a
result of this latest move, China's average tariff rate came down from 16.4%
to 15.3%. Categories of goods include animal products; plant products;
plant,
animal & consumer oil products; food, drinks, alcohol, vinegar and
tobacco;
mineral products; chemical products; plastics and rubber products; paper and
paper products; garments & textiles; shoes, hats, umbrellas, feather
products, artificial flowers and hair products; decorative stone, plaster,
cement, glass and china; pearls and precious stones; low-price metals and
metal products; machinery and electronics products; vehicles and aviation
&
navigation equipment; clocks, watches, musical instruments, optical
instruments and precision instruments; arms &
ammunition; & fine art.
- U.S. Customs Wants Informed
Compliance .......... as it
believes that
to improve custom broker compliance with import regulations & processes
it
must better communicate those problem areas to the industry. "By
looking at
your data in the aggregate -- by sharing that data with you -- we can more
effectively address minor issues before they mutate into bigger
problems,"
said Charles Winwood, acting commissioner of Customs at the National Customs
Brokers & Forwarders Assn. of America annual conference in San Francisco
this
month. Customs launched its broker account management prototype last July.
Eleven brokers of various size & location have volunteered for the test.
By
using its existing system, Customs generates reports that show these brokers
where they're experiencing problems in their import entry work. They can
then
focus on correcting these problems to better comply with Customs' import
rules & processes. "This is not a gotcha program," said D.
Lamar Witmer,
import specialist/broker management at Customs. "It's informed
compliance to
the max." The program also helps Customs focus on where its inspectors
may be
either deficient or overzealous in their monitoring of broker activities.
"We're getting our people trained," said Mike Craig, chief of
Customs' Broker
Management Branch. Jacob Holzscheiter, VP of customs for A. N.
Deringer,
based in St. Albans, Vt., and an early participant in the prototype, said
this should help to create a "unified compliance program" for all
his
company's offices. David Katzman, of C.H. Powell Co. in Westwood, Mass.,
described the broker account prototype as a "good experience."
"This to me is
a true partnership," he said.
Customs'
Office of Strategic Trade also announced a new program, the "Filer
Assistance Information Report" (FAIR), which similarly promotes the
agency
working together with the broker industry to correct import entry filing
problems. FAIR will be rolled out in April & expanded to ports with the
highest levels of broker-related discrepancies, said Thomas J. Mattina,
director of Customs' Strategic Trade Center in Plantation, Fla. "The
FAIR
program will allow filers to correct revenue neutral classification errors
without importer involvement," said Jeffrey C. Saum, Int'l trade
specialist
for Customs' Office of Strategic Trade. Participating brokers will receive
periodic "report cards" from Customs to raise awareness of
discrepancies,
such as revenue-neutral classification errors.
The attorneys of Countryman & McDaniel are members of the National
Customs
Brokers & Forwarders Assn. of America & attended the San Francisco
conference.
-
Must
Sell To Play? ...... as the TNT Post Group (TPG) in Amsterdam is
considering selling the Dutch division of TNT Int'l if this proves to be
necessary to obtain permission from the European Commission for a joint
venture with British Post Office & Singapore Post. In Brussels there are
fears that the alliance of the 3 post companies will occupy a dominant
position in the Int'l market for outgoing post. Brussels is particularly
concerned about the markets in the UK & the Netherlands. The new
company, to
be known as 'Delta,' will specialize in handling Int'l post in the business
sector. An annual turnover of US$400M is seen from Europe, North and South
America & Asia/Pacific.
-
Canadian
National Gets Wisconsin Central......... as the two rail giants have
approved a merger agreement under which CN will acquire all of the common
stock of WCTC for US$1.2B in cash valued at US$17.15 per WCTC share.
Wisconsin Central's North American railroad system comprises Class II and
Class III railroads with approximately 2,850 miles of track and trackage
rights in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan's Upper Peninsula &
Ontario. On another rail note, despite continued growth in intermodal
traffic, the 3.6% decline in U.S. rail car loadings in Dec., following the
3.9% Nov. decline, reinforces the notion that the economy has quickly
developed downward momentum.
-
Mexican
Trucks Finally Coming? ......... as Mexican Economy Secretary
Luis Ernesto Derbez said Mar. 7 that Mexico & the U.S. remain in
discussions
on the full opening of the U.S. borders to local trucks. He hopes the issue
will be resolved within the next 10 to 30 days. Currently, Mexican trucks
are
limited to commercial zones along the border. Such zones run from 2 to 20
miles inland from the border. The access issue was put on hold by the
Clinton
Administration, which was concerned over truck safety issues. However,
Mexico
claimed that U.S. position amounted to an "economic embargo."
Mexican
trucking bosses have estimated that as a whole, Mexico has been forced to
forego potential earnings totaling US$200B since 1995, when U.S. authorities
-- under the provisions of NAFTA -- were supposed to have opened the border
to Mexican trucks, allowing them to carry freight throughout the U.S.
-
Mexican
President Joins The Union! ......... as Ernesto Zedillo Ponce
de Leon, president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, was elected to Union Pacific
Corp.'s board of directors this month. "His vast knowledge of economic
&
trade issues will help to guide our growth strategy across our entire rail
network in the years ahead," said Dick Davidson, chairman & CEO of
Union
Pacific Corp. UP said it provides the largest rail transport link with
Mexico, operating at 6 border gateways. The railroad's Mexico revenues
increased 19% last year to a record US$850M.
-
U.S.
Intermodal Flat Lined In 2000 ......... as the Intermodal Assn.
of North America said intermodal loads in 2000 remained level with those in
1999. Intermodal loads were down 295 to 1.67 million, based on reports from
16 intermodal marketing companies. Intermodal revenues rose to US$2.13B in
2000, compared to US$2.11B in 1999. Highway truck loads dropped to 1.01
million in 2000 from 1.10 million in 1999. Truckload revenues dropped to
US$892.3M in 2000 from US$916.8M in 1999.
-
Holt
Group Bankrupt ......... as the N.J. based container shipping,
stevedoring, warehousing & trucking group, has filed for Chapter 11
protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, with
US$140M in debt.
-
Cool
Buy For P&O .......... as its subsidiary, P&O Cold Logistics,
has
entered the U.S. Northeast market through acquisition of the refrigerated
logistics assets of the Condyne Group. The purchase price was US$20M,
subject
to earnout over the next 2 years. P&O Cold Logistics will take over
distribution centers in Taunton & Avon, Mass., and a fleet of reefer
vehicles. Acquisition also includes the operation of a dry goods
distribution
center designed to serve an Int'l supermarket group. P&OCL's U.S.
capacity
now totals 73 million cubic feet of primarily temperature-controlled space
in
20 centers.
-
DP
Backs New "E's" ............. as Deutsche Post Ventures GmbH,
a
venture capital company of Germany's Deutsche Post World Net group, is
investing in 2 electronic business startups, Smartmission AG in Munich,
Germany & IQA AG in Küsnacht, Switzerland. Deutsche Post Ventures will
acquire a 10% stake in the Swiss technology company IQA AG and is to acquire
an undisclosed share in Smartmission AG. Smartmission specializes in supply
chain solutions for health care requirements. Apart from its financial
contribution, Deutsche Post World Net will be bringing its logistics
expertise to the partnership. IQA AG manages & updates customer data
with the
OK Customer Online Information platform of the Swiss market.
-
Phoenix
Int'l Taps FreightDesk ......... as the forwarder & broker,
has chosen the FreightDeskPro as it's collaborative software solution.
http://www.freightdesk.com
-
Strategic
Mergers - Or Safety In Numbers? ......... as the industry
shakeout wave continues with the following four:
Teleroute, one of Europe's leading online freight exchanges
& TransWide, an
EU logistics solutions provider for online supply chain management &
trading
platforms, have formed a partnership for B2B online logistics solutions.
http://www.Teleroute.com/en/index_en_mac.html
Arzoon, based in San Mateo, CA, a provider of software for networked
logistics solutions, has acquired From2, a provider of Web-native
trade
compliance solutions.
http://www.arzoon.com
3PLex,
based in Cambridge, Mass., a provider of Web-enabled transportation
solutions for 3rd party logistics companies, & Logility, an
Atlanta-based
supplier of business-to-business electronic commerce solutions,
have
announced a strategic alliance to expand 3PLex's services to
include
collaborative management.
http://www.3PLex.com/
Transplace.com,
a Dallas based online transportation logistics company, has
formed a strategic alliance with Transora, a Chicago-based B2B
electronic
marketplace for the consumer packaged goods industry, to provide
Web-based
logistics services.
http://Transplace.com/
-
They're
Conversant With Insurance ......... as new the Conversant
Group, Inc. is a consulting organization offering profit center development,
risk management analysis, & professional training to companies engaged
in the
Int'l trade & transportation industry -- with focus on freight
forwarders,
custom brokers, importers, exporters. "Our mission is to both inspire
&
educate the client to view cargo insurance & related liability coverages
as
an integral part of their business operations," said company president
Desiree M. Denoyer.
http://www.conversantgroup.com/
-
AES
Software ........... as Flagship Customs Services has received
U.S. Customs' certification of its new Internet application that allows
ocean
carriers & NVOCCs to file export manifests electronically to the
agency's
Automated Export System. The new "ready-to-use" application,
AES2000, offers
"a stable, convenient, & cost effective way to process their export
operations & manifest submissions to AES." AES2000 is available on
a service
center or in-house basis.
http://www.tradegate2000.com
-
Big
Apple HAZMAT Training ......... as the Foreign Commerce Club of
New York will hold a 1 day hazardous materials training course on April 18.
The course will cover CFR49 general awareness, use of the hazardous
materials
table & emergency response information. Attendees will receive a
"Certificate
of Training," valid for 3 years. Contact
Tony Demaria at (718) 229-8106.
-
The
Evils of Tea ........ as in a bid to combat tea smuggling,
Pakistan will reduce import duties for the commodity. The government would
slash the import duty & other taxes to a new combined level of 15% from
the
current 25%.
-
Indian
Gold Rush ......... as the approaching marriage season matches
a sharp cut in import duty. The marriage season in India, the world's
largest
gold consumer, is in April-Jun, when demand will increase by 10% to 15%.