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June 25, 2012
On June 18-19, 2012 the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued two press releases announcing that invitations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement had been extended to Mexico and Canada pending the successful conclusion of each country's domestic procedures. The TPP Agreement seeks to boost trade across Asia Pacific, and to encourage trade integration in the region. According to the releases, "The TPP is a key element of the Obama Administration’s efforts to support the creation and retention of high-quality jobs for Americans by increasing exports to the vibrant economies of the Asia-Pacific region. The United States and its TPP partners are determined to expeditiously complete a comprehensive, next-generation agreement." The USTR states that TPP countries have completed 12 rounds of negotiations so far with the next round scheduled to take place in San Diego, CA, between July 2-10, 2012. In addition to the U.S., the current members or the TPP Agreement are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The USTR Press Release for Canada can be found online at:
Port of Los Angeles box volume increases 5.5pc in May to 731,352 TEU CONTAINERISED imports increased through the Port of Los Angeles 2.7 per cent in May to 370,721 TEU year on year, the port authority disclosed. Combined, total loaded imports and exports for May increased 1.9 per to 555,829 TEU year on year, reflecting the busiest May in the port's history surpassing the 2006 throughput record. This followed the busiest April the month before. For the first five months, overall container volume increased 5.98 per cent to 3,313,355 TEU year on year.
IATA Time & Temperature Sensitive Label Mandatory July 1, 2012 Earlier this month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued an Information Notice announcing that Time and Temperature Sensitive Label requirements will become mandatory for the transport of healthcare cargo shipments as of July 1, 2012. According to the notice, a Time and Temperature Sensitive Label "is a shipment label, specific to the healthcare industry that must be affixed to all shipments booked as time and temperature sensitive cargo. It is the responsibility of the shipper (or designated shipper’s agent by service agreement) to ensure the label is applied properly for time and temperature sensitive healthcare cargo shipments booked as such." The benefits of the label listed by IATA include: The notice also mentions that the label only supports the booking, therefore the transportation temperature range on the label must match the transportation temperature range listed on the Air Waybill, Service Level Agreement or Standard Operating Procedures.
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