Customs & Logistics News
Recent Editions
U.S.
October 03, 2016
Reminder – U.S. Food & Drug Administration Biennial Renewal Period
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), all food facilities that are required to register with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) need to submit a biennial renewal registration. FSMA requires facilities to re-register every 2 years during the period October 1 and ending December 31 in even numbered years. The renewal period opened on October 1, 2016 and must be completed by December 31, 2016 for the registration to remain in good standing. The owner, operator, or agent in charge of the facility, or a person authorized by one of them, can submit a facility’s registration renewal electronically at: http://www.access.fda.gov/
SOLAS Concerns
The verified gross mass mandate is successful in terms of submissions, 95 percent of containers have the required weight information globally. The main concern is the accuracy of weights being submitted. It is suspected that shippers are simply adding the tare weight of the container to the bill of lading weight. October 1, 2016 will mark the end of the grace period for the new rule, shippers should expect less lenient enforcement moving forward. Additional details are available at: http://www.joc.com/regulation-policy/transportation-regulations/international-transportation-regulations/solas-compliance-high-holdouts-it-and-accuracy-issues-persist_20160929.html
Global Container Terminals Truck Management System
Global Container Terminals (GST) Bayonne at the Port of New York / New Jersey will go live with a Truck Management System on October 13, 2016. The phased approach will first only require reservations (appointments) for early morning hours. The new system has the goal to reduce turn-time for motor carriers visiting the terminal and add a level of consistency to each trip. Additional detail is available at: http://globalterminalsbayonne.com/
Hanjin Bankruptcy Costing Drayage Providers
Hanjin owes trucking companies a significant amount of money for contracts in which the beneficial cargo owner pays Hanjin for delivery to their door and in turn Hanjin pays the drayage carrier directly. In the weeks leading up to the bankruptcy Hanjin continued to sign contracts with drayage carriers. It will be very difficult for them to collect from Hanjin and the cargo owners are not likely to agree to double pay for the service. Additional details: http://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/drayage/hanjin-could-cost-us-trucker-thousands-dollars_20160928.html
Canada
October 03, 2016
Canada and China Open the Door for Possible Free Trade Agreement
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met recently in Ottawa to discuss key trade disputes. At a joint press conference, they announced talks aimed at an eventual free trade agreement. Further detail as published in the Financial Post: http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/justin-trudeau-confirms-canada-china-exploring-free-trade-deal
Canada Customs “Still Stabilizing” its new Accounts Receivable Ledger (ARL)
Nine months after Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) went live with their Accounts Receivable Ledger (ARL), CBSA is still working through serious issues of payment misallocations that plagued the early stages of the transition. Many Importers received notices that they owed debts, despite making payment to their Customs broker to pay on their behalf. CBSA is working through a backlog of misallocated payments from February and March that they hope to have completed within the next three months. The transition was complicated and it included a switch from transaction-based to an importer account-based accounting.
