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Limits of Liability (Cargo Claims)
By Sea - Hague Visby Rules
SDR 2 per kilo or
SDR 666.64 per package
By Road - CMR
SDR 8.33 per kilo
By Air - Warsaw/Montreal
SDR 17 per kilo
IIFA Standard Trading Conditions
SDR 2 per kilo
The SDR rate on 10/12/2008
according to the
International Monetary Fund was
ISDR = 0.8649130000 Euro |
 Standard Trading Conditions Protect Member
In a recent Circuit Court case IIFA CEO Colm Walsh gave evidence concerning the association's Standard Trading Conditions at the request of an IIFA member firm.
The company was defending a claim for total loss and sought to limit its liability to those stipulated on the conditions (2 SDRs per kilo). The judge found that the conditions of trading applied in the case and accordingly the forwarder was successful in protecting his position. The case had been previously in the District Court and that Court's decision had been appealed to the higher Circuit Court by Solicitors Lavelle Coleman.
Standard Trading Conditions - General Note
The Forwarder needs to ensure that he can prove that IIFA Standard Trading Conditions (STCs) have been brought to the attention of any party with whom the forwarder does business.
There are a number of ways members chose to handle this issue.
Most will have reference to the existence of IIFA STCs on credit application forms and will therefore have a signature accepting that STCs apply. Some members write periodically (twice a year) using registered post to be able to prove subsequently that the STCs were posted to the relevant client.
On some forwarder's websites it may not be possible to proceed without checking a box to state that one has read and accepted the IIFA STCs.
When a case is before a court there is always the likelihood that the forwarder will need to demonstrate how conditions were brought to the client's attention.
Some points to remember are :
A verbal agreement to do a job is a contract and if you want the IIFA STCs to apply you must refer to them at the time. (We have all heard the Financial Adverts on the Radio which end "Terms and Conditions apply")
Good practise would be to confirm verbal deals in writing immediately with a reference to the IIFA STCs and not to actually do the job until a response is received from the client.
It is never safe to assume that your client must/should be aware of your Standard Trading Conditions.
If freight is delivered to you by mistake you could be at risk. It is important that the owner of cargo be identified as a matter of priority and ensure that it is aware that you trade under IIFA Standard Trading Conditions and that you will rely on them. Make sure they know that the goods you are storing by default are at risk.
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FIATA Diploma Course
Graham Bell Suite in the Grand Hotel where tutorials are held
On Tuesday evening 25th of November, twenty participants in the blended learning course for the FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding met up for the first tutorial in the series of a total of nine between now and the end of next June.
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Irish Exporters Awards 2008
Logistics Company of the Year Award for Geodis.
Presenter - Joe Burke of Dublin Port Company, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Winner - Robert Cashman of Geodis, Liam Shanahan - President Irish Exporters Association.
Short Sea Shipping Award for Containerships.
Presenter - Glenn Murphy of Irish Maritime Development Office, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Winner - Maria O'Reilly of Containerships, Liam Shanahan - President Irish Exporters Association.
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IRELAND
INVESTMENT OR MERGER
OPPORTUNITY
STRONG, LONG ESTABLISHED DUBLIN BASED FREIGHT FORWARDER SERVICING EUROPEAN AND U.K MARKETS WITH FOLLOWING FACILITIES,
- OWN 25000 SQ. FT MODERN WAREHOUSE WITH 5 DOCK-LEVELERS
- OWN MODERN OFFICE SUITES - FULLY SERVICED
- OWN CUSTOMS BONDED WAREHOUSE
- OWN DOMESTIC DELIVERY FLEET
LOOKING TO EXPAND THEIR SERVICES BY ACQUISITION OR CONSOLIDATE WITH A SIMILARLY STRONG BUSINESS, BY WAY OF EQUITY, EXPERIENCE, OR FACILITIES SHARING.
PLEASE REPLY IN WRITING OR E-MAIL TO:
ROCHFORD SOLICITORS
20 VILLAGE GREEN
TALLAGHT
DUBLIN 24
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Irish Express Cargo Achieves the First AEO Certification
Irish Express Cargo, IEC, founded in 1972 and now a Flextronics Global Services company, has successfully been recognised as the first company in Ireland to achieve Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status.
The award was presented by Josephine Feehily, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, on Friday 28th November in Limerick.
Authorized Economic Operator status is conferred on companies moving goods internationally, affecting not only importers and exporters, but also manufacturers and logistics companies. It has been developed by the EU as a response to global terrorist attacks and threats and to make the movement of goods into, through and out of the EU more secure. AEO will become very important in European trade facilitation.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony Ms. Feehily said: "Now, as never before, Ireland needs to focus on its exporting businesses and Revenue is delighted to work with Irish business to deliver the benefits of the AEO programme. I would like to congratulate Irish Express Cargo Ltd., based here in Limerick, on attaining AEO status. I would like to commend you on meeting the challenging criteria laid down under the programme. You will now be recognized as a safe and secure partner in international trade and will benefit in the future from mutual recognition agreements concluded with third countries".
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CLECAT Celebrates 50 years
President of IIFA, Mr. Finbarr Cleary and CEO Colm Walsh attended the CLECAT FFC 2008-Freight Forwarders Conference in Brussels on December 3rd last.
The Conference was also the occasion of the association's celebration of 50 years in business.
A congratulatory message by Mr. Jose Manuel BARROSO, President of the European Commission said "CLECAT has been a driver of European single market integration from the very early days of our common European project. In our joint endeavours, CLECAT has been over the past fifty years and will remain in the future a strong and natural ally of the European Commission. CLECAT has been crucial in shaping European freight and customs policy for the last 50 years, so you together with your national member associations, and last but not least, the companies of your sector have indeed much to celebrate."
Mr. BARROSO continued that "CLECAT has over the years - critically but constructively - accompanied the Commission's efforts to define priorities in freight transport and logistics. Its know-how together with its realism, has been enormously helpful in contributing to the elaboration of EU policy in freight transport."
Mr. J.C. Delen, President of the association stated "CLECAT was no longer only recognized as a reference organization with regard to Customs services, but it had also expanded into additional areas related to transport and logistics and made itself known and recognized by the services of DG TREN besides the traditional liaison with DG TAXUD."
Mr. Delen addressed the European Parliament on 2nd of December.
Working Bodies of the association are the Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute, the European Transport Logistics Institute(Rail and Road Committees), the Maritime and Air Logistics Institute (Air Logistics Committee and Maritime Logistics Committee) and the Transport and Supply Chain Security Institute.
The Conference took place in the HQ of the World Customs Organization and speakers included
Georges Fischer, ICC Paris/Eurochambers
Enrico Grillo-Pasquarelli, Director for Inland Transport,
DG TREN, European Commission
Laszlo Kovacs, European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union
Janusz Lacny, President of the IRU
Rune Landin, Vice-Chair Transport WG BUSINESSEUROPE
Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director, European Environment Agency
Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General Elect, World Customs Organization
Eugenio Muzio, President UIRR
Jack Short, Secretary General of the International Transport Forum (ECMT successor, Mr. Short previously worked for the Ministries of Transport and Finance in Ireland and in Transport Research.)
Ms. Kathleen Conway, Customs and Border Protection. US Mission to the EU
CLECAT is a powerful and respected lobbying association for European freight forwarders in Brussels.
It publishes position papers on matters affecting the business in Europe and beyond.
For example it has sent its position paper on the new draft regulations for consortia (maritime) to the Commission for their consideration. Its opinion is that the new regulation is a welcome step in the right direction and it hopes that the benefits will outweigh any difficulties encountered with the old regulation on the application of Article 81(3). (See Change of Regulations in Maritime Affairs in Europe article below)
See the link below for individual speeches and presentations;
or for more information on CLECAT see;
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Change of Regulations in Maritime Affairs in Europe
European Union competition regulators will start next week to analyze ocean carriers' and shippers' response to plans to tighten conditions governing container shipping consortia's exemption from anti-trust rules.
The European Commission, has made proposals for a new regime to replace the current block exemption which expires in April, 2010.
The Commission's ban on rate-setting liner conferences in European trades went into effect Oct. 18, but it has said consortia, which allow carriers to share vessels and exchange container, can continue provided there is no collusion on freight rates.
Carriers have expressed concern the Commission assumes there is no competition within consortia and wants to aggregate all overlapping agreements to assess their market share, a key to getting anti-trust exemption. This could result in carriers terminating some cooperative agreements aimed at capping costs and improving service levels without eroding competition, to meet the EU's market thresholds.
The Commission also proposes reducing the threshold to qualify for anti-trust exemption to 30 percent from 35 percent at present for consortia whose members do not belong to conferences.
The European Liner Affairs Association, the carriers' Brussels-based trade organization, has sought support from shippers to achieve a meaningful block exemption to enable shipping lines to maintain service levels during the current market downturn.
The Commission will also consult EU member governments over its plans next year before it finalizes a new block exemption.
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Call For "Fundamental Reboot"
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 9 November 2008 - The world needs to examine the basic operating systems that drive its economies, markets and societies and aim for a "fundamental reboot" to establish a fresh platform based on renewed confidence and trust, and on sustainability, responsibility and ethical principles. That was the over-arching message that 700 of the world's top thought leaders from business, government, academia and civil society delivered at the end of the inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, convened by the World Economic Forum in partnership with the Government of Dubai.
After three days of intense brainstorming on the most pressing global issues and risks, including how to shape the post-crisis international financial system, members of the 68 Global Agenda Councils, who came to Dubai from over 60 countries, offered assessments of the state of the world in their focus areas and initial outlines of solutions and approaches. The 68 Councils brought together leading experts to tackle some of the key issues facing the world, from financial insecurity to global warming and from the future of the Internet to water security. The work of the Councils, which will continue to meet throughout the year, will be taken forward to the Forum's 2009 Annual Meeting, which will take place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from 28 January to 1 February under the theme "Shaping the Post-Crisis World".
The Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai "has enhanced our shared understanding of the state of the world and the complexities of the issues," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. "This Summit has heightened our appreciation of the urgency and necessity to address global challenges in an integrated way and what needs to be done to improve the state of the world." Organized by the World Economic Forum's Network of Global Agenda Councils, the timely Summit is only the beginning of a unique global collaboration to confront the key challenges facing the world across several issues, industries and regions. The aim: to establish "brain trusts" for solving critical global problems through crosscutting, innovative solutions.
According to Summit Co-Chair Mohamed Alabbar, Member of the Dubai Executive Council and Chairman of Emaar Properties, "the Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai is among the most path-breaking initiatives undertaken by the modern world." He added: "As the world's largest brainstorming event, it is not merely about setting agendas; it is about laying the groundwork towards practical and actionable solutions. We are confident that the deliberations of this Summit will be of immense value to the people of the world for the long term." Dubai will host next year's Summit on the Global Agenda, which will take place from 4 to 6 October 2009.
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Maximum Height for Trailers Now to be 4.65 m- Commercial Motor Report
The Road Safety Authority in Ireland has drafted new legislation which provides for a national maximum vehicle and load height limit of 4.65m. As a result of the new regulations, high cube trailers will be banned from all roads in Southern Ireland. The Road Traffic (Construction and Use of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 comes into operation on 1 November this year, but will not apply until 1 November 2013 to tractor units or trailers registered before the regulation commences.
As well as affecting all vehicles entering Ireland from the UK, via roll-on roll-off ferries across the Irish Sea, the legislation also means that haulage operators in Northern Ireland, who still operate under UK regulations, will not be able to take a vehicle with a load of more that 4.65m across the border. Tom Wilson, head of policy for Ireland at the Freight Transport Association told Commercial Motor: "This legislation will lead to a significant increase in Lorries on the roads of southern Ireland and have an adverse effect on the environment."
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Container Ships - Whipping and Springing
Shipyards designing new ultra large container ships (ULCS) of over 10,000 teu will be able to rely on Bureau Veritas' new Guidelines for Ultra Large Container Ships. Specific attention is paid to whipping and springing, two dynamic phenomena which increase in importance as the ship size increases. A number of studies performed for ultra large container ships show that they cause amplification of the hull girder bending stresses, as well as a measurable contribution to the accumulation of fatigue damage in structural details.
For a typical ULCS, with a length of over 360 m, speed of about 25 knots, and large open deck structure, whipping and springing have to be considered at the design stage. Whipping effects can cause an increase of about 20 per cent in the total vertical bending moment and an increase in short-term fatigue damage accumulation by a factor of up to 100 per cent for some head sea
conditions.
The increase in effect on the long-term, whipping-induced, fatigue damage accumulation has been found to be in the order of 3 to 5 per cent for whipping and 4 to 10 per cent for springing.
BV's new Guidelines provide a comprehensive methodology to perform this assessment at the design stage, which will help shipyards building safe and reliable container ships.
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Airfreight / E-Freight goes live in Luxembourg
E-Freight most recently went live in Luxembourg which makes it the thirteenth e-freight location worldwide to deliver paper-free cargo.
E-Freight is now operational in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Mauritius, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and the US.
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IATA E-Freight Handbook Now Available On-line
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TCS Celebrates First Year of Helping SMEs
Translogic Limited, the specialist training subsidiary of the International Airline Marketing Group, is celebrating a successful first year in management consultancy, following the launch of Translogic Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2007.
TCS was created to provide corporate clients with a wide array of services spanning strategic direction, business planning, systems, HR, financial management and sales and marketing. TCS handles re-engineering of existing companies, feasibility studies and implementation of new operations both for Irish-based and overseas clients.
Successful projects to date have included total reviews of financial and compliance matters, the development and implementation of marketing plans, establishment of management and staff reporting systems, and streamlining of booking procedures and admin processes. Clients to date have included transport companies, manufacturers, holiday and leisure operators, food importers, machinery installers and retailers both in Ireland and overseas. The company has found most demand from small- to medium-sized operations.
Says Translogic MD Malcolm Knox: "It is often very difficult for companies in the SME sector to obtain quality advice and external management support at a cost which is acceptable. Such services are generally the preserve of larger organizations, which are better able to absorb the normally high costs. We launched TCS to fill a void: smaller companies are often the ones which are most in need of qualified assistance. The creation of TCS has placed the benefits of heavyweight management skills within their reach. And its success to date proves that there is a real need for this service."
Established in 2002, Translogic is involved in training for specialist sectors such as dangerous goods handling, Customs procedures and Aviation Security.
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CBP publishes Importer Security Filing Rule (10+2)
Customs and Border Protection in the USA published its much-anticipated Importer Security Filing rule in a recent Federal Register. The interim rule, known as 10+2, will take effect Jan. 25, 2009, with enforcement to begin one year later. The interim rule includes an additional public comment period for certain data elements and economic effects of the rule.
The 10 additional data elements from importers and two from carriers that Customs will require are those that appeared in the proposed rule earlier this year:
-- Seller;
-- Buyer;
-- Manufacturer or supplier;
-- Location where container is stuffed;
-- Party to whom the goods are shipped;
-- Consolidator or stuffer.
The rule also will require the importer of record number, consignee number, 10-digit harmonized tariff number, and country of origin. Customs says these four elements are identical to the ones importers currently report on entry statements. Carriers will be required to filed the vessel stow plan, and carrier status messages. Importers will file their data through the Automated Broker Interface; carriers will file by way of the Automated Manifest System. All but two elements must be filed with Customs 24 hours before a container is loaded aboard ship. The name and location of the party stuffing the container must be filed 24 hours before vessel arrival. The interim rule changes the penalties for failure to file from the value of the merchandise to $5,000 per violation, to be covered by the rule's new bonding requirements. Customs is allowing flexibility in what importers report in six data elements: manufacturer, consolidator, stuffing location, country of origin, tariff commodity number, and the "ship to" party. The agency is soliciting additional public comment on the six elements, and is asking companies and trade groups to comment on the costs of compliance and new flexibility in the rules. The deadline for comments is June 1, 2009. Customs also is planning a series of public meeting to discuss the interim rule and its economic effects, beginning in Boston and New York-New Jersey, in February. Information from the comments and meetings will be used in a structured review by the Department of Homeland Security and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Based on the information received, they will determine to change or eliminate the requirements.
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China Decree No 172
APL recently alerted customers to the enforcement of new advance manifesting requirements by Chinese Customs as follows:
"Dear Valued Customer,
Chinese Customs will begin enforcing a new rule on advance manifesting (Decree No. 172), effective 1st January 2009. This will require significant changes to the shipment processes for all cargo on vessels that load at foreign ports and are destined or transshipped at ports in China, as well as cargo loading out of ports in China. The rule will have an impact on many of our customers, as it requires that both shippers and carriers adopt disciplines and processes at both foreign ports and ports in China to ensure timely manifesting of cargo. The rule however does not affect Hong Kong, which as a Special Administration Region of China, is outside the jurisdiction of this rule.
What does this new rule mean?
For cargo destined or transshipped at ports in China, the inbound manifest for cargo must be electronically submitted to Chinese Customs 24 hours prior to loading at foreign ports.
For cargo loaded out of ports in China, a pre-manifest has to be electronically submitted to Chinese Customs 24 hours prior to loading and a final manifest submitted 30 minutes before loading.
What is APL doing in response to these requirements?
APL has assigned a special task force to:
Develop the operational and commercial processes that will facilitate compliance with the new requirements.
Identify the specific impact of the regulations on our customers.
Develop and communicate the deadlines for receipt of manifest information at each load port location.
Establish protocols for communications with shippers and NVOCCs about 'load/no-load' messages from Chinese Customs.
Design and develop systems enhancements to lessen the impact of this new requirement on the flow of cargo.
How will this affect you?
In order to meet the requirements of the new rule, shippers or their partner forwarders will need to review supply chain processes in their sourcing locations and ensure that manifest information is provided to their Ocean Carriers much earlier in the shipment process.
We will continue to work with Chinese Customs on the implementation of this new rule and communicate with you on the impacts of this new regulation. Regular updates will also be made available online from our website, www.apl.comYou can find further information (in Chinese) from the Chinese Customs at: www.customs.gov.cn
In the meantime, if you have questions or require more information on the matter, please contact your local APL Sales or Customer Service representative.
Yours sincerely,
Kieran
APL Ireland."
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Food Prices: Biofuel Not to Blame
Prices of major grains and oilseeds such as corn, wheat, soya-beans and palm oil that are used to make biofuels are tumbling, possibly indicating that green fuels are less to blame for the recent global surge in food prices than first thought, Corn and soya-beans have lost more than half their value, whereas wheat now costs less than 55% less than at its highest point in March of this year. Canola fell from a high of $730 a ton earlier this year to $400 per ton in late October. Prices of other internationally traded farm products are following the same downward slope. Both cocoa and coffee have lost more than 40%, and cotton has experienced a similar trend. Major agricultural commodities are seeing falls, thereby questioning the opinions of food-versus-fuel critics.
NOTE: On 28th of October a barrel of crude oil traded at roughly $63 down from an all-time high of $147 in July 2008. This is in stark contrast to earlier projections that oil prices could reach over $200 by 2009. Meanwhile a ton of CO2 is trading at just E19.00 under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
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Agus an Focail Scoir - the Last Word....
"I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman,
"Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose."
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