The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has issued the 2010 Customs tariff. Updates include deleting HTS numbers and making changes to the default and preferential duty rates. These changes affect the entire tariff.

Happy Holidays from Trade Agreements Blog! I will be out on vacation for the rest of the year.

Happy Holidays from Trade Compliance Blog! I will be out on vacation for the rest of the year.

Under the Domestic Animal Infectious Disease Control Law, Japan will impose an import prohibition on poultry products originating in South Korea. The following HTS chapters are affected: 01, 02, and 16.

The Trade Compliance Center has sent out some new updates via email:

Leading NVOCC Launches OWL360° to Offer Comprehensive Value-added Service to Customers

Management Dynamics, a leading provider of global trade management solutions, today announced that Ocean World Lines (OWL), a leading non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC), has launched OWL360°, an order, shipment and inventory tracking portal powered by Management Dynamics’ Supply Chain Visibility solution. This robust and flexible web-based solution allows OWL to provide comprehensive and timely data on purchase orders and shipments across all modes and trade lanes, enabling customers to analyze and improve their supply chain efficiency. Click here to read the full article.

The Panjiva Blog has a 2010 outlook article on global sourcing. Among their predictions for the coming year:

The BIS has announced that registration is now available for the upcoming Export Control Forum this February.

Automating the import supply chain today is complicated by new compliance regulations like Customs 10+2 and C-TPAT. In this interview with Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies magazine, VP Customs Compliance at Leggett & Platt discusses best practices for import compliance and for transforming a fragmented global procurement approach into a centralized global import process:

USA-ASIA

TSA members have announced the following Bunker levels, effective January 1 - January 31, 2010: $860/40' and $19/metric ton or cubic meter. The following Bunker formula will be effective through March 31, 2010: $348/40' container (WC), $689/40' (EC/Gulf).

In November, BBC's Box finished its year-long global journey and landed back in London with some new facts about its round-the-world journey, which I found to be a great illustration of the challenges we all face in our global supply chains. For example:

Hurray! The decades long trade fight over bananas has ended.

For those of you that have been following The Box, the story of a shipping container that the BBC has been tracking all over the world for the past 421 days, it's journey is about to come to an end. In 14 months, the Box traveled approximately 51,654 miles (the equivalent of 2.08 trips around the earth!), and carried cargo as diverse as whisky, bathroom scales and tins of cat food.

On Monday, the House voted to extend two trade programs for one more year, according to the Journal of Commerce. The General System of Preferences and the Andean Trade Preference Act will expire December 31st and have been enacted for several years.

BRAZIL

Updates have been made to both duty and IPI rates. The following HTS chapters are affected: 29, 84, 87.

Here's a cool story I found about two competitors working together for a greater benefit: Nestlé and Mars join forces in logistics collaboration. Nestle and Mars are sharing trucks to deliver combined loads of chocolate. In the past 11 weeks, over 60 loads have been combined, and approximately 7,500 miles of duplicate truck journeys have been eliminated. Not only to both companies save money by doing this, the overall environmental impact has been reduced. Big props to Nestle and Mars!

Here's a cool story I found about two competitors working together for a greater benefit: Nestlé and Mars join forces in logistics collaboration. Nestle and Mars are sharing trucks to deliver combined loads of chocolate. In the past 11 weeks, over 60 loads have been combined, and approximately 7,500 miles of duplicate truck journeys have been eliminated. Not only to both companies save money by doing this, the overall environmental impact has been reduced. Big props to Nestle and Mars!

FTC Announces Proposed Consent Agreement for Panasonic and Sanyo

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted proposed consent orders from Panasonic Corporation. The orders are designed to remedy the anti-competitive effects of Panasonic's proposed acquisition of 100% of the voting securities of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. Under the terms of the consent agreement, Sanyo will divest its assets relating to the manufacture and sale of portable NiMH batteries to FDK Corporation, a subsidiary of Fujitsu, Ltd.

More and more companies are becoming aware of the need for detailed metrics to track supply chain performance, according to a recent study done by the Georgia Southern University and the University of Tennessee on issues in transportation and logistics.

Taiwan has added and repealed import controls for garlic, meat, and meat products. The affected controls are inspection, import certificate, and import prohibition. The following HTS chapters are affected: 02, 05, 07, 16, 69, 70, and 85.

Logistics Management's 2009 Next Generation Supply Chain Virtual Conference sessions are now available on-demand. Topics include: the supply chain as a revenue generator, the 14th Annual 3PL study, Technology's role in the green supply chain, transportation management's role in the supply chain, and software as a service.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have created a free online tool, called Agriculture CARVER + Shock, which will allow farmers and producers identify vulnerable areas in their supply chains. Stephen F. Sundlof, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, is quoted in an American Shipper article about the new tool:

“This assessment tool helps the producer understand how someone intending to disrupt agriculture might think" ... “Producers can easily identify weak spots in their operation and receive practical advice on countermeasures they can put in place.”

To learn more about this online tool, or to download the software, please visit this website.

The World Shipping Council has launched a new informational website with the goal of providing the public a better understanding of the shipping industry. The website includes background info on the industry, benefits of liner shipping, challenges, testimonials, and additional resources.

Majority of Companies Still Lack Automation to Manage Global Supply Chains

Today, importers must deal with end-to-end supply chain accountability and are increasingly challenged to have visibility and control over their supply base and origin operations. Here is a short video gives a good overview of how GTM technology can help companies manage these complexities of going global by automating their inbound processes, improving regulatory compliance and attaining landed cost objectives:

Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions have been something that organizations have been turning to for a while, to manage various IT and operational functions in their organization. In a recent Logistics Management article, Software as a Service (SaaS): The versatile supply chain option, Adrian Gonzalez of ARC Advisory Group discusses some of the benefits of using SaaS.

The Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council recently did a survey on approximately 400 executives, many from companies worth more than $1B. They determined that while most organizations understand that supply chain collaboration should be a top priority, most have yet to achieve it.

Management Dynamics Releases New Trade Portals Product Line to Better Integrate Suppliers and Logistics Providers in Global Trade Management Processes

Management Dynamics, Inc., a leading provider of Global Trade Management (GTM) solutions, has announced the release of Trade Portals, a new product line to help companies extend purchasing, origin logistics, and compliance processes to their trading partners. By collaborating across a shared process with suppliers, forwarders, logistics providers and brokers, companies can reduce cycle time, lower supply chain execution costs, and better support compliance initiatives such as Customs 10+2. Read the full article.

Recent research shows that the average cost per Importer Security Filing is $30.* With large importers filing 5,000 ISFs or more per year, the cost of compliance totals to upwards of $150,000 and provides no ROI other than penalty avoidance.

In this short video, Ty Bordner, VP of Solutions Consulting at Management Dynamics discusses some of the strategic opportunities that ISF Compliance can present to an organization, including:

• Reducing the effort of complying with Customs 10+2
• Minimizing errors upon entry by linking to ISFs
• Eliminating manually re-keying data
• Preventing potential penalties of $5,000 per ISF
• Reducing broker fees (on average, $30 per ISF)
• Managing the import process with complete visibility from origin, through customs, to the final destination

*Source: American Shipper ISF Benchmark Study

New Modules for Supplier PO and Origin Management Improve Control Over Execution Processes and Allow Companies to More Easily Support Advanced Notification Requirements

The Bureau of Industry and Security has ordered the denial of export privileges for 180 days for the following entities: Corezing International, Kow Seng Lim, Zhenyong Zhou, Jie Luo, Insight Electronics Pte Ltd, and Action Global Co, Ltd. BIS claims they provided suppliers, exporters, and distributors with false information regarding the ultimate destination and end-user of US procured products.

On this day in 1993, the North American Free Trade Agreement signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

On Wednesday, 153 nations met to discuss the Doha Round, but left with little to no progress, states the Wall Street Journal. The Doha Round plan was created with a mission of opening rich-country markets to import food from the developing world. After eight years, little development has been made. Furthermore, issues such as the drop in trade and the hot topic of protectionism has reduced the enthusiasm to create a plan that everyone agrees with.

Check out these recent articles that feature interviews with Management Dynamics’ executives regarding various topics related to global trade management, trade compliance, and supply chain management:

FEATURED ARTICLES:
Journal of Commerce: Technology’s Survival Kit – September 1, 2009
Nathan Pieri discusses how the Global Trade Management providers have thrived during the recession magnifying the importance of controlling supply chain costs.

Management Dynamics' executives will be attending the CBP Trade Symposium next week in Washington, DC. If you are planning on attending, please find us and say hello!

Check out these recent articles that feature interviews with Management Dynamics’ executives regarding various topics related to global trade management, trade agreements, and supply chain management:

FEATURED ARTICLES:
Journal of Commerce: Technology’s Survival Kit – September 1, 2009
Nathan Pieri discusses how the Global Trade Management providers have thrived during the recession magnifying the importance of controlling supply chain costs.

Check out these recent articles that feature interviews with Management Dynamics’ executives regarding various topics related to global trade management, trade compliance, and supply chain management:

FEATURED ARTICLES:
Journal of Commerce: Technology’s Survival Kit – September 1, 2009
Nathan Pieri discusses how the Global Trade Management providers have thrived during the recession magnifying the importance of controlling supply chain costs.

The Journal of Commerce reports the twelfth month of decline in trade for the NAFTA countries. U.S trade with Mexico and Canada dropped to $57.3 billion, 20 percent lower than in 2008.

A new report published by IDC Manufacturing Insights talks about the importance of establishing a high quality supply chain network. In their summary of the report, Supply Chain Brain gives a good overview of why this is such a priority in supply chain management, referencing Kimberly Knickle of IDC:

Check out these recent articles that feature interviews with Management Dynamics' executives regarding various topics related to global trade and supply chain management:

The New York Times reports that Peru has recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with four European countries, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The Economist received published an article with statistics about which country files the most complaints to the World Trade Organization(WTO)...and who receives the most trade complaints. Here's what they found.