E-Flash No 51 - 21 December 2012

FIATA Headquarter Session in Zurich, Switzerland: 14-17 March 2013

We hereby extend a formal invitation to all interested parties to attend the FIATA Headquarter Session in Zurich, Switzerland 14-17 March 2013. Full details on accommodation, a detailed programme, and online registration are available on the FIATA website: http://www.fiata.com/index.php?id=482

EU Council adoption of Action Plan on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

The EU Council of Ministers on 10 December adopted the Action Plan to combat IPR infringements for 2013-2017. Its main objectives are:
. Tackling major trends in the trade of IPR infringing goods (e.g. the increased trend in small parcels related to internet purchases)
. Tackling trade of IPR infringing goods throughout the international supply chain
. Strengthening cooperation with the European Observatory and law enforcement authorities on IPR infringements
. Building capacity in EU candidate and neighbouring countries on IPR enforcement
. Strengthening cooperation with key source, transit and destination countries

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-967_en.htm

ICAO forges agreement on 15-year Air Navigation Strategy

The international Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has drawn their revised Global Air Navigation Plan and the aviation system Block Upgrade planning strategy. At the ICAO 12th Air Navigation Conference delegates from 120 countries and 30 international organisations were seeking to provide a strategic solution to the monumental capacity challenges that will be faced by the global air transport network over the next 15 years.
"The primary goal was to ensure coherent and harmonised ATM modernisation and implementation in order to keep air transport safe, reliable and efficient. It was clear that the global aviation system needed to adopt a standardised global solution to ensure optimised efficiency and investment certainty for all players," stressed ICAO's Council President, Roberto Kobeh González. An important feature of the revised Global Plan is that it provides flexibility for countries to move at their own pace, adopting only those performance upgrades needed to address their unique operational and traffic density profiles.
http://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/ICAO-forges-agreement-on-15-year-air-navigation-strategy.aspx

Your opinion - Aid for Trade Survey

FIATA has been approached by the World Customs Organisation (WCO) to be a member of the Aid for Trade Advisory Group that is co-ordinated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This initiative aims to help developing countries with trade facilitation. For more information on the Aid for Trade Initiative visit http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/devel_e/a4t_e/aid4trade_e.htm.
The WTO, in collaboration with many other international organisations, has put together the Aid for Trade monitoring exercise for the private sector which includes a survey. FIATA would like to draw its members' attention to this survey which is structured to collect the views of companies engaged in the following five value chains: agri-food, information and communication technologies, textiles and apparel, tourism, and transport and logistics. Aid for Trade is seeking views on:
. The barriers that are holding back companies in developing and least developed countries from entering value chains
. Actions which would help companies in these countries enter, move up and/or establish value chains
. Initiatives with which companies may be already engaged in to address these constraints
Responses to the questionnaire will be used at the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade to be held on 8-10 July 2013. We invite and encourage FIATA members to take part in the online survey. It is a simple procedure and can be completed in a few minutes. Please share the link with other potential partners, such as the members of our association members.
Please complete the survey before 31 January here:
https://www.research.net/s/PRIVATE_SECTOR_QUESTIONNAIRE

Regulatory changes effective 1 January 2013 on the air transport of lithium batteries

Small lithium cells and batteries below a certain power or lithium content can currently be consolidated with other cargo or with other consignments of small lithium batteries and be loaded into a ULD by a freight forwarder. However, from 2013 these small lithium batteries will be subject to greater regulatory requirements and consequently must be presented separately to an airline so that the airline can conduct an acceptance check, as is done for other dangerous goods. This change means that lithium batteries will now have to be prepared in accordance with Section IB of packing instructions 965 and packing instruction 968.
http://www.icao.int/safety/DangerousGoods/Working%20Group%20of%20the%20Whole%20on%20Lithium%20Batteries201/DGPWGLB.1.WP.015.en.pdf
Furthermore, ICAO has proposed a recommendation which states that the aviation authorities provide a transition period until 31 January 2013 to allow lithium battery packages prepared for transport in December in accordance with the 2012 provisions to conclude their journey. The link to this ICAO recommendation is below:
http://www.icao.int/safety/DangerousGoods/Documents/Guidance%20Material/2013-2014LithiumBatteryTransition.pdf
There is some indication that a number of state aviation authorities will allow for this transitional period. However, it is recommended that confirmation be sought from individual states and airlines to ascertain whether they formally recognise the above mentioned ICAO recommendation to allow for lithium batteries prepared in accordance with the 2011-2012 edition of the ICAO Technical Instructions (53rd edition DGR) to be tendered for air transport until 31 January 2013.

Regulatory changes effective 1 January 2013 on hiring and contracting TRU-Carrier Transport of Perishable Goods on California highways and railways

The link below is the California Air Resource Board's (CARB) Regulatory Guidance link on the Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU1) Airborne Toxic Control Measure 2 (ATCM) regulation, which comes into effect on 1 January 2013. It concerns hiring and contracting TRU-carrier transport if perishable goods on California highways and railways.
The link below contains a document which explains the requirements in the California Air Resources Board's regulation effecting brokers, freight forwarders, shippers, receivers, motor carriers and their drivers.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/tru/documents/guidance_broker-shipper-receiver.pdf

New publication from UNCTAD

FIATA has received the following publications and would like to bring these to your attention:

UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2012
This is a recurrent publication prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat since 1968 with the aim of fostering the transparency of maritime markets and analysing relevant developments. The publication can be downloaded in PDF format at the following link:
http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=380

UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2012
This publication provides essential data for analysing and measuring world trade, investment, international financial flows and development. The UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics enables users, such as policymakers, research specialists, academics, officials from national governments or international organisations, executive managers or members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from developing, transition or developed countries to have access to rich statistical information. It can be downloaded in PDF format at the following link:
http://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=381

UNCTAD's turn-key e-Government tool (e-Regulations)

FIATA welcomes international initiatives which facilitate trade business and would like our e-Flash readers to take note of the initiative taken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
What are e-Regulations? The e-Regulations system is a turn-key e-Government tool providing full transparency in administrative procedures. It allows governments to present procedures online in a detailed and precise way, in several languages.
UNCTAD has conceived a web-based e-Government system to help developing countries and countries in transition to work towards business facilitation through transparency, simplification and automation of rules and procedures relating to enterprise creation and operation. This system can contribute to greater transparency and efficiency in the public service, improved governance and cost reductions.
The four-fold objectives of the system from the users' point of view:
. Provide full transparency on rules and procedures by offering online detailed, practical and up-to-date descriptions of the steps in the process, seen from the user's viewpoint
. Help governments to simplify procedures by allowing easy identification of unnecessary steps and requirements
. Promote good governance by increasing the awareness of administrative rules and procedures, hence establishing the conditions for a balanced dialogue between the users of the public service and the civil servants
. Set a basis for regional/international harmonisation of rules by facilitating the exchange of good practices among countries
http://www.eregulations.org/media/website/UNCTAD_eRegulations_presentation_v4.pdf

IATA Videos: Benefits of Aviation

IATA has released a series of videos explaining in a simple and effective way the importance of the aviation industry. These videos may also be of value for FIATA's association members and their members around the globe, as they include significant section air cargo.
Courtesy of IATA these videos may be used to raise the awareness of third-parties regarding the importance of the air cargo industry and to reach-out to the next generation of air cargo professionals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEqmHizTmeM&list=PLM2XOQXtRLMe24VqrVw_SpbbA6rOOZaez&index=3

Changes to weight limitations on trucks in France

FIATA has been informed that according to a new decree in France weight limitations for trucks will be increased from 40 to 44 tons maximum weight per truck. The new weight limitations will be applicable as of 1 January 2013.

NVOCCs in the United States

Mr Gluck of TIA has informed FIATA that the FMC has voted on a proposal, supported by the Chariman, to extend its tariff publication exemption to foreign, unlicensed NVOCCs. TIA, FIATA and Fedespedi have submitted multiple written comments supporting the use of the exemption by all NVOCCs, not just those in the US with a licence from the FMC. It remains to be seen what record preservation and other conditions will be imposed, but it appears foreign unlicensed NVOCCs may receive the same treatment as their licensed counterparts. FIATA's ABLM chairperson noted that this seems to be a positive development.

5th Rail Market Place Seminar

UIC together with FIATA will organise the 5th Rail Market Place Seminar (MPS) in Vienna, Austria on 18-19 April 2013 under the title 'Intercontinental Corridors, new opportunities for rail freight?' Various high ranking speakers from the rail, freight forwarding and export/import industry will provide their views. We encourage all interested parties to attend the event. The final program will be published in January 2013.

EU Taxation and Customs Union: new language versions and updates for Authorised Economic Operators (AEO)

The guidelines for Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) are now available in 21 EU languages. The 'Threats, risks and possible solutions' document as well as the AEO security declaration template are also available in 21 languages. In addition, the AEO Self-Assessment and its explanatory notes have been updated in English. Other language versions will be published later. The documents are to be found at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/customs/policy_issues/customs_security/aeo_guidelines2012_en.pdf