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Law Offices of Countryman & McDaniel

THE CARGO LETTER [396]

Air & Ocean Logistics - Customs Broker News

30 Dec. 2003

Part 1 of 1

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Good Sunday Evening from our Observation Deck......overlooking the officially designated "Cargo City" area and...... Runway 25-Right, at Los Angeles International Airport, voted "Best Cargo Airport in North America." Here's what happened in our industry during November 2003.

To help you find what you need -- FAST -- there's now a transport search engine installed at our Cargo Law.com website!

Contribute your knowledge, stories & company information.......by e-mail to The Cargo Letter.  We strive to bring you useful information which is timely & topical.  Be sure to visit our website.

Our corporate sponsor &endash;- Interpool, Inc. -- named again to Forbes "Best 200 Small Companies" List -- for the 2nd consecutive year! -- http://www.interpool.com/

Michael S. McDaniel, Editor, Countryman & McDaniel, forwarder/broker attorneys at LAX.

INDEX to The Cargo Letter:

OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News***

1. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs ______________                            

2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page ______________                               

OUR "B" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs ____________                         

OUR "C" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

4. FF World Ocean Briefs _____________________                                            

5. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches _____        

**Back By Popular Demand**

OUR "D" Section:  FF in Cyberspace***

6. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports of Call" _________             

OUR "E" Section:  The Forwarder/Broker World***

7. New Transport Related Legal Cases ___________            

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OUR "A" Section: Trade, Financial & Inland News***

  1. Freight Forwarder Trade Briefs _____________

***KinkEx? ....... as the big story this month came Dec. 30 when FedEx Corp. said it had agreed to acquire copy center Kinko's for US$2.4Bn in cash. Kinko's operates 1,200 stores worldwide & will have an annual revenue of about US$2Bn for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31. Funds managed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., a private equity investment firm, own about 75% of Kinko's outstanding shares. FedEx has been Kinko's exclusive shipping provider since 1988. The move follows creation the "The UPS Store" earlier this year from conversion of the Mail Boxes Etc. locations. FedInko?

***Hot Topic ...... as boosted by consumer spending, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly 20 years during the 3rd quarter. The final report on gross domestic product (GDP) for the quarter found the U.S. economy advanced at an 8.2% annual rate. That was the same percentage as the Commerce Dept. estimated a month ago & the strongest since an 8.4% rate of increase in 4th quarter of 1983. GDP, the value of all goods & services produced, grew at a revised 3.1% pace in 2nd quarter of 2003 & 2% in the 1st quarter.

***CAFTA .......... as the U.S. reached a free trade agreement on Dec. 18 with 4 Central American countries. But while the Bush administration hailed the deal as an important milestone toward a hemisphere-wide free trade area, U.S. unions vowed to defeat the measure because it did not include stronger labor protections. The Central American Free Trade Agreement is the U.S.' 6th free trade agreement, all modeled along the lines of the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which links the U.S., Mexico & Canada. The pact includes Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras & Nicaragua. A 5th nation, Costa Rica, abruptly dropped out of the talks. The Air Courier Conf. of America (ACCA) applauded the proposed CAFTA & its commitment to assuring fair competition in the express delivery market. ACCA members include large firms with global delivery networks, such as Airborne Express, DHL, FedEx, Purolator, TNT U.S.A. & United Parcel Service, as well as smaller businesses with regional delivery networks.  Together, ACCA members employ more than 510,000 American workers.  Worldwide, ACCA members have operations in over 200 countries, move more than 20 million packages each day, employ more than 800,000 people, operate 1,200 aircraft & earn revenues of approximately US$60Bn annually.

   ***Coming Together ....... as the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has launched a new web portal designed to provide easy access to consolidated border processing information. The portal is expected to increase import/export efficiency while enhancing border security. After completing a successful 4 month pilot test last month, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal is currently available to an initial 41 importers & the CBP officers who support their accounts. Access to the portal will be expanded during 2004, CBP said. The ACE Secure Data Portal, a customized computer screen similar to a web site, provides a centralized online access point to connect CBP & the trade community. The portal will also eventually provide access to participating government agencies with trade & enforcement responsibilities. Through development of collaborative tools such as the portal, ACE will provide integration of data & communication abilities among CBP, the trade community, & other agencies.

   ***Reminder From Last Month's Edition .......... as for Indian pigeon peas, Mexican cilantro, Turkish laurel leaves - any food headed for the American market - will be more closely examined as the new U.S. food supply law has taken effect. Get these publications NOW!:

FDA Publication: What You Need to Know About Registration of Food Facilities

FDA Publication ........ What You Need to Know About Prior Notice of Imported Food Shipments

U.S. Food & Drug Administration .......... Prior Notice of Imported Food: Questions & Answers

Christopher Koch's Speech To Panama Canal's Conference on Maritime Security ....... guidance on the new FDA Food Import Regulations

    ***CSI Durban ......... as U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner, Robert Bonner, & Pravin Gordhan, commissioner of the South Africa Revenue Service announced that the Container Security Initiative (CSI) signed in June, an anti-terrorism scheme to secure cargo, is in operation at the port of Durban. CBP will deploy a team of officers at the port of Durban to work with host government personnel to target high-risk cargo containers destined for the U.S.  Officials from the South Africa Revenue Service are responsible for screening any container identified as a potential terrorist risk. The port of Durban is the 17th CSI port to become operational since CSI was proposed in Jan. 2002. It is the first CSI port in Africa. In addition to Durban, CSI is operational in Rotterdam, LeHavre, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Antwerp, Singapore, Yokohama, Hong Kong, Goteborg, Felixstowe, Genoa, La Spezia, Pusan, Vancouver, Montreal & Halifax.

   ***U.S. & Ghana Huddle ....... as they have have signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) that will assist the countries in the prevention & investigation of Customs offenses. The agreement was signed by U.S. CBP Commissioner Robert Bonner & Nii Noi Ashong, Ghana's Minister of State for Finance & Economic Planning. The Agreement provides a basis for cooperation & investigation in the areas of security, commercial fraud, narcotics smuggling & export control. It will also allow U.S. CBP to exchange information, intelligence, & other assistance with Ghana.

   ***U.S. CBP Has A Big eGo ..........has selected TransCore's eGo wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as the standard for its ongoing Free & Secure Trade (FAST) program. TransCore will deliver more than 170,000 eGo windshield sticker tags, driver identification cards, as well as install inspection booth reader equipment for more than 99 FAST lanes at 22 border crossings. After successful Phase I testing using eGo technology at 6 border crossings, Phase II began with deployment at El Paso, Texas. As a truck approaches a FAST lane at a crossing, a wireless RFID reader recognizes the unique identification number encoded into both the truck's windshield sticker tag & the driver's identity card and associates this information with import, carrier & driver information already submitted to the system electronically. The eGo windshield sticker tag is a paper-thin, RF-programmable, battery-free tag that operates in the 915 MHz range. The tag has a read range of 16.4 feet. The tag has a 1024 bit memory. TransCore achieved a series of innovations, using single-chip technology to produce a low profile (45 x 85 x 1 mm) and low cost tag designed to withstand extreme temperatures, sunlight, humidity & vibration. The tag can include a tamper-resistant option, and control numbers & markings may be custom color printed on the outside of each tag. Read about this.

    ***Canada Joins The Fight ........ as Paul Martin, who succeeded Jean Chretien as Canada's prime minister this month, has created a new national security agency intended to help mend Canadian-U.S. ties. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which will be part of the Dept. of Public Safety Emergency Preparedness. The department is geared to cope with terrorism & disasters and will work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the national intelligence service, disaster response agencies and the agencies overseeing border control & ports.

   ***Going Soft On Softwood ........ as the U.S. government & domestic lumber producers have agreed to terms that could bring an end to a dispute with Canada over softwood lumber. Last year, the U.S. imposed duties totaling 27% on imports from 4 Canadian provinces of wood from pine, spruce and other trees used in framing houses & other construction after accusing Canada of subsidizing the industry. The deal would give Canadian exports a duty-free ceiling slightly below Canada's current share of the U.S. lumber market, and splitting the duties collected for the last 18 months between Canadian & U.S. lumber producers.

    ***Mexico, Plus 20 Miles ...... as the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to intervene in a 2 decade old fight over allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roadways. The court will hear an appeal from the Bush administration, which wants to open the border to Mexican trucks without a court-ordered environmental study. The US$1.8M study is expected to take a year or more, further delaying the border opening President Bush ordered last fall over long-standing opposition from U.S. labor & environmental groups. The consumer group Public Citizen, the Teamsters & others sued on safety & environmental grounds, and a federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that the government must perform the lengthy study (U.S. v. Public Citizen, 03-358). The Bush administration has said it will comply, but also appealed to the Supreme Court in Sept.  Since 1982, trucks from Mexico have been allowed only in 20-mile commercial border zones, where Mexican rigs must transfer their cargo to U.S. trucks for deliveries within the U.S.

    ***Mexico With Unlimited Milage ....... as USF Corp. has finalized a joint venture with Autolineas Mexicanas SA de CV, enabling the launch of intra-Mexico transportation services under the USF Mexico name. USF Mexico's cross-border less-than-truckload service will begin on Jan. 5.

   ***China Logistics Market Sizzles ....... as it will grow at an average annual rate of 20% over the next few years, according to a speech by the head of the China Int'l Freight Forwarders' Assn. at a recent seminar in Hong Kong. It was also said that the amount spent on logistics, as a percentage of China's GDP, is large but that there is ample room for improvement. The logistics market in China is estimated to be valued at more than US$241.633Bn a year, representing 20% of China's GDP.

    ***China Trade Zones ...... as it is planning to implement changes to its freeport policy. Long Guo-qiang of the State Council's Development Research Center said that initial plans for the changes have been drawn up & will be submitted to the council for approval. Under the blueprint, some bonded areas will become freeports, or will be ones that can trade with the rest of the world freely, and others will become export processing regions or technology development regions. Mr Long said that those areas that have the potential to become Int'l hubs should be operating under a separate freeport policy. He said that if China can make the change swiftly it should be able to develop several major Int'l hubs. Shanghai, Shenzhen & Xiamen have already expressed interest in becoming freeports & are well on their way to becoming Int'l hubs.

    ***Jiangsu Province On Fire ...... as import & export trade for the 1st 10 months of 2003 jumped by a whopping 59.9% to a total of US$89.02Bn. Exports accounted for US$45.84Bn, up 50.1%, while imports totaled US$43.18Bn, up 71.7%. In Oct., exports from Jiangsu were US$5.56Bn, an increase of 62.3%, a record high for the year. The Ministry of Commerce predicted that foreign trade in 2003 would reach US$100Bn, with exports exceeding US$50Bn.

   ***Schenker & Siemens Joint Venture ....... as they aim at pooling warehouse & contract logistics. The new company, Schenker Industrial Logistics GmbH, will deal in the field of spare parts, promotional materials & production logistics. Schenker AG holds a 51% stake in the new joint venture, with Siemens AG holding the remaining 49%. The new company has 300 employees, 175 of whom have been taken on from Siemens, at 17 locations in Germany, and starts its operations in the market with a business volume of US$37M.

***Phoenix Int'l Freight Services In The Thick of It ...... as it has opened a logistics office in Ningbo. Located in the middle of China's coastline south of the Yangtze Delta and Shanghai -- Ningbo is the center of a major transportation network & producer of 20% of Zhejiang province's industrial output. Phoenix now has 44 worldwide offices, including 16 throughout Asia.

***Matson Integrated Logistics Rolls ....... as it has completed the asset purchase of TransAmerica Transportation Services, Inc. (TTS), a 3PL based in Akron, Ohio. Specializing in truck brokerage services throughout North America, TTS moves 50,000 shipments annually, generating revenues of US$45M during the last 12 months. Financial details were not disclosed.

   ***Intermodal Infusion ....... as traffic on the nation's railroads set a record for the 8th time in the past 10 years, the Assn. of American Railroads reported. Volume for 2003 reached 9.4 million trailers or containers through the week ended Dec. 6, breaking the annual record of 9.34 million set a year earlier. For the week ended Dec. 6, traffic totaled 202,690 trailers or containers, up 7% from the comparable week last year.

   ***New U.S. Hours of Service ........ as new truck driving rules increase the time a driver can spend behind the wheel after a rest period to 11 hours, from 10 hours, but trim the total time he or she can work to 14 straight hours, from 15 hours, before another rest period. Rules take effect Jan. 4.

    ***Circle The Trucks! ....... as J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. may owe as much as US$39M because the Internal Revenue Service wants to disallow tax benefits from a sale & leaseback transaction. The company said it still believes the benefits from the 1999 transactions were allowable & plans to defend itself.

    ***Big, Dirty Fine ....... as transport company CNF Inc. was ordered this month to pay US$6M in fines for violating federal hazardous material laws. CNF pleaded guilty in Sept. to 12 violations under an agreement with the U.S. Justice Dept. involving its now defunct air-cargo unit, Emery Worldwide Airlines. The charges stem from an investigation of Emery that began in 1999. Emery failed to notify pilots on 19 occasions between Oct. 18, 1998, & July 13, 1999, that planes were carrying Haz Mat & in 2 instances gave pilots incorrect information about hazardous cargo.

    ***Strange Voices At McLean, Va........ as the FCC has set aside an area of broadcast spectrum to transmit warning signals automatically to drivers, rather than have them share space with electronic toll sensors & cell phones. The technology, still years away from being installed in cars & along highways, could use a beep, a dashboard light or an electronic voice to tell drivers when it's safe to change lanes, or when to break to avoid an accident. The warnings can be received within 100 yards of the transmitters, so they are only for communications between vehicles or between a vehicle & a sensor along the road. Transportation Dept. officials are testing the technology at an intersection in McLean, Va., where sensors can warn a motorist when another car is approaching.

    ***Beam Me Down Under ....... as Australia Post & Qantas are to jointly acquire express road freight operator, Star Track Express for US$554M. The companies said the purchase would be a 50:50 joint venture funded from net cash reserves & undrawn credit facilities.

    ***Robo Train ....... as Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) has become the 1st railway in Canada to operate intermodal freight trains with mid-train remote-control locomotives. Mimicking the control inputs of engineers in leading locomotives, the remote-control units enable CPR to run intermodal trains approaching 3 km. in length through the winter when they were previously shortened because of air-pressure loss in colder temperatures. Introduction of remote-control locomotives is part of the railway's campaign to completely transform its intermodal service.

   ***Chinese Lightning ....... as China's 1st railway that can reach 100 km. per hour for both cargo & passengers has become operational. The US$583.55M Jiaxin Railway was completed one year ahead of schedule. The 306.6 km. line Jiaji Railway in the north & the Longhai Railway in the south, will be one of the most important intermodal railways in China.

***U.S. Rail Aid To Kazakhstan ........ as its national railway soon will be running with more modern locomotives thanks to a US$33.1M loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank). The Ex-Im Bank guarantee supports the export by General Electric Co., Erie, Penn., of 54 locomotive modernization kits to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Kazakhstan's state-owned national railway.

***CargoSmart Ltd. Pays Up ......... as the portal provider for the ocean container transportation industry with over 11,000 registered users, has launched invoice & payment features, completing its development of the basic set of tools for online shipment cycle transactions. Customers search, view, sort, tabulate, & print invoices as well as submit payment instructions to their carriers.  CargoSmart will soon allow customers to make online payments. Customers can now execute their most frequent shipment transactions entirely online, from booking to printing bills of lading to managing the payment of their invoices.

    ***Digging Out ....... as financial rating agency AM Best has upgraded insurer TT Club's rating to B++ from B+ after its recent review of the company's performance. The assigned outlook is "stable". TT Club, which specializes in the insurance of transport & logistics risks, reported an improvement in its 2002 full-year results, with income of US$50.9M.

   ***More Tales of Swiss Customs ......... as more than 280 ancient artifacts discovered in a Swiss customs warehouse were returned to Egypt this month. The artifacts are from the prehistoric, Pharaonic, Hellenic & Roman eras. Two mummies as well as sarcophagi - the boxes that hold mummies - statues & masks were among the artifacts seized last Aug. in an investigation into the illegal excavation & export of the objects. They are among Egypt's best & most beautiful pieces. Egypt's attorney general & other senior antiquity officials brought the historical pieces back to Cairo. They were discovered in a customs warehouse in Geneva. Negotiations are under way between investigators who want to use the antiquities as evidence in the trial of a smuggling ring & antiquity officials who want to display the treasures at the Egyptian Museum. A 2002 accord was signed between Egypt & Switzerland to prevent illegal trafficking in historical artifacts. But Switzerland remains a major hub for this smuggling.

    ***Read Your Junk Mail ........ as thousands of Dutch residents are rummaging through their rubbish in a diamond rush after a jeweller's anniversary dispatch was largely ignored as junk mail.  To mark the 10th anniversary of his store, Johan de Boer of the eastern Dutch town of Apeldoorn sent 4,000 clients a mailing, some with real diamonds.    

   ***Happy Pills, Now With Floor Wax! ......... as in May 2003, nearly 20 million doses of smuggled, fake Lipitor (atorvastatin) was pulled from U.S. pharmacy shelves. As FDA & Pfizer investigated the problem, thousands of U.S. consumers were purchasing fake Viagra (sildenafil) of unknown composition smuggled from South America & Asia. Not long before, Colombian authorities broke up a criminal counterfeiting ring that was mixing boric acid, floor wax, & yellow highway paint, pressing the mix into tablets, and packaging it in blister packs that were almost identical to those made by Warner Lambert for its menstrual pain reliever, Ponstan (mefenamic acid). The story.

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  2. The Cargo Letter Financial Page ____________  

 

  **FedEx Corp. DOWN 63% as net income for its 2004 fiscal 2nd quarter was US$91M or 30 cents per share, compared with US$245M or 81 cents a year earlier. Excluding charges related to staff restructuring, net income for the quarter ended Aug. 31 was US$332 million or 61 cents. But operating income was up, see below.

  **Garuda Indonesia. DOWN as much as 80% with a net profit of around Rp 100 billion (US$11.7M) at the end of this year, down from Rp 503 billion last year.

  **Thai Airways. UP with a net profit of US$300.12M in the fiscal year ended in Sept.

    ***FedEx Downsize ...... as operating income improved 13% before business realignment costs, benefiting from revenue growth, ongoing cost control efforts & voluntary early retirement & severance savings. During the 1st half of 2004, voluntary early retirement incentives with enhanced pension & post-retirement healthcare benefits were offered to certain groups of employees at FedEx Express who were age 50 or older. Voluntary cash severance incentives were also offered to eligible employees. FedEx recently announced a new regional headquarters in Shanghai. The company, which currently serves more than 220 Chinese cities, also plans to expand that number by 100 over the next 5 years. 

    ***Pacific CMA Inc. Listed ........ as the 3PL services company has been approved for listing on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "PAM."

    ***Interpool, Inc. Pays ...... as it will pay a cash dividend of US$.063 cents per share for the 4th quarter of 2003 -- payable on Jan. 15, 2004 to shareholders of record on Jan. 2, 2004. The aggregate amount of the dividend is expected to be approximately US$1,700,000. The amount of the quarterly dividend is based on an indicated annualized dividend rate of 25 cents per share. Interpool is one of the world's leading suppliers of equipment & services to the transportation industry. It is the world's largest lessor of intermodal container chassis & a world-leading lessor of cargo containers used in Int'l trade.                         

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OUR "B" Section: FF World Air News***

  3. Freight Forwarder World Air Briefs ___

    ***Flying Slow ........ as growth in int'l freight traffic slowed in Oct., with an increase of 1.5% on last year's figures, IATA said. The Asia-Pacific region recorded a 2.8% rise, compared to 5.5% growth reported in the previous month's comparison. The Middle East & Africa showed the strongest growth at 23% compared to the same period last year. Only North America continued to be dogged by lower year-on-year performance comparisons for freight traffic. Year-to-date results for freight traffic reflect a slowdown in the Int'l freight market, with 5.0% growth for the period Jan.-Oct., as compared to the 5.5% growth rate reported for the period Jan.-Sept. But as to next year -- Air Transport World Magazine, the leading monthly magazine covering the global airline industry, predicts in its Jan. issue that airlines in 2004 will end 3 consecutive years of losses. While good profits are anticipated from carriers in the Asia/Pacific region, in the U.S. only low cost carriers such as Southwest & JetBlue can expect healthy earnings. The older network carriers as a group can expect, at best, a break-even year, says J.A. Donoghue, editorial director of the ATW Media Group. A similar dichotomy exists in Europe, he added.

    ***Not Flying  ......... as modern-day aviators failed to duplicate the pioneering flight of the Wright brothers a century ago as a replica of their primitive 1903 flying machine flopped into the mud. On a rain-soaked field in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where the bicycle mechanics from Ohio achieved the age-old dream on Dec. 17, 1903, an exact copy of the wood & cloth Wright Flyer trundled down a wooden rail but failed to generate the speed and lift it needed to fly in an unreliable breeze. Next try: 2103.

    ***Arming The Cargo ....... as President George Bush has signed into law the new Federal Aviation Administration's 4 year, US$60Bn reauthorisation bill, Vision 100 - The Century of Aviation Act. Vision 100 strengthens America's aviation sector, provides needed authority to the FAA & enhances the safety of the traveling public. Dept. of Transportation Secretary, Norman Mineta, & FAA Administrator Marion Blakey have hailed the president's signing of the bill. The bill provides US$14Bn for airport construction projects, US$140M to assist small communities in attracting & retaining air services, US$308M to ensure air services to isolated communities & US$2Bn to create more efficient security screening at airports. The legislation also orders the government to create a self-defense course for flight attendants in a year. The course will teach techniques for subduing an attacker, using items aboard the aircraft for self-defense & protection against sharp objects (Code Name: Kung fu stew). Flight attendant unions, which have pressed for such training since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, have said they're disappointed the training is voluntary & that participants must train on their own time. Congress also agreed to allow cargo pilots to carry guns in the cockpit. The bill requires cargo pilots, like commercial passenger plane pilots, to volunteer & to pass a weeklong training course before they can be issued semiautomatic pistols. Last, all air traffic control jobs will be shielded from privatization for a year under the new law. UPDATE >> The U.S. government said Dec. 30 it would require Int'l air carriers, including freighters, in certain cases to place armed law enforcement officers on flights over the U.S.

***Air France Grounded ...... as U.S. investigators want to speak with a small number of people in Paris, including a pilot-trainee, who failed to show up for boarding flights to Los Angeles that fell under close scrutiny in a possible terrorist plot, a U.S. official said. The official, speaking Dec. 26 on condition of anonymity, said investigators hope to resolve concerns that some passengers aboard those flights might have intended to use them to launch terror attacks against the U.S. One was receiving pilot training but was not yet certified. Discussions between U.S. & French officials led to the cancellation of 6 Air France flights between Paris & Los Angeles on 24 & 25 Dec. With the U.S. entry point being over Minnesota, potential targets were seen as Las Vegas or Disneyland.

***Target: Freighters ....... as officials from the Dept. of Homeland Security are focusing on the possibility that terrorists might be planning to hijack cargo planes in other nearby countries & crash them into U.S. targets, the Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 22. Freighters often have no doors on their cockpits & little security. Also, there are no flight attendants, passengers or air marshals who might help defend against an attack. The prospect of cargo planes being used was 1st raised by the department on Nov. 17 following National Intelligence Agency intercepts of electronic data. As a result, the department issued a warning & instituted new security measures to be taken by cargo carriers to limit their vulnerability. Congress recently passed a bill allowing cargo pilots to carry guns (see above), but that has not alleviated all of pilots' concerns. It is feared that stricter government standards requiring expensive equipment might force smaller carriers out of business. Indeed, a major obstacle to bolstering air cargo security is the government's fear of mandating procedures that would slow down the shipping business, if not bring an end to the next-day delivery business, a critical component of the economy. Aside from the small percentage of air freight that is physically inspected via X-ray or other methods, the TSA considers the remainder of the nation's air cargo to be screened through a so-called "known shipper" program. The program requires air cargo companies to register with the government, & it says passenger air carriers aren't allowed to accept cargo from companies that aren't on a TSA-approved list. Some experts said it is unrealistic to consider physically inspecting every piece of freight that passes through the system.

***FedExtravaganza ...... as a FedEx MD-10F, Oakland, Calif. for Memphis with 2 crew & 5 employees, caught fire & veered off runway while landing on Dec. 17. Preliminary investigation indicated plane's right landing gear collapsed before fire began. Flames extinguished but plane heavily damaged -- several large holes burned in starboard fuselage -- blackened by smoke -- FAA images showed right wing on ground -- 1 minor injury during evacuation. Memphis-based FedEx owns world's largest cargo airline. Incident was 4th involving FexEx jet in 7 years.     

***Das Citizen ......... as a federal administrative judge has rejected claims by FedEx & UPS that a small air freight company should be disqualified from doing business in the U.S. because of its foreign ties. The express companies had contended Miami-based Astar Air Cargo is controlled by German postal monopoly Deutsche Post, & should not be allowed to fly in the U.S. since it is illegal here for foreign companies to own more than 25% of a domestic air carrier. Burton Kolko, a Transportation Dept. administrative law judge, ruled that Astar is a U.S. citizen. His decision will be reviewed by Transportation Dept. officials.

Deutsche Post, which owns the Int'l DHL network of delivery companies, is trying to gain a foothold in the U.S. express air freight business at a time when UPS & FedEx are going head to head - both on the ground & in the air. In Aug., its subsidiary, DHL Worldwide Express, acquired Seattle-based Airborne Inc., the 3rd biggest air cargo carrier. Another subsidiary, DHL Airways, ran a network of cargo aircraft for DHL Worldwide Express & other customers from its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport. In April, FedEx & UPS challenged whether DHL Airways met the citizenship requirements of U.S. law. At the time, 55% of DHL Airways stock was owned by a U.S. citizen, William A. Robinson. On July 14, a group led by former Northwest Airlines CEO John Dasburg bought all shares of DHL Airways for US$57M & renamed it Astar. FedEx & UPS said the DHL network gave Astar's investors a sweetheart deal because the company was worth much more. They also argued the DHL network controls the air carrier, in part because Astar receives 90% of its revenue from DHL Worldwide Express.

***At Your Service ........ as Lufthansa Cargo has launched a new company which will offer a complete airfreight management service to airlines that focus on passenger traffic but wish to professionalize their air cargo business. Based in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt, "cargo counts GmbH" has emerged as an autonomous subsidiary from a specialist department previously run by Lufthansa Cargo. Now, "cargo counts" will assume responsibility for the entire air cargo business of client airlines with the exception of flight operations & ramp handling.

***Air China Cargo Births ....... as it was formally launched on Dec. 14, with capital resources of US$421M. The venture is 51% owned by Air China. CITIC Pacific holds 25% & Capital Airport the remaining 24%. The 3 parties signed a cooperation agreement in March. The freight company will deploy 5 all-cargo B-747 freighters, 8 B-747-400 passenger-cargo planes & 115 passenger aircraft with cargo space. Air China Cargo's service network covers most Chinese provincial capitals & major cities, as well as 36 cities in another 27 countries & regions Air China Cargo's major competitors are China Southern Airlines, which has 2 B-747-400 freighters, & China Cargo Airlines, which was formed by Shanghai-based China Eastern & China Ocean Shipping Company in 1998.

***Twenty Eight Years Later ......... as Vietnam Airlines will offer up to 7 flights per week to the U.S. by 2005, according to Vietnam Airlines. Vietnam is to allow U.S. airlines access to airports in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City & Da Nang by 2005. According to a report by online news service Vietnam Agency, flights from Vietnam will land in 5 U.S. cities. San Francisco is the 1st city that will receive non-stop flights from the southeast Asian country.

***China Southern Airlines Record ....... as it reported that Nov. was its best ever month for cargo with nearly one million tons moved between China & Europe.

***Euro Air Trust ....... as British Airways, Iberia Airlines & BA franchise partner GB Airways have been given approval by the European Commission for an alliance. Following a 3 month consultation period that ended on Dec. 10, the EU has granted the airlines exemption from competition legislation for 6 years, subject to conditions necessary to maintain competition on 4 UK-Spain routes. The exemption allows for extensive cooperation including joint network planning & coordinated capacity & pricing; joint sales operations; use of profit-sharing or other economic co-operation; joint pricing; management; sales & handling of cargo.

***Codeshare ........... as China Southern Airlines & Air France have signed an agreement to open direct flights between Guangzhou & Paris from Jan. 6 next year. The companies plan to share the flight code for Airbus A340 planes.

***Open The Gates ........ as Pakistan Int'l Airlines (PIA) said it will fly Boeing 747 aircraft to destinations in India after the expected revival of air links between the countries next month, Agence France-Presse reported. "This is a major breakthrough," said PIA's marketing director on his return from New Delhi after participating in successful talks with Indian officials on the resumption of air links. India had previously imposed restrictions on aircraft size & limited loads to 200 passengers.

***Gassed ........ as British Airways World Cargo has increased its fuel surcharge to US$0.16 per kilo or local equivalent. Following suit, American Airlines Cargo raised its fuel surcharge to US$0.15 per kilo for most shipments from the U.S. & US$0.06 per pound for domestic shipments, from Dec. 16. Adjustments to American's cargo surcharge occur when its fuel index exceeds or falls below a specified fuel threshold for 2 consecutive weeks. Lufthansa, meanwhile, also raised its fuel surcharge to EUR015 per kilo of actual freight on Dec. 18. FedEx Express will also increase list rates an average of 2.5% for shipments within the U.S. & for U.S. export shipments, starting Jan. 5 2004.

***American Airlines Cargo Gets "X" Factor ...... as it has added its freight products for electronic bookings on Global Freight Exchange (GF-X).  GF-X is a reservations system for the airfreight industry, processing more than 600,000 airfreight transactions for its membership last year. GF-X is a neutral platform.

***"Peak Day" ....... as Dec. 18 was the busiest shipping day of the year. UPS delivered more than 20 million packages, about 230 packages delivered per second, & a 50% surge above UPS's average volume of 13.3 million packages a day. It's the equivalent of 1 package for every American child under age 5.

***Three Blind Mice ...... as the FedEx plane crash last year may have been caused by a colorblind co-pilot's difficulty in seeing red warning lights. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether Wm. Frye failed to see red runway lights that indicated the cargo jet was dangerously low. The B-727F crashed & burned a half-mile short of the runway at Tallahassee airport in July 2002 as it was coming in for a landing from Memphis, TN. Its 3 member crew escaped serious injury. The crash destroyed last-minute qualifying paperwork for several Florida legislative races. The NTSB had Frye's vision tested after the crash & found that he had a severe problem that could make it difficult to interpret red & white warning lights like the ones at the airport, the St. Petersburg Times newspaper reported. All 3 pilots remain on administrative leave & studying their colors.

***New Bird ....... as the world's 1st regularly scheduled flight of the new, long-range Airbus A340-500 took place on Dec. 1 when Emirates flight 412 took off from Dubai Int'l Airport on its maiden non-stop service to Sydney. The aircraft can carry nearly 14 tons of cargo.

***Silent Night ........... as maintenance crews found the body of a man believed to be a stowaway inside an American Airlines jet at New York's John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport. Maintenance workers discovered the dead man, estimated to be about 25, around 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve in the wheel well of the aircraft.

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OUR "C" Section:  FF World Ocean News***

  4. FF World Ocean Briefs  

    ***Nation's Largest Transport Project Gets Bigger ........ as a manned security center, additional television cameras, motion detectors, fencing & other security measures for the Alameda Corridor will be installed following receipt of a recently awarded federal grant. About US$750,000 in security improvements are planned for the 20-mile rail expressway. Funding will come from a US$601,000 federal Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) port security grant & US$149,000 in Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) matching funds. In addition, construction of a half-mile bridge that will extend Pacific Coast Highway over the Alameda Corridor is scheduled to open in spring 2004. The bridge will span the area from west of the Terminal Island Freeway to Coil Ave in Wilmington, widening PCH from 4 to 6 lanes while eliminating the last-remaining public at-grade conflict between street & train traffic on the 20-mile corridor.

    ***Branded......... as West Coast Marine Terminals Operators have introduced a wireless identification system for all trucks picking up & dropping off containerized cargo. Oakland-based Marine Terminals Corp., said by immediately transmitting critical information as soon as trucks pull up to marine terminals, the wireless technology is expected to dramatically reduce the time required for trucks to pick up & drop off cargo at marine terminals. This in turn will reduce emissions created by idling trucks. The system also will greatly improve port security & the problem of "imposter" truckers. Terminal operators have agreed to purchase & pay for installation of any equipment required on trucks. An estimated 30,000 trucks are expected to be fitted with the devices. The operators anticipate having all equipment installed by March 2004.

    ***al-Qaida Lines? ......... as U.S. sailors from guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea seized an estimated US$3M worth of drugs Dec. 20 as an Arab sailing crew in the northern Arabian Sea tossed the bags overboard. Authorities were investigating whether al-Qaida was linked to the shipment. The seizure of 85 pounds of heroin came a day after the U.S. Navy announced the Dec. 15 confiscation of 2 tons of hashish believed tied to Osama bin Laden's terror network. That seizure, in the Persian Gulf, was considered by Western analysts to be some of the 1st hard evidence of al-Qaida links to drug smuggling.

   ***General Danger ....... as an investigation was undertaken for the Royal Institution of Naval Architects' Safety Committee, which compared the losses of general cargo ships & their associated fatalities with other types of ships. This study has concluded that general cargo ships account for nearly 20% of the world merchant fleet, but suffer over 40% of the total losses & almost 40% of the fatalities.

    ***USL Launches ...... as Greybox Logistics Services (GLS) has been awarded a contract to manage the container fleet of the newly formed Trans-Pacific carrier, United States Lines (USL). Both the contract & the line's sailings began this month.

    ***Grand Alliance Resting ....... as members in the transpacific trade, Hapag Lloyd, NYK, OOCL & P&O Nedlloyd, are to temporarily suspend their FEX transpacific service, the last week in Jan. 2004.  This suspension is currently slated for a period of approximately 6 weeks & will enable the GA to perform regular vessel maintenance & scheduled fleet reassignments, a joint announcement said. The Grand Alliance will continue service coverage for ports called by the FEX, by primarily using its SCX loop.

   ***Far Eastern Freight Conference Up ...... member lines say that they will wait until closer to the date before announcing the level of their April 1 rate increase, but they also say it will be at least US$150 per TEU. The announcement is the latest in a number of bullish statements by lines about rates increases next year. Meanwhile German carrier Rickmers-Linie says that will raise a Currency Adjustment Factor of 5% (based on net freight) as of Jan. 19. The company says the move is response to the strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar. The surcharge applies to all cargo from Europe to Asia (South-East Asia, China & the Far East) & will be valid until further notice.

   ***IRA Also Up ...... as lines of the Informal Rate Agreement (IRA) covering trade from the Far East to destinations in the Middle East are to implement several rate rises next year.

Starting  April 1, the rate increase for a TEU will be US$200, with $400 being levied per FEU.

Starting July 1, the rate rise per TEU will be a further $200, with $400 applicable per FEU.

The peak season surcharge from August 1 will mean a further $200 per TEU and $400 per FEU will be charged.

The 4th quarter increase (with the exact date to be advised) will be $100 per TEU and $200 per FEU.

IRA member lines include: APL, China Shipping Container Lines, CMA, CGM and ANL, Cosco, Evergreen, Hyundai, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, Maersk Sealand, MOL, NYK, Norasia Container Lines, OOCL, P&O Nedlloyd, Pacific Int'l Lines,Tokyo Senpaku Kaisha, United Arab Shipping, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines, Wan Hai Lines Ltd., & Yang Ming.

    ***Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement Also Up ...... as WTSA carriers operating from the U.S. to Asia are to increase dry (non-reffer) cargo freight rates by US$200 per FEU & US$160 per TEU starting Feb. 1, 2004. The increase will apply to all dry cargo not otherwise subject to commodity-specific increases announced on a seasonal basis throughout the coming year. WTSA members are APL, K Line, China Shipping Group, MOL, Cosco, NYK, Evergreen, OOCL, Hanjin, P&O Nedlloyd Ltd, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming Marine, & Hyundai.

   ***TACA Also Up ........ as the 7 carrier Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement issued a trade notice this week stating that the Conference's 2004 Westbound Business Plan will be based upon an initial April 1, 2004 tariff rate increase of US$400 per 20-foot container & US$500 per 40-foot.

    ***Rickmers Line Up ..... as it is to impose a currency adjustment factor (CAF) of 5% (based on net freight) from Jan. 19, 2004, in response to the steadily rising exchange rate of U.S. dollar to the Euro. The surcharge applies to all cargo from Europe to Asia (Southeast Asia, China & the Far East) & will be valid until further notice.

   ***Practicing Safe SX ......... as OOCL signed an agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries on Dec. 11 for 2 new 8,063 TEU SX Class vessels for delivery in 2007. This brings total numbers of SX Class vessels ordered with Samsung to 12. OOCL Shenzhen & OOCL Long Beach were delivered early this year.

   ***Wooden Shoe Diaries ...... as 1st stage of the port of Antwerp's harbor expansion has been completed, a year behind schedule. Deurganck Dock, built on the left bank of the river Schelde, is expected to double Antwerp's capacity, to 5.5 million TEU per year & is being built in phases. The 1st phase saw a 1,260 meter quay wall constructed on the western side of the port, while phase 2 expands the work of the 1st phase on the western side & will also see the construction of a 1,370 meter quay wall on Antwerp port's eastern side. Phase 3 is to involve extensions to both the western & eastern sides. Work on the project started in Oct. 1999, but was suspended for a year due to disputes over environmental impact concerns.

    ***Bucks Up, But Wary ...... as Korea's Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries plans to adopt a "volume incentive system" this month to attract foreign companies to Korean ports, according to a Korea Herald report. Under the program, high-volume shipping companies will be offered up to 50% discounts on transshipment cargo handling fees at Korea's major ports, Pusan & Kwangyang. The ministry expects the new system to provide savings of US$6.7M to shipping companies. The move reflects the Ministry's growing concern over the fate of Korean ports & in particular the nation's largest, Pusan, which is losing favor with foreign shippers. This year, Pusan's cargo volume was overtaken by Shanghai, whose cargo handling volume rose 34% from a year earlier to 9.23 million TEU as of Oct. Pusan's volume, by contrast, grew by only 11% to 8.56 million TEU. This said, South Korea's marine transport account will record a US$1.92Bn surplus in 2003, up 30% from a year ago, the Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries said. South Korea has posted a surplus in the marine transport account for the past few years, though it has recorded deficit in the overall service account for the past 5 years. The marine transport current account is the fee income from foreign consignors minus fees to overseas shippers.

***Newest China Port ........ as Fuzhou City's Jiangyin port area will open to foreign vessels before the end of the year. The facility expects to welcome services from Hong Kong & West Africa. Jiangyin's Terminal 1 opened last year, but will eventually have 30 deepwater berths.

***World's Largest Yard ........ as Chinese a shipbuilding company has broken ground on what will be the world's biggest shipyard, a high-tech facility capable of producing cruise ships & natural gas tankers. On an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the yard will feature 7 construction docks along a 5 mile stretch of coastline. When completed in 2015, the yard will be able to produce a total of 12 million dead weight tons (DWT) of ships per year, a figure representing dozens of vessels. Dead weight tonnage is ship weight combined with the maximum amount of tons of cargo it can carry. The largest oil tankers weigh is at 500,000dwt.

   ***Watch Those Rates ...... as Dow Chemical has sued 4 leading chemical carriers, alleging that they rigged bids & conspired to inflate shipping prices artificially, The Wall Street Journal reported. Dow is the 1st major client to sue the carriers following Federal & European investigations into alleged collusion in the chemical transportation market that were announced early this year. The Dow suit names Luxembourg registered & London-based Stolt-Nielsen SA & Norway's Odfjell ASA as defendants & seeks to recover legal costs as well as triple damages for all purchases of services that were affected by the alleged conspiracy. Dow estimated the company spends about US$350M a year on marine chemical services. The lawsuit also names 2 smaller companies as defendants: Jo Tankers BV of the Netherlands & Mitsui OSK Line Group's Tokyo Marine Co. of Japan. Dow asserts that conspiracy among the chemical-shipping firms began as early as 1998 & continued until at least Nov. 2002. It alleges that the shipping firms held talks in the U.S. & elsewhere to discuss clients & fix prices of tanker shipping of products to and from the U.S. & elsewhere.

    ***Weather Watch Dog ........... as APL will take part in a pilot test organized by the Int'l SeaKeepers Society in which it will help collect weather data in the North Pacific. Modules installed on the forward masthead of APL ships will send weather condition updates via satellite to the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin. (NOAA) every 3 hours, or every hour in storm conditions. Information is forecast to help scientists predict the weather & monitor global climate change. SeaKeepers said: "We are grateful that APL has agreed to participate in this pilot project for container vessels." APL is 1st in the shipping industry to participate in pilot project. APL container ships that will receive weather modules in the future include the President Polk, President Kennedy, & APL Japan.

    ***Show M/V The Money ....... as Henry Marine Service has filed suit seeking US$6M for the efforts of its tug M/V Dorothy J. in corralling the Staten Island Ferry M/V Andrew J. Barberi after it crashed in New York in mid Oct. In the filing, the company claims that its efforts to control the "imperiled" ferry & prevent passengers from jumping into the water justified the money.

***UK Army Holds Trenton In 2003 ......as Christmas Eve downpour following heavy rain & snow made the Delaware River too dangerous for the annual re-enactment of George Washington's bold Revolutionary War crossing Dec. 25, grounding the actors for 2nd Christmas in a row. Last year weather prevented crossing - conditions similar to what Washington faced as he crossed from Pennsylvania to New Jersey in the dark on Christmas Day 227 years ago. That 1776 maneuver led to key victories in Trenton & Princeton & reversed the Continental Army's fortunes. The reenactment, started by local history buffs in 1952, typically involves 60-foot replicas of the Revolutionary War-era Durham cargo boats. 

***Yes, We Have Bananas ...... as residents of Vilnius, a Lithuanian resort received an early Christmas present when 50 tons of bananas washed up on the Baltic coast. The current came from the SW, where storm winds probably knocked a container of unripe bananas off a ship.

***USS Midway Update ....... as she is currently undergoing restoration in Oakland, CA. Plans call to tow her to San Diego Jan. 2, 2004. After safety work is completed plans call for opening her in Spring 2004.

    ***National Liberty Ship Memorial -- SS Jeremiah O'Brien ......... as the San Francisco Liberty Ship kicks off the 2004 Drydock Fund drive. To maintain SS Jeremiah O'Brien in class with the American Bureau of Shipping & keep her certified by the U.S. Coast Guard as a fully operational Liberty Ship, she must undergo a Special Survey in months ahead. All the ship machinery, tanks & structural components will be opened up for close inspection & necessary repairs. HELP!!

    ***Throughput >> Freeport Container Port (FCP), located in the Bahamas, throughput for 2003 reached one million TEU on Dec. 14. >> Port of Hamburg will achieve record handling results by the end of the year, having catered for approximately 105 million tons of cargo, up 8%. >> Hong Kong terminals throughput in 3rd quarter increased by 3% over a year earlier to 51.8 million tons. >> Port of Portland for 2003 is expected to exceed the record level of 318,247 TEU set in 1994. >> Port of Shanghai in the 1st 11 months of 2003 mounted import & export trade to US$181.8Bn, up 41.8% year-on-year, exports amounted to US$102.2Bn, an increase of 38.6% while throughput at Shanghai surpassed the 10 million TEU mark for the year through to Nov.. >> Shenzhen port handled 980,000 TEU in Nov., up 40% compared with same month in 2002. >> Port of Singapore handled 1.52 million TEU in Nov., an increase of 9.4% year-on-year.

    ***This Day in U.S. Navy History ..........

*1775 - The Continental Congress authorizes the building of 13 frigates.

*1814 - The Treaty of Ghent ends the War of 1812.

*1821 - Lt. Robert F. Stockton and Dr. Eli Ayers, a Naval surgeon & member of the American Colonizing Society, induce a local African king to sell territory for a colony, which eventually became the Republic of Liberia.

*1822 - Congress authorizes the 14-ship West Indies Squadron to suppress piracy in the Caribbean.

*1907 - The Great White Fleet departs Hampton Roads, Va., to circumnavigate the world.

*1910 - Lt. Theodore G. Ellyson becomes 1st Naval officer sent to flight training.

*1937 - Japanese aircraft sink USS Panay (PR 5) in the Yangtze River near Nanking, China.

*1941 - The gallant defenders of Wake Island (Sailors, Marines,volunteer civilian contractors, & Army/Air Force radio detachment) surrender.

*1950 - Under the cover of Naval gunfire support, Task Force 90 completes a 14-day evacuation of 100,000 troops & equipment from Hungnam, North Korea. More than 91,000 refugees also rescued.

*1974 - Clearance of the Suez Canal for mines & unexploded ordnance completed by joint task force.                                               

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   5. The Cargo Letter Cargo Damage Dispatches                        

   We're sorry, but there were so many sinkings, explosions, pirate attacks, fires, cargo mishaps & other disasters at sea that we do not have room to print even the highlights this month. Many people lost their lives at sea this month!!

 But you can read all this month's disaster news at our special Internet web feature which provides full details of each event -- our Vessel Casualties & Pirate Activity Database.  Bookmark the site and visit every day! Updated twice daily.

See our new feature for Nov. 2003: "Stepping In It"

SPECIAL NOTE:  Please view the dramatic new pictures at our special "Gallery of Cargo Loss" website feature. 

NOTE: The historic dangers of carriage by sea continue to be quite real.  Shippers must be encouraged to purchase high quality marine cargo insurance from their freight forwarder or customs broker.  It's dangerous out there.

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OUR "D" Section:  FF in Cyberspace***

  6. The Cargo Letter "Cyber Ports Of Call"                      

Here are our suggested world wide web sites of the week for your business, your information & your amusement..............

2004 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States ............ now on-line. 

Creating Value Through Supply Chain Integration

FDA & Customs' Bioterrorism Compliance Policy Guide

FDA's Bioterrorism Act           

Future of Internet Security

Maritime London Officer Cadet Scholarship

Most E-Mail Sent On Tuesday

Navy Medicine

Next-Generation 3PL: Coming Fast! ........ from Unisys

Panama Canal Authority Permanent Modernization Plan

Sea Shadow Stealth Platform.

UN Conference On Trade & Development

U.S. Corporate Security Systems Study

Understanding The WTO

"Unknown Sailor" of Pearl Harbor ....... Identified

 

PRODUCTS>>>>>>>>>

2004 Directory of Importers & Experters

Distribution, Wholesaling & Logistics in China: Market Analysis

Gray Page ........ formed last month by erstwhile investigations team from Informa Group company MRCI.

Shipyard Project Managers & Consultants (SPMaC) ........consulting services to shipyards, ship owners, attorneys & the maritime industry.

Study of 3PL Warehouse Prices Sets Benchmarks for U.S.

Web Scheduler ......... online scheduling tool that enables shippers to track carrier arrival & departure times -- compare scheduled & actual load times.

 

EVENTS>>>>>>>>>

2nd Intermodal Africa Conf. ......... 5-6 Feb. 2004, Capetown.

13th Annual Int'l Air Cargo Conference & Exhibit- Gulfport-Biloxi 2004 ......... 10-13 May, at Beau Rivage Resort, Biloxi, Mississippi -- 172 exhibitors -- small regional companies to large Int'l companies that include airports, airlines, express air carriers, freight forwarders, expedited motor carriers, consolidators, integrators, logistics, trucking, security, contractors & major companies that define the cargo industry. In attendance, thousands of shippers, manufacturers, distributors & custom brokers from around the globe.

Coaltrans Conferences

Int'l Congress of Marine Arbitrators ..........April 26 to 30, 2004, Millennium Mayfair Hotel, London.

Int'l Trade Club of Southern California .......... Jan. 20, 2004, Reef Restaurant, Port of Long Beach. Speaker, John A. Burch, VP Sales, CALCOT, Ltd.

L.A. Harbor Transportation Club .......... 6PM, Thurs. Jan. 15, 2004 -- Ports 'O' Call Restaurant, Berth 76, San Pedro, CA -- speaker, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, 15th District, City of Los Angeles.

Logistics Hong Kong ........ May 18-20 2004, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center

Logicon 2004 ........Feb. 23-25, 2004, Amsterdam. 8th annual conference for senior logistics & supply chain professionals working in the FMCG sector. Attracting professionals from over 14 European countries, event tackles current challenges facing logisticians through 45 in-depth case studies.www.wbr.co.uk/logicon04/

Pacific 2004 Int'l Maritime & Naval Exposition ........ Feb. 3-6, 2004, Sydney, Australia.

Supply Chain Management Course ........Jan. 19-21, 2004, Knoxville, TN. Sponsor: The University of Tennessee Center for Executive Education.

Terminal Operators Conf. & Exhibition ......... June 2004, Barcelona, Spain.

World Cargo Alliance 6th Annual Worldwide Conference ........... 11 to 14 Feb. 2004, Bangkok, Thailand, world's largest network of independent int'l freight forwarders with 550 members in 112 countries.

World Customs Organization ....... 26 & 27 Jan. 2004, Rue du Marché 30 &endash; B-1210 Brussels &endash; Belgium.  What does the future hold for rules of origin?

 

FOR FUN>>>>>>>>>

George W. Bush Action Figure

Tomb Raider: "Angel of Darkness"

You Will Fail The Color Test

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OUR "E" Section:  The Forwarder/Broker World***

  7. New Trade Related Legal Cases __________ 

Kalantari v. NITV, Inc.

9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals

12 Dec. 2003

IRANIAN TRADE EMBARGO / TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHTS / COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION: Kalantari, a producer & holder of an assignment of exclusive rights to the copyright of a movie, appealed a ruling by the district court that held that the Iranian trade embargo prohibited commercial importation of movies from Iran. The 9th Circuit found that the Iranian trade embargo does prohibit most trade with Iran, but allows certain items to be traded. The 9th Circuit held that movies are permitted to be imported to the U.S. because the transfer of copyrights is considered a commercial transaction, which is an exception to the Iranian trade embargo.  Since an Iranian movie may be copyrighted & assigned, and there is an exception to the Iranian trade embargo that allows for commercial transactions, the district court was reversed. Opinion

   ***Finnish Courts .......deny forwarder's NASB right of lien against goods not owned by customer of forwarder. Opinion          

   ***Norwegian Law.....obligation to deliver goods under prepaid B/L. Opinion

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Written from wire stories, the Associated Press, Reuters, Hong Kong Shipping News, Lloyds & other world sources.

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The Cargo Letter Correspondents:

Michael S. McDaniel Esq, Editor (Countryman & McDaniel)

David Schuchman -- Interpool Corp. -- Webmaster of The Cargo Letter Archive

Cameron W. Roberts, Esq. (Countryman & McDaniel)

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