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Ian Matheson, from Impress Communications, reviews some recent news that might impact on Members’ business
Increased biosecurity risks, and delays for biosecurity clearance at the border, are adding costs to already costly global supply chains. Concerns have been raised that some of these new and emerging risks may take limited biosecurity resources away from business-as- usual trade facilitation activities, and lead to bigger delays for some importers at international borders. So that standard and arrived export ports are using similar processes to verify Customs clearances and keep goods flowing at the border, HMRC has made some changes in GVMS for Common Transit Convention Movements for exports. These came into force on 1 August 2022 and mean that an operator can no longer input a transit Movement Reference Number (MRN) in a Goods Movement Reference (GMR) for an outbound transit movement from Britain, unless it is an authorised consignor or consignee (ACC). A retailer rush to restock depleted inventories has left many of the world’s largest stores with an unexpected glut of goods, even as inventory levels across the economy remain lean by historical standards. Supply chain experts say that the gap is in part due to general merchandise stores pulling in orders earlier to fill shelves, whilst consumers have now pivoted in the other direction, pulling back on purchases of goods that were once in high demand. Six in 10 SMEs in the USA have reported stolen shipments over the past year, with 75% of thefts resulting in losses of up to USD20,000, according to a survey of 320 supply chain managers conducted by Capterra. Of those suffering losses, 33% said that theft was enabled by employees and 30% said it was enabled by vendors, whilst 63% reported performing background checks on logistics/inventory management employees.
Ocean carriers adopt blanking strategies
ON THE OCEAN The Loadstar reported in July on the latest edition of project44’s Ocean Carrier Report, concluding that ocean carriers are resorting to more aggressive blanking strategies to
alleviate supply chain constraints and improve the performance of the air cargo market in May, with global demand 8.3% below May 2021 levels. This was an improvement on the year-on-year decline of 9.1% seen in April. Capacity was 2.7% above May 2021, which more than offset the 0.7% year-on-year drop in April. The European Commission (EC) is urging the air cargo industry to prepare for new rules that from March next year will require the submission of advanced shipment information before air cargo is loaded.
and outside of working hours – for the past 28 days.
Eurotunnel Le Shuttle Freight wants to expand its unaccompanied freight business to link inland UK rail freight hubs with European origins and destinations, according to The Loadstar. It says that its Border Pass can make the border crossing as quick as pre-Brexit transitions for unaccompanied freight. IN BUSINESS According to Transport Intelligence, the global forwarding market exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2021, but limited capacity and record-high freight rates present a challenging market. Ti predicts that the market will grow 5.7% in 2022, slowing to 3.7% by 2026. The TT Club has used the IMO’s recently revised guidelines for the implementation of the inspection of cargo transport units (CTUs), which aims to help governments implement a uniform and safe inspection programme, to reiterate its call for increased inspections of all types of cargo, not just those declared dangerous.
manage a dip in demand and decreasing freight spot rates.
July saw FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations, make a further call on industry stakeholders and market regulators to take action to ensure a balanced and fair trading system within maritime supply chains. The World Shipping Council (WSC) has reported that during the last two years, container losses at sea have increased significantly with the average losses for the two-year period 2020-2021 reaching 3,113, compared with 779 in the previous period. The WSC said that one of the most important reasons for this worrying spike is the unusually high number of weather-related incidents. IN THE AIR IATA has reported that the easing of the COVID-19 Omicron restrictions in China helped to
OVERLAND With the DVSA increasingly enforcing regulations during roadside stops and when
investigating operators, as well as scrutinising operators’ facilities to find out if they have systems in place to document drivers’ timetables in sufficient detail, TruTac has warned businesses about little- known but stringent tachograph compliance rules. These require commercial vehicle operators to record and show evidence of drivers’ timetables – both during
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August 2022
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