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100 % container scanning requirement deferred until 2014

SAFE Port Act The US Department for Homeland Security has deferreduntil July2014 the requirement to scan 100% of containers arriving in the United States. The requirement was introduced with the so-called SAFE Port Act (Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006), which also included an option for the scanning requirement to be deferred if certain criteria were met.In a letter to the Chairman of the House Committe on Homeland Security, the Secretary for Homeland Security - Ms. Janet Napolitano - explains that two such criteria are indeed met, and how the use of currently available scanning systems will have "...a significant and negative impact on trade capacity and the flow of cargo." Secretary Napolitano furthermore explains that "Systems to scan containers cannot be purchased, deployed or operated at ports overseas because ports do not have the physical characteristics to install such a system."Finally, Secretary Napolitano recognises the need to proceed with the container security program in a responsible and practical manner which ensures the maximum safety of maritime cargo, facilitates trade and enhances global supply chain resilience. Of particular importance to the maritime industry, and in recognition of the finite resources available,Secretary Napolitano explains that risk reduction is ...

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The container market gets indexed for change

The need for risk management - in freight as in other areas of business - has never been more important. Shipping markets may have seen millions of dollars of value washed away by the financial crisis and rampant over-ordering, but volatility is ever-present.Most commodities - dry and tanker freight included - have long since embraced the move towards index-based pricing and the use of cash-settled swaps or futures contracts to hedge out price risk, but one shipping sector is holding out: containers.In some ways it is easy to see why container swaps have not taken off until now. The carriers signalled their opposition early on and the recession in freight rates gives good reason not to divert attention from the core business. As volatility and risk increase, both these arguments become harder to defend.The other major preventative factor is that unlike bulk, box rates are traditionally priced on private, long-term contracts, with little transparency on what one shipper is paying compared to another, even to the same line for the same volumes. The move to transparency, the lines believe, would remove their pricing power.But this too is changing. The recent Container Freight Derivatives Association (CFDA) Global Container Freight Forum in ...

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Mandatory Container Weighing Superfluous Says ESC

Extra regulation of container weights will not solve the safety issues According to the European Shippers Council (ESC) extra regulation of container weights will not solve the safety issues in container transport, is superfluous and hardly feasible.ESC's concern is that the discussion is becoming entirely focused on a relatively small risk factor instead of taking a more comprehensive look at the whole process of shipping containers.The focus instead should be upon looking at other important matters such as procedures for lashing, ship maintenance and stowage.The European shippers also expressed their doubts that IMO is the right institution for regulating container safety issues in itself. ESC's representative said that they are working together with labour unions and other parties in the maritime industry to get the voluntary UNECE / ILO guidelines for container stuffing updated as soon as possible.According to ESC it is this institution that should take the lead in improving the quality of container stuffing and possibly prescribe legislation on the issue. Poor stuffing is a problem for all modes of transport, not solely the maritime industry.ESC points out that IMO's SOLAS regulations already contain a requirement that shippers should declare the weight of their containers correctly. Adding another ...

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