FIATA REVIEW Magazine of the No.107, May...

FIATA REVIEWMagazine of the International Federation of Freight ForwardersAs so ci a tions No. 107, May 2015

HQ Session – A Strong View toward the Future

Panama – Bridging Oceans, Connecting the World

FIATA’s First Fellow

FIATA REVIEW NO. 107, MAY 2015 3

Contents

FIATA Secretariat

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locks in Panama Canal.

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Editorial 5 From the President’s Desk

Focus 6 HQ Session – A Strong View toward the Futuree

Country Report14 Panama – Bridging Oceans, Connecting the World

News23 Elements of success for a TOT Learner: FFVT Special Guests

24 FIATA’s First Fellow: Mr Andrew Kemp

Personally25 Meet Paul Golland Vice President of FIATA

Here & There26 Happy Birthday!

Agenda27 Forthcoming Events

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From the President’s desk

5

Dear Colleagues and Friends

I am pleased to introduce this new issue of the FIATA Review. At the time of writing this editorial the 2015 RAME Field Meet-ing in Dubai was only a few weeks away and was expected to be an exceptional event on the FIATA calendar this year.

Most of this magazine is dedi-cated to reports on our Head-quarters’ Session held in Zurich

between the 19th and 22nd of March. This year’s HQ meetings will however also be remembered for having hosted, for the first time ever, a FIATA Fellow Award Ceremony.

Many professionals from outside our in-dustry have been contributing to the success of FIATA’s initiatives and pro-grammes, and listening to the sugges-tions coming from some of you, we have decided to express our recognition and thanks in this regard. A decision was taken by the Presidency to award the title of FIATA Fellow to Mr Andrew Kemp, the TT Club’s high ranking officer who chaired the FIATA/TT Club Young Freight Forwarder of the Year Award’s Steering Committee for many years. Ms Antonella Straulino has written a report on the ceremony which took place dur-ing the Extended Board dinner. Let me underline how important Andrew’s con-tribution has been in a programme which unifies two of the most important objec-tives of FIATA: training and progress for the younger generation.

Among the HQ guest speakers, the in-formative presentation given by Dr Ian Norton, head of the Foreign Medical Team Unit of the Red Cross /Red Crescent in Geneva, attracted great attention. Stemming

from the update on Ebola during the AB-SS meeting, Dr Norton’s presentation was a lively window looking into the enor-mous logistics challenges in cases of emer-gency. Keeping a link with the Red Cross/Red Crescent through mutual exchange of knowledge will allow FIATA to offer its assistance permanently.

I would also like to express our satisfac-tion for having signed an agreement with CIFFA for the utilisation of their Lithium Batteries Awareness e-learning course, the first tool activated by the FIATA Logistics Academy on a subject which is of utmost importance for the safety of air transport, as clearly recognised also by Glynn Huges of IATA, who too attended our HQ Session.

The most remarkable event during our HQ meetings was clearly the session which was devoted to an open discus-sion on the future of FIATA. As every organisation in our fast changing envi-ronment, FIATA too needs to look ahead and innovate in order to be able to meet its members’ expectations, a clear sign of the strength of FIATA. The Presidency had decided to hand over the guidance of this session to those of you who had been more proactive in proposing innova-tive steps. Issa Baluch, Steve Morris and Bob Voltmann conducted an effective and productive discussion. All participants have contributed with constructive ideas and comments. The conclusion has been the launch of the FIATA 2020 initiative, which will no doubt lead to a vision and action plan in the months to come to further strengthen our organisation for the benefit of our industry.

See you all in Taipei for the FIATA World Congress 2015!

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This year’s FIATA Headquarter Session

had a strong view toward the future, and

concluded significantly on this note with

an entire afternoon dedicated to an open

discussion on this very topic. FIATA 2020 will

seek to compile visions for the future as it

steers our ship forward. Zurich played host

to 2015’s event and the FIATA Secretariat had

the pleasure of welcoming 246 delegates.

AIRFREIGHT INSTITUTE (AFI)

AFI Chairman, Mr Rodolfo Sagel, started the meeting by recognising the attendance of FIATA President, Mr Francesco Parisi, and IATA Global Head of Cargo, Mr Glyn Hughes, and welcomed both gentlemen to the AFI meeting.

The New IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme

(IFACP)

Mr William Gottlieb, former AFI Chair-man and former President of FIATA, currently serving as FIATA’s Head in the Working Group on the Cargo Moderni-sation Programme made a presentation regarding the much anticipated joint programme under development by both FIATA and IATA – The IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme (IFACP).

The presentation is available on the FIA-TA website under the tabs ‘Media’ and ‘Recent Views (Downloads)’ or at: fiata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/recent_views/AFI/CAMP_Presentation_AFI_-_HQ_2015.pdf

Mr Gottlieb introduced members to the objectives of the IFACP, to re-engineer the current IATA Cargo Agency Programme to meet the needs of today’s air cargo com-munity, ensuring mutual benefits for both freight forwarders and airlines alike.

Key highlights and recent developments

Members were informed about the ben-efits of the IFACP and the key issues that have been resolved since AFI’s March 2014 Meeting when delegates in attendance endorsed the notion of a single principal-to-principal programme.

It is envisioned that the current IATA Cargo Agency Programme will be replaced by the new IFACP, which will be governed by a joint IATA-FIATA Governance Board (IFGB). The IFGB would consist of six for-warder and six airline voting delegates, and will be supported by two representatives from FIATA and two from IATA, as well as a Joint Programme Management team composed of a FIATA nominated Govern-ance Manager and an IATA nominated Op-erations Manager, all without voting rights.

The IFACP will offer a simplified govern-ance structure, reducing the administra-tive requirements to operate the pro-gramme. It addresses the reality of today’s market place where there exists a prin-cipal-to-principal relationship between freight forwarders and airlines. It has been clearly identified that more than 80% of all air cargo is booked by freight forward-ers acting as principals. The IFACP better clarifies and validates this buyer/seller relationship, and has the potential to set agreed industry standards and best prac-tices in key priority areas such as safety, security and e-commerce.

Ready for Carriage conditions, operational criteria, Dangerous Goods training, and best practices will be referenced in the new IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme Handbook helping to raise awareness of both airline and freight forwarder respon-sibilities and compliance requirements to agreed industry standards.

It is foreseen that some six to eight re-gional Joint Councils, will be established to provide local input and submit propos-als to the IATA-FIATA Governance Board. This will replace the multitudes of local assemblies and councils, which are part of today’s IATA governance structure.

The new Joint Councils will propose to IFGB the minimum local criteria for fi-nancial standing required for endorsement and retention of freight forwarders in their respective countries.

During the transition from the current programme to the new IFACP, the finan-cial and operational criteria applicable



today will continue and be transferred to IFACP, until the newly established Joint Councils have an opportunity to review the existing criteria and as necessary make recommendations to the IFGB for amend-ment.

IATA’s Cargo Accounts Settlement Sys-tem (CASS) remains ‘as is’ operated and administered by IATA on behalf of its airline members, and governed under the jurisdiction of IATA’s Cargo Agency Conference.

National Cargo Agent Associations will continue to play an important consulta-tive role in protecting the best interests

of the freight forwarder, in respect to proposed changes to CASS affecting the forwarder, through participation in local Agent Liaison Working Groups (ALWG). National Associations can (during an ALWG meeting) refuse implementation of any change that has not attracted broad consensus of its membership. FIATA too, through the IATA-FIATA Consultative Council (IFCC), will continue monitoring changes to CASS, and raising objections or comments as necessary to protect the forwarder’s interests.

The IFACP will be a self-funded pro-gramme, with fees being paid by both participating airlines and forwarders.

The IFGB will set the programme budget and fee schedule, in consideration of the following key principles: IFACP will be funded by the participating freight for-warders and airlines based on the num-ber of locations per country, and freight forwarders and airlines will pay the same amount for each location. At the new programme’s outset in 2017, airline and freight forwarder fees will not exceed the levels paid in 2014–2015. The IATA Cargo Agency Conference, at a meeting held on 10 March 2015 endorsed unani-mously the implementation of the IFACP to replace the current Cargo Agency and Intermediary Programmes and adopted a new IATA CASS participation Resolution to allow for the transition from the cur-rent programme to the new IFACP. This endorsement and resolution will come into effect following the signature of the IATA-FIATA Cooperation Agreement.

Implementation

Mr Gottlieb informed the meeting that a global IFACP implementation for January 2017 was still on target and that it would be accomplished through staggered re-gional implementations during a roll-out period. It is anticipated that the IFACP will be able to start with a pilot imple-mentation project in Canada and South America in the third quarter of 2015.

During the rollout period, IATA’s Cargo Agency Conference will need to rescind applicable Agency Programme Resolutions to coincide with IFACP implementation.

Current participants of the IATA Cargo Agency/Intermediary Programme will be provided with a new IFACP Freight For-warder Agreement and a new IATA CASS Participation Agreement (if CASS exists in the region). Upon execution and receipt


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of those completed agreements, the par-ticipant will become an Endorsed Freight Forwarder under the IFACP, and continues to participate in CASS. No further assess-ment will be required.

If a current participant of the IATA Cargo Agency Programme does not wish to join the IFACP, it may relinquish its IATA accreditation status.

New Applications

A freight forwarder, who had not been a participant in the current IATA Cargo Agency Programme, may apply to become an endorsed member of the IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme (IFACP) by sub-mitting an application and by meeting the defined financial and operational criteria.

That freight forwarder will be provided with the IFACP Freight Forwarder Agree-ment and the IATA CASS Participation

Agreement (if CASS exists in the region). The CASS Participation Agreement will contain the IATA CASS rules as adopted by the Cargo Agency Conference. It is mandatory for the members of IFACP to join the local CASS, if it exists.

Next Steps

Finally members were advised that FIATA has engaged the international law firm of K&L Gates LLP, to undertake a legal due diligence process, which will include:

• Competition law compliance• Governance• Rules and Procedures outlined in the

draft Programme Handbook • Taxation issues• Legal recommendations to the FIATA

Presidency

Subject to the outcome of the legal review and recommendations from K&L Gates to

the FIATA Presidency, FIATA and IATA would enter into an IATA – FIATA Coop-eration Agreement.

FIATA President, Mr Parisi, expressed thanks to the Airfreight Institute, the CAMP Working Group and to IATA, for their great efforts during the past three years. He stated that there was no doubt this body had been engaged in the very important matter of modernising the Car-go Agency Programme and that with AFI close to completing its work, he hoped to be finalising the next steps shortly.

CASS Defaults vs CASS Turnover

The CASS Conundrum “The remedy is worse

than the disease”

Mr William Gottlieb briefed the delega-tion about AFI’s activities and responsibil-ities connected to IATA CASS resolutions as they currently exist and how they are related to the current IATA programme


in which forwarders participate. In this context of consultations with IATA and the airlines AFI each year receives a huge amount of documentation, in excess of a few hundred pages. AFI processes this information diligently and thoroughly to identify areas and issues that affect the freight forwarder. These results in recommendations within the remit of the IATA-FIATA Consultative Council (IFCC) which includes: supporting or amending, or rejecting proposed changes to CASS, and launching a dialogue in advance of these proposals being tabled at an IATA Cargo Agency Conference (CAConf) meeting. It has been routinely commented by the AFI delegates that CASS issues make up the majority of the CAConf agendas, and that there should be an analysis done to determine if there is justification for such emphasis on CASS and “Protecting the Airlines Cargo Receivables”.

This has led AFI over the past several years to request from IATA more and more CASS data, in order to better understand if there still remains a need for the complex set of IATA Resolutions crafted over sev-eral decades, to govern the operations of CASS, and protect the money of airlines. Examples of information include: number of defaults, number of irregularities, CASS turnover by country, monetary amounts of defaults and of amounts uncollected. This will allow AFI to get a better picture whether all the focus on protecting money due to airlines through CASS was indeed reasonable and justifiable based on the risks involved, at least from the forwarders perspective.

Mr Gottlieb showed some examples based on IATA numbers received:

Such results could be taken as indicative of what is representative of CASS operations globally and could be insightful in terms of drawing a relationship between IATA’s CASS rules and the reality of the day-to-day risks airlines actually incur in collect-ing freight charges due from forwarders through CASS.

Mr Glyn Hughes, IATA Global Head of Cargo confirmed that all the other regions would probably show a similar picture. It was worth commenting on how successful the forwarding industry is. Because the last four years had been a pretty dramatic time for the industry and during that pe-riod the forwarding industry has contin-ued to maintain such an incredibly high level of successful payment. From an IATA perspective, they certainly applaud the efforts taken by the forwarding industry to be so financially sound. Where there are unfortunately cases of default there are sorts of financial measures or securities in place to deal with this on a reasonable basis. Reasonable measures to address reasonable levels of risk. It is important to identify what is an acceptable level of risk versus the cost of addressing that risk.

Mr Hughes praised the IFCC on playing a huge role, and FIATA for having a very strong voice, at the IFCC. There are lots of financial criteria proposals that go to the IFCC for discussion, and there are a lot of requirements to ensure there is dialogue at national level. Mr Hughes encouraged all FIATA Association Members to make contact with their IATA office. Let them know: “: “The IATA Offices to include the forwarders associations into these lo-cal mechanisms which are as well estab-lished to look at local financial criteria, to get them involved because they have

a voice. Not a block-ing voice, which was rarely encountered. More often than not

they were getting credibly good dialogue in those forums as everybody has the same objective, to be creating a solid and robust air cargo industry.

Mr Gottlieb then used this discussion to lead into his next presentation titled: CASS and the role of FIATA and National

Associations of Cargo Agents

Mr Gottlieb suggested that FIATA As-sociation Members utilize the support, which FIATA and AFI can provide, when they are involved in local discussions with IATA and CASS. AFI is here to help, not to represent the associations but to provide information and advice based on a vast amount of experience assisting other forwarder association colleagues, in terms of what policies are fair and reasonable, al-lowing our FIATA Association Member to decide, how to apply this guidance, to the CASS issues being faced in their country. There is not one global solution to CASS issues, and that is why there are numerous local CASS criteria, but AFI can offer some very useful guidelines.

The CASS rules are established in IATA Cargo Resolutions, and FIATA Associa-tion Members need to understand what those Resolutions state and what rights they provide to the various parties (For-warders, Airlines, National Associations, FIATA and IATA) and how the CASS process works.

Mr Gottlieb cited IATA Cargo Resolution 851(f ) – Agents

Liaison Working Groups

In all CASS countries, the Cargo Agency Conference hereby establishes an Agents Liai-son Working Group, to ensure full considera-tion between IATA and participating carriers with the national association(s) of cargo agents, on the operation of the CASS-Export and CASS-Import. In particular, the AL-WG shall ensure that any enhance-ments or modifications to the system,

IATA Americas – 2014 IATA North Asia – 2014

CASS Turnover: US$ 2.0 Billion CASS Turnover: US$ 6.78 Billion

CASS Defaults: 37 CASS Defaults: Unknown

CASS Loss: US$ 1,729.00 CASS Loss: “Collection Rate 100%”

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affecting the Agent’s interests, have been discussed with, and have attracted a broad consensus, from the agents associa-tion, prior to implementation of them.

This Resolution provides the FIATA Asso-ciation Member the opportunity to ensure that whatever changes to CASS have been put forward, no matter from where they originate, they can be denied implemen-tation, if the national association does not provide broad support and/or broad consensus for its implementation.

AFI is available to its Association Mem-bers and ready to help them understand how IATA’s CASS operates and the IATA Resolutions that allow that operation. AFI is available to help and guide FIATA As-sociation Members through the process so they can best represent their membership.

Mr Gottlieb’s presentation then finished with some remarkable local examples and explanations of best practices and AFI CASS criteria guidelines, which both en-courage and empower the FIATA Associa-tion Member to take the best decision, to protect their membership’s interests.

Other Matters

Ms Ruth Snowden, Executive Director of the Canadian International Freight For-warders Association (CIFFA), presented a case study on e-learning by the FIATA Logistics Academy covering the interna-tional use of their Air Dangerous Goods Course and about FIATA’s steps to engage in online training for freight forwarders for the Shipping of Lithium Batteries by Air.

Dr Paul Tsui, Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Limited (HAFFA), present-ed “A Common e-Platform to Facilitate e-Commerce and Supply Chain Informa-tion Flow for Hong Kong”.

As usual, FIATA Association Members will receive complete AFI minutes with the various presentations attached. In-terested FIATA Review readers may consult their Association Members for more details.

CUSTOMS AFFAIRS INSTITUTE (CAI)

The recent meeting of the Customs Af-fairs Institute focused on the integration of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF) with the aim of creating trade facilitation committees to galvanise and facilitate trade with the intention of stimulating economic growth.

In addition the meeting recognised Mr Ferdinand Desmazières, Policy Advisor for CLECAT, one of FIATA’s representatives to various World Customs Organisation (WCO) sub-groups and noted his first re-port on the progress of key topics of CAI and the WCO since the last meeting.

CAI Chairman, Mr Steve Morris, particu-larly brought the meeting’s attention to Article 13.2 of the Agreement on Trade

Facilitation, which requires Facilitation Agreement signatories to establish and/or maintain a national committee on trade facilitation or otherwise designate an existing mechanism to facilitate both domestic coordination and implementa-tion of the provisions of the agreement. This requirement provides leverage for national FIATA Association Members to drive agendas in regulatory interfaces with service providers and international trad-ers. This could be part of the committee outcomes, for associations to be part of such a committee, whose deliberations, in terms of facilitation, would push WTO ATF outcomes.

In this regard CAI had developed a Posi-tion Paper whereby FIATA encourages the competent authorities in signatory coun-tries (e.g. Customs, Department of Trade, Department of Foreign Affairs, Minis-try of Finance) to engage with FIATA Association Members in their particular country or region, and vice versa in the coming months, to further this aim and co-create an action plan which supports the creation of a National Committee on Trade Facilitation with the aim of foster-ing fruitful implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.


The Chairman encouraged FIATA As-sociation Members to be proactive in addressing their respective ministerial representatives on the timely need to cre-ate such a National Committee on Trade Facilitation, while noting which regula-tory agency would be best placed to lead such a committee.

The relevant agency needs the ability and capability to address issues in a holistic sense. A number of trade facilitation is-sues, which will arise from developments to the ATF, in some way conflict the tradi-tional policy and process of some customs authorities that are traditionally focused on the control of policies and processes of customs, biosecurity and international transport security issues rather than on the facilitation aspect.

For more technical information on the meeting’s key topic, the new trade pact, please visit: https://mc9.wto.org/system/files/documents/w8_0.pdf

MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT INSTITUTE (MTI)

The Chairman of the Multimodal Trans-port Institute, Mr Robert Keen (United Kingdom), welcomed a large number of participants to the meeting.

ROAD

Mr Kostas Sandalcidis (Turkey), Chair-man Working Group Road Transport, introduced TRANSPark, a free-of-charge IRU app which is available in 9 languages, to the delegation. The app helps commer-cial drivers and road transport managers search, locate and contact over 4000 park-ing areas in some 40 countries worldwide. It lists the security features and amenities available within each parking area and adds an extra level of security and comfort for drivers, who have to follow strict driv-

ing and rest time rules that sometimes force them to stop at unsafe roadsides or insecure parking areas.

The WG Road Transport welcomes the positive outcomes of a meeting held be-tween the Russian President’s Admin-istration and IRU that the extension of the Russian TIR agreement with the guaranteeing association ASMAP has been concluded until 30 June 2016.

This is of course a very positive develop-ment, and additional proof of the increas-ing importance of the TIR Convention for facilitating and securing trade in Rus-sia as well as across the entire Eurasian region and beyond. FIATA and IRU of course welcome the very clear and deci-sive instructions given by the Russian President. However, considering the lack of further details at this stage, vigilance remains in order. It could be possible that practical problems could still occur at border-crossing points in Russia in the near future until the new instructions are fully implemented.

FIATA has been informed that China Customs confirmed that the TIR file was submitted to the Chinese State Council which is the competent body for deposit-ing the TIR accession instrument to the UN. The Chinese Ambassador to the UN confirmed at the end of January 2015 that TIR accession is underway. The Ministry of Transport’s feedback is in favour of TIR and the Ministry of Public Security has approved the TIR file.

The Administration of Quality Inspec-tion, Supervision and Quarantine have co-signed the petition and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs required feedback from Hong Kong before 15 March 2015.

Furthermore, the MTI took note that:• Turkey has definitely decided to sus-

pend the pre-advice concerning road freight for import cargoes;

• the only remarkable cross-border prob-lem seems to be between Turkmenistan and Iran on both sides;

• the implemented pre-advice system in Hungary seems to be reliable for road hauliers and works well;

• Clandestine is a remarkable problem for road freight operators especially at the Channel between France and the United Kingdom.

RAIL

Dr Ivan Petrov (Bulgaria), Chairman Working Group Rail Transport, referred to Rail Freight Corridors (RFC / TEN-T) and mentioned that the RFC are eligible under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The specific objective of the CEF Multi-Annual work plan is rail interoper-ability. The vast majority of CEF funding will be directed at major cross-border projects and projects addressing main bot-tlenecks on the nine TEN-T multimodal Core Network Corridors. Each Corridor will benefit from a coordinated implemen-tation – with Corridor Work Plans and an innovative governance structure.

The main funding objectives are: • Removing bottlenecks and bridging

missing links, enhancing rail interoper-ability, and, in particular, improving cross-border sections.

• Ensuring sustainable and efficient transport systems in the long run, with a view to preparing for expected future transport flows, as well as enabling all modes of transport to be decarbonised through transition to innovative low-carbon and energy-efficient transport technologies, while optimising safety.

• Optimising the integration and in-terconnection of transport modes and enhancing the interoperability of trans-port services, while ensuring the acces-sibility of transport infrastructures.

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Single Wagon Loads (SWL) or Wagon Groups are one of the core businesses for rail freight forwarders. The EU Commis-sion’s study on Single Wagon Loads has been finalised. Studies are being under-taken on Last-mile issues such as support programmes and methods to facilitate access to information regarding Last-mile infrastructure. Funding is available for freight services equipment under the Con-necting Europe Facility call. Over the past years, Single Wagon Load traffic faced profitability and quality problems in many European countries and experienced difficulty in keeping pace with chang-ing market requirements. Nevertheless in most European countries – especially in countries with the largest rail freight mar-kets – Wagonload still forms the backbone of rail freight.

Four main factors were reported by stake-holders and confirmed by the evidence:• A decrease in the trade of some specific

“captive” commodities• SWL supply “rightsizing” or abandon-

ment by Railway Undertakings (RUs) in some countries (due to budget con-straints)

• Increased competition by road freight transport which requires remaining price-competitive despite increases in fuel prices

• Customers perceive quality as insuffi-cient, particularly for international flows

Over recent years, rail traffic between China and Europe has become increasingly popular. Urumqi has been developed as the Chinese platform for this rail traffic. A maximum of 5% of Chinese exports to Europe can be transported by this route due to capacity, transport prices, etc., and therefore it must still be seen as a growing and important niche market. For the time being 0.5% of the goods flowing between Asia and Europe are transported by rail. The available potential is huge.

The new situation appears both at-tractive and complex, with a number of goals we would like to reach in future. There are various topics on the table that could become the objective of the enlarged UIC/FIATA Permanent Contact Group’s delib-erations. The next meeting will take place 23–24 April 2015 in Vienna, Austria.

It has been decided that the 7th Market Place Seminar on 24 and 25 September 2015 will be held in Antwerp, Belgium. There are various practical topics to dis-cuss and all modes of transportation are represented in Antwerp (overseas, road, rail, intermodal, barge, etc.)

MARITIME

Mr Jens Roemer (Belgium), Chairman Working Group Sea Transport, reported that the Federal Maritime Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemak-ing (NPRM). This new proposal would eliminate or reduce the burden of many of the proposals in the previous Advance No-tice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM). TIA filed comments on the NPRM which was supported by FIATA in a separate letter and questioned additional claims relating to license renewal requirements, as well as attempts by the FMC to increase regulation of agents of freight forwarders and NVOCCs. Final action on the pro-posed revisions is expected later this year. The OTI bond amounts are expected to stay at current levels.

CLECAT and FIATA have always insisted that ENS (Entry Summary Declaration) should allow freight forwarders acting as carrier to file certain data elements directly to customs, on FBL level equal to dual filing, and that this filing can be done to one single European access point. The recently published new Union Customs Code (UCC) permits dual filing.

ENS filings must be made to the European Customs office of first entry 24 hours be-fore a container is loaded onto a ship for transport to the EU. A major point for dis-cussion remains the identity of the ‘buyer’ and ‘seller’ of the goods before vessel load-ing. If this regulation is implemented in its current draft, exporters to the EU will be required to provide the identity of the buyers of their goods to their carrier or NVOCC prior to vessel loading, for them to be able to provide a complete ENS fil-ing. A number of trade associations are op-posing the Commission’s current proposal because the identity of the buyer should not be part of the ENS.

So far the Commission has refused to fol-low the US, who obtains this data from the importer (triple filing). The Commission argues that at the time the ENS is lodged, the importer cannot be traced. The lowest level consignee can be traced – they are mentioned in the bills of lading – but the importer cannot. Deadlines are getting tight. Commission regulations for the im-plementation of the UCC are scheduled to be adopted in May 2015 so that they can take effect 1 May 2016.

The Working Group Sea Transport has discussed the item Surcharges Enforced by Shipping Lines. Whilst the WG is fully aware of, and committed to comply with competition rules, we came to the conclusion that FIATA must be allowed to discuss and comment on the principle


of surcharges, but does not have the in-tention and cannot comment on specific rates, charges or fees of specific shipping lines. FIATA felt that it should be allowed to raise opinions on the basic principle of unsupported and unjustified surcharges. Surcharges should not be accepted on face value but members should be encouraged to question them and ask for proof that such charges have actually been incurred. What the trade needs is more transpar-ency and clarity on various surcharges. FIATA has been providing updates for the past three years on amendments to IMO’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Regulation and has held the view that imposing re-strictions on all containers is wrong. The vast majority of containers shipped are legitimate, and there should be greater use of intelligence and sanctions against shippers that offend.

The mandatory requirement for the cer-tificated verification of container weights prior to vessel loading will enter into force in 14 months’ time in July 2016 and it will have a significant impact on the work of freight forwarders.

The Working Group is afraid that many governments are not well prepared for the introduction of this requirement in their country. Feedback from various countries demonstrates that dialogue sessions be-tween stakeholders and relevant govern-ment authorities have started.

The main discussion concerns Method No. 2: The shipper may weigh all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material, and add the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses using a certified method.

Method No. 2 is subject to approval by the competent authority of the state in which the packing and sealing of the container

was completed. In the European Union, some trade associations are lobbying their government authorities to accept exist-ing process methods for establishing the container weight.

The focus is on existing audited and docu-mented weighing procedures that would be acceptable by the competent author-ity. Container weights provided by ship-pers operating in accordance with audited Quality Management Systems, Author-ised Economic Operator documentation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) data should be regarded as acceptable for the competent authorities.

As of 1 January 2015, the IMO legisla-tion to reduce the maximum amount of sulphur in fuels, is in force. There are currently 4 Emission Control Areas estab-lished by the IMO:• The Baltic Sea• The North Sea• The North American Area• The United States Caribbean Sea AreaShipping Lines have started to implement surcharges after the official introduction in January 2015.

The electronic FIATA Multimodal Trans-port Bill of Lading (FBL) is a reality and interested parties should contact the secre-tariat or visit the FIATA website for more information.

In a related development, FIATA continues to participate in the UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Transferable Documents.

At the latest session in Vienna, FIATA’s contractor, ESS, gave a demonstration to the delegates on the electronic Bill of Lading. The Working Group is expected to complete its work at its next session in New York in May 2015. This would set global rules for the use of electronic docu-ments of title, such as the FIATA FBL, in

those countries that adopt the Code. Hav-ing such a standard set of rules may help to promote wider use of the electronic FIATA Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading.

The following items were covered but no fundamental changes need to be reported on these topics: the application of Chinese Rate Filing Regulations, Chinese VAT in practice, Chinese CCAM, Japanese Advance Filing Rules (AFR), and the Rot-terdam Rules.

ADVISORY BODY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (ABIA)

The Advisory Body International Affairs (ABIA) held its first Headquarters meet-ing inviting the FIATA family to an engaging and interactive session to discuss ABIA’s works and its future plans. Being only the second ABIA meeting, ABIA Chair, Mr Babar Badat provided a short re-cap of the body’s objectives. He informed the participants that ABIA will work to create greater visibility for FIATA and to strengthen FIATA’s relations with various multilateral organisations and relevant international institutions.

The ABIA meeting briefed delegates on the recent activities with the Asian De-velopment Bank (ADB) following ADB’s participation in the 2014 FIATA World Congress. Further communication out-lined both infrastructure and training initiatives for which the ADB and FIATA could potentially cooperate with a focus initially on the Central Asia Regional Eco-nomic Cooperation (CAREC) region how-ever not limiting only this region alone.

Another multilateral bank, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) had expressed an interest to participate in the ABIA Meeting however due to the limited time frame they were unable to attend. They have however expressed interest to work

14

Country Report

The Panamanian EconomyThe economy in Panama is arguably one of the most stable in America. Among its principal activities are financial services, tourism, logistic services, and more re-cently telecommunications. These services represent some 75% of the Gross Domestic Product of the country. In recent years, Panama’s economy has experienced a boom, with growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) averaging over 10.4% from 2006–2008. Panama’s economy has been among the fastest grow-ing and best managed in Latin America.

Tourism in PanamaThere are many tourism models currently existing in Panama. Shopping, business, conventions, and beach tourism are popu-lar areas. Luxury destinations and eco-tourism are also models which are actively producing economic activity.

Many of the world’s airlines fly into Pan-ama including Iberia, Continental, KLM, Taca, American Airlines, Condor and Panama’s national carrier COPA, amongst others. This list is indicative of the rela-tive ease with which Panama can be reached through its hub: the International Airport of Tocumen.

Many principal cruise liners offer transits through the Panama Canal. In the last two years expenditure on tourism in Panama has reached some US$ 3.316 million, a growth rate of 6.7% per annum, demon-strating therefore the importance of tour-ism to Panama’s economy.

Panama as a Logistics HubThe geographic position of Panama and the strategic advantage it enjoys thanks to its interoceanic canal, the world re-

nowned Panama Canal, enable the convergence of 144 interna-tional trade routes. Additionally the country has se-cured 5 fibre optic cables connecting it to the world which are highly beneficial for the growing telecom-munications in-dustry. All of the above contributes to promote the country as a logis-tics centre and a place where peo-ple can meet to do business relat-ing to different transportation activities, infrastructure developments, and auxiliary services. Panama also enjoys important inclusion in free trade zones such as the Free Zone of Latin America, and the Colon Free Trade Zone, which contributes to its reputation as a centre for distribution in its hemi-sphere. There are thus permanent im-provements and modernisations to ware-houses and ports, and the construction of new and improved facets to facilitate the flow of trade of all kinds of merchandise. The industry in Panama is determined to remain at the forefront of modern technology and is always ready to offer a wide range of excellent services and a wide variety of products.

The Colon Free Trade Zone is the fifth largest organisation of its kind in the world with one of the largest logistics

distribution reaches worldwide with some 2000 companies operating under its umbrella. Panama Port System consists of 26 ports of which 19 are managed by the Maritime Authority of Panama through the Directorate General of Ports and Auxiliary Maritime Industries. These are mostly small ports which serve inter-national demand and coastal shipping. The remaining seven ports are managed and operated by private companies that develop their activities under the supervi-sion of the Directorate General, through the captaincies of ports.

Panamanian ports represent a good option for investment and are competent agents for the following services: loading and unloading; warehousing; trans-shipments; consolidations; storage and distribution of bulk cargo; rental, cleaning, repair and storage of containers; cargo insurance; management of container terminals and

Sunset Punta Paitilla, Panama City

Panama–Bridging Oceans, Connecting the World


processing zones; and the administration of container terminals.

Similarly, Panama has significant re-sources and infrastructure that could be integrated to form a world class regional logistics platform as follows: the Panama Canal, the Interoceanic Railway, world class ports at both ends of the Panama Canal, the Colon Free Trade Zone, roads that connect major cities, and the Tocu-men International Airport.

The Fishing Industry in PanamaFishing activity, like agricultural activity, is intended to primarily satisfy food needs, and the products of the industry are con-sumed without major transformation (or value-added processing). The focus area most developed in this particular sector of the Panamanian economy is industrial fishing. Industrial fishing in Panama is conducted largely in international waters

and there is a focus on producing products that serve as raw materials. Aquaculture is emerging as a promising activity and it should be promoted accordingly, educat-ing sector players on developing species that are profitable and are experiencing growing demand in the market. However, the fall in trade in industrial fisheries, whose product is intended for export, has affected the sector’s performance in recent years. The damage to mangroves and coral reefs (sedimentation from deforestation) that constitute points of reproduction and development of various species, tradition-ally places where the Panamanian fishing industry has been commercialised, is cur-rently threatened.

Infrastructural DevelopmentPanama offers a modern and technologi-cally advanced banking system, and has one of the most stable banking jurisdic-tions in the world. The systems and com-munications infrastructure of Panama is comparable to any first world country. Telephone, internet and cellular commu-nications are offered in Panama by some of the largest communications companies in the world, and enjoys superior access to multiple bands of continental fibre optic networks in telecommunications infra-

structure. The extremely low risk of natu-ral disasters such as hurricanes, etc., gives Panamanian telecommunications security and reliability of service, a competitive advantage over other jurisdictions.

All the above benefits, incentives and in-frastructure place Panama as an ideal loca-tion for internet service providers, online trade service providers, external services providers, broadband content providers, and new media traffic exchange.

Culture, customs and languageThe culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbe-an and Spanish. About 93% of the popula-tion speak Spanish as their first language, though many citizens speak both English and Spanish or native languages, such as Ngäbere. 8 out of 10 Panamanians living in the banking sector of the city of Panama are bilingual in English and Spanish.

Panama, partly owing to its historical reli-ance on commerce, is an ethnically diverse society. It has considerable populations of Afro-Antillean and Chinese origin. The first Chinese immigrated to Panama from southern China to help build the Panama Railroad in the 19th century.

Sunset Punta Paitilla, Panama City

Panama – Facts & FiguresOfficial name Panama

Capital city Panama City

Form of government Unitary presidential constitutional republic

Area 75,517 km2 (29,157 sq mi)

Population 3,608,431 (July 2014)

Ethnic groups 70% Mestizo, 14% Zambo, 10% White, 6% Amerindian

Official language Spanish

Administrative Divisions 10 Provinces

Panama–Bridging Oceans, Connecting the World

16

Focus

together with us and FIATA will continue to engage with them.

Following FIATA’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Bank (WB), signed at the FIATA World Congress in Istanbul, steps for its im-plementation were discussed. Both sides agreed that participation at the local level would be most beneficial. In addition attempts will be made to get more par-ticipants to join in the Logistics Perfor-mance Index (LPI). FIATA is currently contemplating a meeting with the WB in Washington, to take the next steps.

When ABIA first connected with the UN on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) process, logistics had not been tak-en into consideration so ABIA took this up to have logistics included in it. The meet-ing gave an outline on the SDG process, providing a historic view of the previous Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and emphasising that trade and logistics was a missing component in the MDGs not being fully implemented by member states. FIATA’s input into the design of the SDG process was presented with the work culminating into a position paper, which was published on October 15th, 2014, advocating for more emphasis and focus to be put on logistics connectivity in the Open Working Group on Sustainable

Development Goal’s P roposed Goa l s and Targets Docu-ment which out-lined 17 Sustainable Develop ment Goals and 169 targets.

Before close of the meeting, the floor was opened to del-egates for their com-ments and views. Various delegates

expressed their views on the work and importance of establishing ABIA and engaging in this form of advocacy through an international body.

ADVISORY BODY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (ABIT)

Being only the second meeting, Chair of ABIT, Ms Anne Sandretto, informed delegates they have created two working groups within ABIT, the Working Group on International Standard Bodies which will work with UNCEFACT and stand-ards and the Working Group on Practi-cal Projects which will focus on FIATA IT projects.

Guest speaker, Mr Dominique Vankem-mel, Transport and Logistics Chairman at UNCEFACT, provided an overview of UN Framework and where UNCEFACT fits within the framework as the centre for trade facilitation and electronic business. In the Transport and Logistics stream, the standards are not moulded in stone forever but are frequently updated because busi-ness is constantly changing. For example, Transport and Logistics has also moved into internet technologies keeping aware of automatic identification techniques with electronic exchange to ensure track-ing and tracing.

Ms Sandretto introduced the newly ap-proved Multimodal Transport Project (MMT) in UNCEFACT with its objective to develop a standardized semantic frame-work: an implementation tool for users as a subset of CEFACT Core Components ap-plicable to Transport and Logistics in the form of a structured data base, taking into account the security and safety aspects in relation with Customs.

Second guest speaker, Mr Richard Cresta, GS1 Switzerland, introduced GS1 high-lighting their work using barcodes known as Global Location Numbers (GLN), which are being utilised by over 1 Million member companies executing 5 billion transactions every day. Whenever possi-ble, GS1 supports global standards before creating their own standards. They have strong delegation in UNCEFACT to con-tribute to the creation of standards. GS1 Switzerland is involved in the Transport and Logistics Domain and contributing to the MMT Project.

An update was provided on the two UNCEFACT projects FIATA is currently participating in. The four discussion pa-pers from the Single Window Interoper-ability (SWI) Project is currently be-ing updated while the finalised text is expected to be completed by the 25th UNCEFACT Forum held on April 23rd, 2015. The Trusted Transboundary Project (TTP) is actively working on trust services hereafter Trust Service (TS) types and TS levels of trust definition.

Closing the meeting, FIATA gave a brief update on the practical projects with in-dustry partners. With EDI Kale’s pilot project with the Thai International Freight Forwarders Association (TIFFA), there have been approximately 6,000 EDI messages exchanged successfully for 668 shipments during the pilot project. Our project with e-FBL platform producers’ essDOCS has


seen two forwarders interested in trialling the platform after an enthusiastic reception of the FIATA e-FBL Solution at the “2014 FIATA World Congress”.

ADVISORY BODY LEGAL MATTERS (ABLM)

The FIATA ABLM met in Zurich on Thursday 19 March 2015. The meeting was chaired by FIATA Vice President, Mr Richard Gluck of the United States.

The first report was provided by Dr Miloš Pohunek from the Czech Republic who informed the delegation present about the re-codification of civil law in the Czech Republic which took effect on 1 January 2014. Fundamental changes to the Czech legal order were introduced in particular by the Annulment of the Commercial Code and thus the traditional double regulation regime of civil contractual obligations, i.e. generally by the Civil Code and specifically by the Commercial Code that was regulating, inter alia, con-tractual relations:a) between entrepreneurs (business per-sons) relating to the business activities when circumstances indicated that such relations, on being established, related to their business activities; or b) disregarding the nature of the parties, whether entrepreneurs or not, if such rela-tions resulted from the so-called “absolute business contracts”; orc) when agreed by the parties in writing that their contractual relationship which otherwise would not fall under the defini-tion of “business contractual relation” shall be governed by the Commercial Code.

The second presentation of the session was made by Ms Angela Song of Sinotrans regarding the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’. She said that the main purpose of

these initiatives was to enhance economic cooperation between Asia and Europe and to accelerate the developments of the West regions in China. There is a need to invest in infrastructure construction to facilitate transportation and trading. The official planning will probably be published on a Boao Forum for Asia and maybe this announcement will include a list of the major investment projects. Ms Song referred to the State Council Notice [2014] No. 86 and mentioned that a customs clearance reform for China has been required by various bodies (port administrative department, customs au-thorities, frontier inspections, etc.) The main asset should be information sharing, law-enforcement assistance, and oversight recognition. The purpose of the reform is to improve customs clearance efficiency and enhance trade facilitation. Therefore the main measures are to: • Set up “Single Windows”• Conduct joint inspection• Implement integrated customs clear-

ance reform• Share oversight information and equip-

ment• Innovate customs clearance modes• Construct international logistics corridors

FIATA ABLM Insurance Committee Member, Mr Michael Brown, Executive Vice President at Avalon Risk Manage-ment, reported that fraud and theft has become somewhat pervasive in today’s society. He mentioned that incidents are targeted and based on shipment intel-ligence. Freightwatch stated that year-on-year there had been a 20% decline in the number of incidents occurring but a 100% increase in the value of goods stolen in some quarters. Food, drink and electronics constitute the most stolen commodities.

He recommended the following best prac-tices to prevent theft:

• Vigilance when selecting carriers• Ensure partners maintain security

protocols• GPS tracking• Proper insurance for all parties

He referred to the item of ‘Cybercrime’ and mentioned that 49% of global CEOs were worried about cybercrime’s impact on growth. He also noted that in the US alone some 75% of companies had fallen victim to a cybercrime event of some sort.

He outlined some solutions to mitigate risk as follows: • Implement a cybersecurity program• Enforce procedures internally and

externally • Ask partners about their procedures• Use updated technology• Ensure mobile device security• Obtain Cyber Insurance

Furthermore, Mr Tommy Pilarp, Senior Legal Counsel updated the delegates on recent legal air cargo developments.

ABLM looks forward to its next meeting at the FIATA Congress 2015 in Taiwan, Chinese Taipei.

ADVISORY BODY SAFETY AND SECURITY (ABSS)

This year’s Advisory Body Safety Security (ABSS) meeting held in Zurich engaged delegates with a fast-paced agenda and an invigorating presentation from a keynote speaker. The meeting started off with an update on the always changing and com-plex topic of Lithium batteries where for future editions of the Technical Instruc-tions there would be a transition period of 90 days.

There was reassurance that the ACC3 rules have progressed without complications.

18

Focus

The meeting also highlighted FIATA’s work with the Transport Asset Protection Association (TAPA) to shed light on the situation of more than €9 billion worth of road cargo stolen in Europe annually. In addition to its work with TAPA, FIATA is also working with IATA, Express Carriers and others to highlight the negative im-pacts of a proposal put forth by the Direc-torate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to implement its Regulated Agent Scheme that would move all cargo screening away from “Line 1” to an off airport screening location defined as “Line 2” resulting in possible increased costs through double screening and lessened security.

Having been heavily involved in the dis-cussions surrounding the Joint Work-ing Group on Air Cargo Information (JWGACI), the ABSS Chair, Mr David Fielder, invited key members in the ne-gotiation to brief delegates. Mr Steve Morris, Chairman of the Customs Affairs Institute, advised that all air cargo needed to be reported to customs in a specific time frame. Transport security in the United States has requested that information be provided earlier than normal reporting. WCO and ICAO are now working to-gether to find a viable solution. Mr Marco Sorgetti, Director General FIATA, added that one recent take away was that the 7+1 data elements were not to be sur-passed. Mr William Gottlieb, Air Freight Institute member, highlighted the issue of apparent non-cooperation during the project between the Transport Security Administration (TSA) and Custom Border Protection (CBP) administrations due to competing agendas. The idea is that the WCO and ICAO would help bridge that gap in cases like the United States, and in other countries were administrations struggle to work together.

Following the briefing, Mr Fielder advised that 70% of the Ebola fund collected at

the 2014 FIATA World Congress in Istan-bul had been passed to various emergency relief organisations like the Red Cross. Mr Jean Claude Delen represented FIATA at a Red Cross event and introduced Dr Ian Norton from the WHO to deliver a presentation on his experiences working in West Africa on Ebola.

Dr Norton outlined the history of the Ebola Virus since its initial outbreak in Guinea in December 2013. He showed the development of Ebola Treatment Centres and the work required to produce them in difficult conditions. He presented numer-ous pictures of his work during his time in the field with patients and development workers. He emphasised the important role logistics plays in moving goods on site in order for medical teams and de-velopment workers to have the necessary resources to perform their work.

ADVISORY BODY VOCATIONAL TRAINING (ABVT)

Sharpen your pencils! It’s time to hit the books again with the following FIATA Di-ploma in Freight Forwarding Validations. The ABVT provides FIATA Association Members and our industry with excel-lent opportunities for continued profession-al development in all regions. The follow-ing four Association Members successfully validated their train-ing programmes at the 37th Validation/Re-Validation Ses-sion, showcasing the impact of the FIATA agenda across the globe.

FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding

Re-validations:

• Australia (CBFCA) – Customs Brokers and Forwarders Council of Australia Inc.

• Ghana (GIFF) – Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders

• Poland (PIFFA) – Polish International Freight Forwarders Association

• Chinese Taipei (IOFFLAT) – Inter-national Ocean Freight Forwarders & Logistics Association, Taiwan

The ABVT Chairman, Thomas Sim, pre-sented the latest ABVT statistics. A total of 56 FIATA Diploma in Freight Forward-ing Programmes have been validated in 53 countries. There have been significant improvements in the take-up rates of New and Re-Validated Programmes in recent years. This has resulted in the issue of 11,137 FIATA Diplomas in Freight Forwarding since 1996. Out of these, 481 were issued within the last six months. Additionally, 15 Association Mem-bers have validated the FIATA Higher Diploma in Supply Chain Management.

Concerning the FIATA Foundation Voca-tional Training, after a successful Train-the-Trainer (TOT) course conducted


in Chile at the beginning of 2015, a new course will also be implemented in Zimbabwe from April 30th to May 14th, 2015. Five international facilitators and six specialised local lecturers will be training 35 enlisted participants. Further TOTs are planned in the next months. Later in 2015 a TOT course will be con-ducted in Cameroon. Then in 2016 the FIATA Foundation will focus on Central America. Among the interested countries are Cost Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Co-lombia, Ecuador and Dominican Repub-lic. The Train-the-Trainer courses focus on the FIATA Minimum Standards for Training Fundamentals. During 15 days, participants acquire deep knowledge in the principles of learning, lesson planning and preparation, instructional methods, the use of teaching resources, assessing performance, evaluating teaching, as well as course development. The vision of having more Train-the-Trainer courses in the FIATA Region Americas responds to capacity building needs of the region.

Similarly, the ABVT Chairman updated the conference on the project focused on expanding capability of ASEAN Logistics Service Providers and Human Resource Development. 50 selected trainers from public and private sectors coming from ten ASEAN member countries attended these training offerings and are now quali-fied to acquire the FIATA Trainer Certifi-cate. The records on Trainers Certification show that since 2011, 137 Certificates have been issued.

Finally, Thomas Sim welcomed Mike Yar-wood, Chairman of the FIATA / TT Club Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award. Newly appointed to his position, the ABVT looks forward to in-novative collaboration with Mike and the TT Club. In 2015, 18 dissertations were received for the coveted award: three from the Region Africa/Middle East (RAME)

– Zambia, Egypt, and South Africa; six from the Region Asia Pacific (RAP) – China, India, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan; two from the Region Americas (RAMNS): Columbia and Canada; and seven from the Region Europe (REU) – Germany, Italy, Nether-lands, Ireland, Georgia, the UK, and Spain.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST (RAME)

This year’s meeting of the Region Africa Middle East (RAME) brought together the RAME family for another in-depth and interactive session in Zurich. RAME delegates arrived at the meeting ready to engage with their fellow colleagues and delegates on initiatives that would expand logistics in Africa and the Middle East region.

The Chairman, Mr Basil Pietersen wasted no time and dove right in. To build from the previous meeting, a quick update from the 2014 RAME meeting in Istanbul, Turkey was provided with comments from delegates to follow.

Following the previous meeting update, Mr David Philips highlighted what to ex-pect at the upcoming 2015 RAME Field Meeting to be held in Dubai, UAE from 19–20 April. The list of distinguished speakers and panel discussions will surely bring forth the success expected in Dubai.

The Field Meeting presentation was fol-lowed up with a recap from Mr Issa Baluch on the Lome Declaration with further infor-mation to come after the ICAO Conference in Madagascar held in the same month.

The RAME Meeting also invited the Ethiopian Freight Forwarders and Ship-ping Agents Association (EFFAS) and the Syndicat National Des Auxiliaires de

Transport and Transit (SYNAUTRARA) to deliver their presentation on their bid to host the 2016 RAME Field Meeting. They provided great insight into what to expect if the meeting would be held in their respective nations.

The meeting also boasted very moving presentations by two Tanzania students, Mr Ahmed Mohamed and Mr Honest Roman, which had performed incred-ibly well in the FIATA Train-the-Trainer course (TOT). Capping the meeting was an engaging presentation by Mr Rachid Tahri which showcased the impactful work of Association Des Freight Forwarders du Maroc (AFFM) in the Moroccan region.

AMERICAS (RAMNS)

The RAMNS meeting at the HQ Session 2015 brought much enthusiasm and fa-miliar ground for many of the delegates. Many of them are long-time friends happy to have the chance to see each other again.

They were all warmly welcomed to the regional meeting by the Chairman Mr Rodolfo Sagel. The beginning of the dis-cussion focused on the increase in the val-ue of stolen shipments in North America caused by the theft of entire containers and trailers. These thefts demonstrate the need for taking measures for verifying, validat-ing and preventing insider information in order to avoid this situation. The delegates discussed possible technologies, namely GPS devices, which could be implement-ed to set up a system of controls as well as ways of involving consignees.

Concerning Sea Transport, Canada raised the point about the extension of the mer-chant clause bill of lading. They have writ-ten to the Working Group Sea for advice. The issue has to do with the interpretation by carriers regarding who is the merchant

20

Focus

and who is liable. There have been several cases, especially in Vancouver, where the notified party on the bill of lading is be-ing invoiced significantly. The delegates agreed that the FIATA Membership at large needs to be better informed on com-bined transit liability policy.

Furthermore, the quorum discussed the SOLAS Act and mandatory container weighing. The requirement making con-tainer weight verification a condition for vessel loading will become legally binding on July 1st, 2016. Canada mentioned they did not have mandatory container weigh-ing and informed the audience that they have started to look for solutions.

The next topic that occupied the RAMNS delegates was the examinations of con-tainers. Mr Chris Gillespie and Ms Ruth Snowden informed the meeting about a pilot programme for point of load exami-nation that will help solve several issues. The discussion then related to empty container treatment. According to inter-national standards containers can only sit for a year, although this is rarely enforced.

The next point in the Sea Transport agenda concerned the West Coast strike. Delegates agreed that the situation is still fragile and informed the delegation that the labour negotiation was signed for five years. The recommendation is to be cau-tiously optimistic.

Finally, delegates from Mexico informed the meeting about the new terminal in La-zaro Cardenas. Phase 1 will be completed by the end of 2016.

Coming to the agenda point Air Trans-port, Chile opened the topic by thanking the FIATA Airfreight Institute for their support with the ALWB – airlines and freight forwarders will be meeting to discuss new financial policies. The Chair-

man underlined the importance of being well-informed.

Afterwards, Mexico commented that AMACARGA launched a programme to certify freight forwarders. This certifica-tion aims at getting companies ready to apply to CTPAT and specific Mexican pro-grammes. The certification is supported by the Ministry of Communications and Transport as a voluntarily regulation.

Next, the delegates discussed Vocational Training in the region. Chile provided an update on the TOT conducted in Santiago de Chile at the beginning of 2015. The FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding Course was launched in March 2015 and several participants have already enlisted. Mexico then informed that the first FIATA Diploma graduates have finalised their studies in Dominican Republic. Another class has been started in Colombia. The Central American countries, namely Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama, are willing to proceed directly with FIATA to validate their programmes.

Mr Jorge Heinermann, the President of ALACAT closed the meeting by debrief-ing delegates on the upcoming 2015 Congress of ALACAT that will be held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras from the 18th to the 20th of May 2015.

ASIA PACIFIC (RAP)

Delegates to the recently held meeting of FIATA’s Region Asia Pacific were treated to a highly informative and thoroughly interesting presentation by Mr Daniel Bont, Senior Consultant for China, Hong Kong, and Australia at Switzerland Glob-al Enterprise (S-GE). He provided those attending with sought-after insights into Switzerland’s trade promotion policies and its business activities in Asia-Pacific. He

also provided thought-provoking observa-tions on Swiss perspectives and attitudes towards Free Trade Agreements and their mutual benefits. He used the existing bilateral Free Trade Agreement between Switzerland and China as his main exam-ple to demonstrate his motions.

The role of Switzerland Global Enterprise is to act as a centre of excellence for Switzer-land’s internationalisation, and to foster and promote partnerships with the Swiss govern-ment to increase volumes of Swiss exports, imports and investments. They help clients to develop new potential for their interna-tional businesses and strengthen Switzerland as an economic hub. For more information please visit: www.s-ge.com/en.

Delegates to the meeting shared informa-tion and dialogue on current forwarding issues and benefited from the mutual exchange of experiences and insights of other delegates and associations.

The Chairman requested FIATA’s Asso-ciation Members to encourage their own members to attend the 9th Region Asia Pacific Field Meeting to be held in con-junction with the UNESCAP Regional Conference/Forum for Freight Forward-ers, Multimodal Transport Operators and Logistics Service Providers. FIATA’s meeting will be held on 24 June 2015 while that of UNESCAP will take place on 25 June 2015.

The agenda of the upcoming meeting looks promising. The objective is to in-clude presentations and speeches from delegates of international organisations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UN IDO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P), and TRAFFIC – the wildlife trade monitoring network.


Within the Thai Special Section, organ-ised by the Thai International Freight Forwarders Association (TIFFA), guests have been invited from government and from industry related service providers. FIATA Senior Vice President, Mr Suwit Ratanachinda, anticipates that TIFFA will seek high-level presenters on the issue of high-speed train routes which are pro-jected to connect China and Thailand.

For more information on the abovemen-tioned event and its registration procedure please visit the following link: fiata.com/events/fiata-meetings.html.

EUROPE (REU)

The REU meeting was chaired by Dr Ivan Petrov of Bulgaria and was attended by 40 delegates.

Mr Jan Ekl, Executive Director, Associa-tion of Forwarding and Logistics of the Czech Republic provided a country pres-entation and reported that the Czech Re-public has the privilege of geo-strategic location in the heart of Europe and there-fore is the perfect hub point for logistics freight forwarding activities. 300,000 people are working in the transport indus-try with skilled manpower which has a tradition in the industry. The Czech Re-public is a landlocked country and well known as a transit point: with east-west

and north-south traffic and vice versa. They have a dedicated high-way system which is em-bedded in the European Road Network. For dec-ades, the Czech Repub-lic has been excellently connected with their main maritime port in Hamburg.

Ms Van der Jagt, Director of CLECAT, re-ported that on 1 January 2015, Germany introduced a minimum wage of EUR 8.50 per hour which applies to German and foreign operators performing transport activities on the territory of Germany (cabotage, international transport opera-tions to and from Germany, and transit). The employee receives the amount of EUR 8.50 for each hour of work on Ger-man territory (driving and other activities recorded by the digital tachograph as work). On 30 January the German gov-ernment suspended the application of the German minimum wage rules for transit until the clarification of legal questions. This National Regulation is unjustified and excessively burdensome as regards to international transports (bilateral, transit and between the Federal Republic of Ger-many and other countries). The WG road decided to monitor further developments and encouraged the European Commis-sion to start an infringement procedure.

CLECAT has published a position paper on the review of the EU White Paper ad-dressing the future of EU transport policy. They believe that the logistics sector is best placed to consider transport as a sys-tem rather than a collection of individual modes, and this way of thinking must be adopted by the whole transport sector and policy makers. The goal must be to make all modes and the connection between them as efficient and sustainable as pos-

sible through infrastructure. The success of this will be strongly dependent on the success of key policies aimed at market opening, international cooperation and agreements safeguarding competition in international transport and trade, and greater innovation to improve the efficien-cy of all modes of freight transport. They have identified five priorities: completion of Europe’s single transport market, inter-nationalisation, digitalisation, innovation and better connectivity through sound infrastructure investment.

Unlike international transport, cabotage falls under the scope of Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers, according to which a worker providing services on a temporary basis to another Member State must benefit from local conditions of em-ployment in terms of: a) maximum work periods and minimum rest periods; b) minimum paid annual holidays; c) minimum rates of pay, including over-time rates; andd) health, safety and hygiene at work.

The European Parliament did not for-mally oppose cross border circulation of longer and heavier vehicles but they asked the EU Commission to carry out an assess-ment by 2016 of the existing practices in Member States and to evaluate the impact of the use of those vehicles before revising the current rules.

The EU Council has opened up a lot of the discussions, and aims to keep the proposals together as a package. It re-mains to be seen whether Parliament will support this approach, with rapporteurs having been appointed for second reading. The governance pillar is the most impor-tant for CLECAT, particularly regarding financial transparency. Mr Wim Van de Camp (EPP, Netherlands) will be the rap-porteur for the governance proposals, and

FIATA REVIEW NO. 107, MAY 201522

Focus

he tends to be very pragmatic, favouring quick results, such as to split the package and move forward on the technical pillar, which will bring down costs and therefore be beneficial to users.

‘Combined transport’ is defined in di-rective 1992/106 (Combined Transport Directive) as taking place between mem-ber states, requiring a non-road mode (rail, inland waterway or maritime) sec-tion of 100 km or more, necessitating use of the “nearest suitable rail (un)loading station” for the road leg and further re-stricting the road leg to 150 km from any port. CLECAT responded to the Commis-sion consultation, and adopted a Position Paper calling for no limitation on distance to the nearest terminal, harmonisation for 45’ containers, and incentives for an in-termodal chain including road transport. It is expected that the Commission will propose a review since the Directive is out of date and ambiguous.

Mr Steve Parker explained that the Union Customs Code entered into force on 30 October 2013 and will be applicable as from 1 May 2016. They could achieve an outcome whereby multiple filing is per-mitted. This will have the following out-comes: any HBL/HAWB issuing freight

forwarder will be able to submit its house bill data di-rectly to customs; Air – ENS may be submitted in two stages (minimum-set pre-departure / full set pre-arrival); and Ocean – if the freight forwarder does not have buyer/seller data, this da-ta will be required from consignee as indicated in lowest level HBL.

Furthermore, the subjects of CEN Stand-ard of Competency, the Harmonisation of Infringements and Sanctions, and the Road Packages 2016 were debated.

FIATA LOGISTICS ACADEMY (FLA)

The FIATA Logistics Academy Chairman, Mr Issa Baluch, opened the meeting by underlining the goals and objectives of this new academy. These include:• Positioning training in freight logistics and soft skills among the top priorities of FIATA’s deliverables;• Participating in the planning, design-ing and development of educational op-portunities and courses; • Attracting and assembling best practic-es, applications and training programmes available in vocational training in the freight logistics industry;• Striving towards upgrading the FLA and ABVT current training modules with respect to modernisation of classroom, online and digital applications.

He then expressed his gratitude to the recently appointed FLA Mentors and his readiness to collaborate with them in the

near future. The FLA Mentors (as of March 2015) include: Wang Xuefeng, CIFA, China; Qun Huang, CIFA, China; Masood Tariq, PIFFA, Pakistan; Kayıhan Özdemir Turan, UTIKAD, Turkey; and Rachelle Fondaw, TIA, USA.

The FLA Manager, Verena Schaer pro-vided an update on cooperation in e-learning projects with MIT and other institutions. Course introductory videos were featured to show the audience how Massive Open Online Courses are struc-tured. There are quite a number of courses on the EdX platform on many topics such as data management, finance for manag-ers, presentation skills, and IT. The EdX system has around 30 universities across the world, and includes online courses in several languages. Mr Baluch said the FLA planned on signing an agreement with EdX through MIT soon.

A Memorandum of Understanding to make available the Shipping Lithium Bat-teries by Air online course to FIATA Association Members was then signed between FIATA and CIFFA, the CANA-DIAN INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION, INC. Mr Parisi expressed his enthusiasm and saw the agreement as a good beginning to start filling the FLA library with products for the freight forwarding industry.

Next, the FLA Website project was in-troduced. A new website will soon be launched. In it, information on FLA, course offerings, upcoming events, me-dia, links and didactic material will be published.

The FLA Chairman closed the meeting looking forward to the next FLA Meeting, at the FIATA World Congress 2015 in Taipei.

News


This spring, the FIATA Foundation Vocational

Training, FIATA’s capacity building power-

house, looked at the educational landscape

of the Tanzania Freight Forwarders Associa-

tion (TAFFA). Of special interest, is what has

happened there since 2012, the year when

our Train-the-Trainer course was conducted.

AS THE FFVT FOLLOWS a continuous improvement philosophy, it constantly re-defines the prerequisites for successful train-the-trainer operations. Evidence of success includes facts such as whether the Association Member validated and con-ducted a FIATA Diploma in Freight For-warding Programme, how many students have graduated and acquired the diploma, if they have plans of escalating their train-ing programme and validating the FIATA Higher Diploma in Freight Forwarding, and what course evaluations and statistics say about trainer performance.

But apart from fact-based evidence, the FFVT also considers the human aspect of training and education. That is why, as part of the follow-up, the FFVT decided to celebrate success and invited the two best students of the TOT in Tanzania, Mr Ah-mad Mohamed and Mr Honest Roman, to attend the FIATA Headquarters Session in Zurich with honours. Ahmad is a Certified Public Accountant CPA(T) and a Trainer in Customs and Tax Management at the Institute of Tax Administration in Tanza-nia and Honest is a Business Development Manager and Consultant, currently work-ing as Business Development Manager in Fifa and Flow Freight Company Limited. The FIATA Review editors met with them in Zurich to ask them what the elements of a successful TOT Learner are.

“Attending a TOT, you may find every-thing new and hard to understand. This

will bring a lot of unrest during the training session and eventually poor per-formance. For one to be successful, you need to consider the following: a TOT is an ongoing learning activity/circle. It is built on the premises that you have the knowledge of the industry and you are eager to be a trainer. This notion is among the key success factors for a TOT learner and is even more important when you are exposed to new terms like ‘Andragogy’”, they tell us.

In their opinion, successful training that produces the desired results lies almost entirely in the hands of the trainer. Hav-ing professional and experienced trainers like Mr Thomas Sim, Mr Peter Wong, Dr Vincent Valentine and Mr Uwe Schick was the key to their success as they were constantly motivated to be proactive and participate, and also received thorough explanations to their queries.

Honest and Roman insisted in making future TOT attendants aware of the fact that this course requires a high degree of discipline and dedication especially hen it

comes to time management and classroom participation. “Any delay is catastrophic at the end of the day, even if it is a two minutes delay. Observing the timetable is essential for a TOT learner. Those who managed to be motivated are successful,” they add.

They finish with a valuable tip: “It is usual for a trainee to get surprised when a trainer introduces new things. At the TOT course you may get many surprises and new information, but don’t get overwhelmed. The best thing to do is to find linkages between the newly introduced topics and what you always do or you already know.”

The FFVT will conduct its second TOT course in 2015, this time in Zimbabwe from April 30th to May 14th. The FFVT international facilitators certainly look forward to another group of students that shows the same enthusiasm, energy, positive attitude and genuine interest as those in Tanzania. And the FIATA Review editors look forward to learning more from them.

Mr Honest Roman Shayo, Mr Aldo Da Ros, FFVT President, Mr Ahmad Mohmaed Yahya

Elements of success for a TOT Learner: FFVT Special Guests


News

FIATA’s First Fellow: Mr Andrew KempDuring the recently held Extended Board

Dinner on March 21st 2015, FIATA President

– Mr Francesco Parisi – presented for the first

time ever a newly introduced title, namely

that of ‘FIATA Fellow’ to Mr Andrew Kemp

of Thomas Miller Group/TT Club.

THIS AWARD is an initiative by the FIATA Presidency with the aim of con-gratulating and acknowledging eminent personalities that have contributed signifi-cantly to FIATA and its activities.

Mr Kemp, who joined the TT Club in 1995 in order to open a branch office in Dubai, has also worked in London, Singa-pore and Hong Kong, where he was given the title of Regional Director Asia Pacific. In 2010 he returned to London to become the Regional Director Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Recently he held the office of Senior Un-derwriting Director of the UK P&I Club within Thomas Miller. Prior to joining the

TT Club, he worked as a cargo underwriter in London, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.

Andrew was also Chairman of the Steer-ing Committee for the FIATA / TT Club Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award since 2008 and has now stepped down to be succeeded by Mr Michael Yarwood.

The FIATA Presidency decided to confer the distinction of FIATA Fellow to its first recipient Mr Andrew Kemp for his longstanding and fruitful dedication to the YIFFY Award, which developed sig-nificantly while he was Chairman of its Steering Committee. Part of its success is no doubt due to Andrew’s passion and commitment.

I was asked to write this article when I provided a few pictures I took during the presentation of the distinction and I know that all FIATA members will share my

words of gratitude to Andrew, and not just the few of us that form part of the YIFFY Award Steering Committee, or those in-volved with the ABVT, which presented us with more opportunities to work with Andrew and appreciate him as a genuine person and a true professional. We are all really grateful to him for all the effort and positive inputs he brought to the table during his 8 years as Chairman of the Steering Committee, and it was indeed an honour and a pleasure to work together with him.

While we wish Andrew and his family all the best for the future, we will be happy to welcome him if he ever decides to join us at future meetings. We also wish to take this opportunity to warmly welcome Mr Michael Yarwood to the team. We look forward to rewarding cooperation in the future, which no doubt will be the case.

Antonella Nana Yaa Straulino

Mr Andrew Kemp giving his thanks for being the first person receiving the title of a FIATA Fellow

News


Born in 1952 in London, United Kingdom,

Paul’s career started in the UK where he

worked for a few forwarders before starting

with Meadows Freight as their UK/Austral-

asian sales manager until 1987 when he and

his family immigrated to Sydney to take

the role up full time.

Since then he has worked for MSAS and

Activair and is now the General Manager of

Brownways Logistics. He is also the Chair-

man of the Australian Federation Interna-

tional Forwarders and has been on the board

since 1999. Paul is married with two

children and four grandchildren.

If you had not joined the transportation business, which profession would you have chosen? Something in the sporting business – not necessarily a professional sportsman, but perhaps a managerial or coaching role, particularly in football. I have always been interested in sport since a very young age and still coach in Australia.

So what fascinates you about the freight forwarding industry? The fact that no two days are the same; one day you have a special load for export, the next you are bringing in the biggest sheet of glass ever moved by air (actually hap-pened to me). The regulations are chang-ing constantly and you have to be on top of the game.

And what was the motivation to accept your post with FIATA? I had been involved with our local or-ganisation AFIF for over 15 years. Once I was made chairman, I wanted to become more involved in an international role so jumped at the opportunity to join the FIATA’s Extended Board. I had a great role model in Barry Vinning who was a FIATA VP for 15 years as well.

How do you view the state of the industry today? The industry is very competitive and tech-nology is playing an ever important role. There is still a vital role for the SME for-warder when their demise was predicted less than 10 years ago. Because of security restrictions today most forwarders never see their freight so do not understand as much as we used to about the business.

What changes would you like to see?More consistencies between countries in relation to moving freight. Cargo should

be able to be pre-cleared at origin which needs governments to agree. All countries should accept e-documentation so the flow of freight is smoother and quicker which is what our customers all want.

Looking at the future, what advice would you give a young person joining the industry today?Work hard, learn as much as you can, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and make mis-takes, you will learn from the experience. This industry is going to be around as long as something has to move from A to B.

Generally speaking, what, in your opinion, has been mankind’s best invention? Antibiotics. They have saved countless lives and continue to do so.

Which famous person would you like to have met?Winston Churchill. He was a man that suffered great setbacks but came back as Britain’s greatest leader as well as an author, painter, and orator.

Do you have any unfulfilled wishes (professional or personal)? Professional, a closer relationship between IATA and forwarders. Personal, to watch my four grandchildren grow up and de-velop into adults (so far so good) and to visit Machu Picchu having already been to the Pyramids and Angkor Wat.

What plans do you have for the future or for your retirement? I have no real plans to retire as I’m enjoy-ing what I do too much. I want to contin-ue developing my own company’s business as well as working with AFIF domestically and FIATA internationally to push for the rights of the Industry.

Meet Paul Golland Vice President of FIATA


Here & There

FIATA congratulates three well known delegates on their birthdays. We wish them many more years of good health and happiness.

Happy Birthday!

Mr Heiner Rogge (Germany),

65 on 25 March 2015

Mr Heiner Rogge has been a FIATA Delegate since 2000, was a Vice President from 2007–2009, and has been Secretary General of FIATA since 2009.

Mr Richard D. Gluck (United States),

65 on 13 March 2015

Mr Richard Gluck has been a FIATA Delegate since 1999, and has been Chair-man of the ABLM since 2009.

Mr Sergey Zhelannov (Russian

Federation), 65 on 9 May 2015

Mr Sergey Zhelannov has been a FIATA Delegate since 2005, and has been Vice President since 2009.

140035FIATAReviewAd_FINAL.pdf 1 1/27/14 2:38 PM


Agenda

Next Edition

July 2015

FIATA REVIEW

Forthcoming Events

May 18—20 2015, San Pedro Sula/Honduras

ALACAT Congress 2015alacat2015.com

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June 3 2015, Odessa/Ukraine

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9th Region Asia/Pacific (RAP) Field Meetingfiata.com/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Meetings/RAP088_-_Circular__269kB_.pdf

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