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June 13, 2011 World Bank seeks CO2 jet fuel, bunker tax, EU to tax in 2012, IATA cries foul THE World Bank plans to press for a global tax on jet fuel and bunker at the G20 summit in October to raise money to fight alleged global warming, the extend and existence of which is subject to increasing doubt. So much so that it looks unlikely that the once binding measures of the Kyoto Protocol cap are unlikely to be renewed when they expire next year. So the World Bank is focusing on a tax on bunker and jet fuels in its recommendation to G20 finance ministers, said World Bank climate change envoy Andrew Steer. The European Union also plans to introduce carbon taxes on airlines next year and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is vociferous in its objection. "They are ignoring international law with plans to include international aviation," departing director general Giovanni Bisignani told 700 industry delegates attending IATA's annual meeting in Singapore. Calling the scheme a "$1.5 billion cash grab," Mr Bisignani said it would do nothing to reduce emissions. "Uncoordinated punitive measures undermine global efforts, and distort markets," he said, according to London's Financial Times. His comments follow complaints from Airbus CEO Tom Enders who said the European scheme risks triggering retaliatory action by China, which opposes the move. US airlines have also challenged the plans before the European Court of Justice. Unlike the aviation sector, objections to eco-taxes come not from carriers, but from shippers, the customers of shipping lines. Big carriers are not hostile to eco-regulations because the more there are, the harder it is for smaller players to meet the costs imposed, thus increasing market share for the bigger ones. Thus, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents all segments of the maritime shipping world, but has close ties to eco-friendly intergovernmental organisations like the United Nations and its agencies, favours a worldwide eco-tax on bunker. It is in talks with the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to accept the scheme as a means of heading off national, regional and even provincial regulation, including emissions trading schemes. So shippers, who pay the tax in the end, are angry, with the Global Shippers' Forum (GSF) saying it will oppose further bunker levies on shippers to raise money for environmental causes. GSF secretary general Chris Welsh said: "Merely passing on shipping carbon costs to their customers via a bunker levy not only removes shipowner accountability but will not reduce carbon emissions." Global shipping and aviation emissions are not affected by Kyoto. The EU plans to tax flight emissions to and from Europe from January, an illegal move, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The World Bank's Mr Steer told Reuters that developed countries have already abandoned efforts to seek a new binding agreement at a UN's G20 October conference in Durban. This turns activists' attention to left-over categories like fund-raising. We are looking at carbon emissions-based sources including bunker and aviation fuel, that would be internationally coordinated albeit nationally collected," said Mr Steer. The world welfare bank, dedicated to poverty reduction, wants the tax to raise US$100 billion a year, citing more strident voices demanding $200 billion. Agricultural Marketing Service Proposes Increase to Cotton Fee In a Federal Register notice published June 3, 2011 the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed several amendments to the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations which would ultimately increase the rate and scope of the Cotton Fee which is assessed on all imports of raw cotton and cotton-containing products. The total value of assessments on cotton is determined by adding two rates. The first being a steady $1 per 500-pound bale of cotton, or $1 per 226.8 kilograms, and the second a "supplemental assessment" based on the average weighted price received by U.S. farmers for Upland cotton. The proposed amendment would adjust this price upward, thereby increasing the total assessment from $0.01088 per kg to $0.012665 per kg. Per the notice this change is necessary to ensure that assessments on imported cotton are equal to those on domestically produced cotton. The AMS has also proposed changes to the Import Assessment Table, which is used to estimate the raw fiber equivalents of imported cotton-containing products and the total assessment per kilogram due for each HTS. In addition to updates made necessary by the supplemental assessment increase, the table is also being revised "to reflect updated textile technologies and to more accurately estimate the amount of cotton contained in cotton-containing imports." Lastly, the proposed amendment would expand the number of HTS codes subject to the Cotton Fee from 706 to 2,371. The AMS hopes that this will allow the program to collect assessments on close to 100 percent of cotton and cotton-containing imports, as opposed to the estimated 89 percent it collects currently. Comments will be accepted until July 5, 2011. The full text of the Federal Register notice can be accessed online at:
SHIPPING services are being suspended or disrupted on the Yangtze, owing to a severe drought that has reduced water levels 40 per cent below the average recorded over the past half century. China's Civil Affairs Ministry was cited as saying in a statement that rain water levels from January to April in the drainage basin of the Yangtze have been 60 per cent lower than average levels over the past 50 years. The situation is also said to be threatening power outages as the Three Gorges Dam has reduced electric power output, reports London's Containerisation International. There has also been a suspension or reduction in shipping in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Shanghai. The Yangtze Business Services has been forecasting medium to heavy rainfall between the middle and lower reaches of the river. But it is only expected to provide limited relief, with a spokesman from the China weather bureau warning that heavy rainfall may cause landslides in some areas. The drought has affected 6.96 million hectares of farmland in the Yangtze River region, or more than five per cent of the national farmland total, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief, said the report.
FDA Releases Compliance and Enforcement Action Web Portal
According to FDA's press release, "The information includes a summary of the most common Inspectional Observations of objectionable conditions or practices made during inspections and a searchable Inspections Database that includes the names and addresses of inspected facilities, inspection dates, type of FDA-regulated products involved, and final inspectional classification." The web portal is broken down into several categories: FDA hopes to expand the web portal to include other useful information, such as FDA evaluations of filers and food recall updates, by the end of 2011. FDA's Press Announcement, including a link to the new web portal, is available at: The Inspections Database can be accessed at:
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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