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May 2, 2011 Shanghai Port Trucking Situation Improves According to international news media, protests by truck drivers at the port of Shanghai have eased after the government made some small concessions, but many drivers remain dissatisfied and further strikes are possible. After an emergency meeting between all parties over the weekend, the government agreed to review the situation and put a halt to "unreasonable" fees. However, rising fuel costs and other issues remain a concern and while cargo movement has largely returned to normal, many truckers say that demonstrations may resume again this week. Last week's protests led to a virtual shutdown at some terminals and container backups at many local manufacturing facilities. An article by the Journal of Commerce contains additional information and is available at: A related article by the New York Times is available at:
New Delhi Airport: Long Delays in Air Export Processing Continue
Continued renovation and infrastructure work at the airport has rendered almost a third of the air export warehouse unusable. The result is a persistent drop in cargo handling capacity of approximately 25% or around 175 tons less air freight handled daily. This has led to a considerable air freight backlog and longer overall dwell times at DEL airport. Further, additional delays with the export customs clearance process due to the warehouse congestion and reduced availability of the number of x-ray machines are compounding the overall situation. A meeting between all stakeholders was called on April 23, 2011 leading to the following process changes effective April 25th : It is believed the above changes will streamline the process and may help reduce dwell times by a day or two. However, the handling capacity per day will continue to be diminished and as the airport renovation work is expected to take another 9 to 10 months, the situation is expected to persist for several months. Air import shipments into DEL are not currently affected by this situation. The article by International Freight Weekly is available online at:
FDA Releases FAQ on Food Safety Modernization Act
The FSMA was signed into law in early 2011 and adds a number of new requirements to importers of food products and their suppliers, as well as creating a voluntary Foreign Supplier Verification Program to help speed up the review process for qualifying members. Per the FAQ, the key change for importers is that, "For the first time, importers will be specifically required to have a program to verify that the food products they are bringing into this country are safe. Among other things, importers will need to verify that their suppliers are in compliance with reasonably appropriate risk-based preventive controls that provide the same level of public health protection as those required under FSMA." The FAQ addresses a number of trade-related topics, including:
DOC Considers Accepting Only Cash Deposits During ADD-CVD Investigations
The provisional measures period is defined as the period between the publication of the DOC's preliminary affirmative determination and the earlier of: Per the notice, this change is being proposed "to better ensure that importers bear full responsibility for any future antidumping and countervailing duties they may owe. While most of the duties on entries secured by a bond during the provisional measures period are ultimately collected, these collections can be very slow and involve burdensome administrative problems for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)." Comments will be accepted until May 26, 2011.
Tons News, for current and past issues of Tons News by E-mail request from tonsnews@tonslogistics.com or call (310) 338-0337. ________________________________________ Tons News is compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Tons knowledge, are true and correct. It is our intent to present only accurate information. However, in the event any information contained herein is erroneous, Tons accepts no liability or responsibility.
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