Customs Brokerage News

U.S. based shipping and logistics company Crowley announced it has acquired Tamarind Consolidated, a logistics services company serving the U.S. to the British Virgin Islands.The acquisition will transition Tamarind’s operations and services, including warehousing and non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) services, to Crowley. According to Crowley, the expansion complements its existing maritime and logistics solutions and will expand solutions for customers in Virgin Gorda and surrounding BVI locations.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Thursday announced the membership of its newly formed National Shipper Advisory Committee.The committee is comprised of 24 members, evenly divided between those who export cargo from and those who import cargo to the United States, that will advise the commission on policies relating to the competitiveness, reliability, integrity and fairness of the international ocean freight delivery system.“The current freight transportation challenges…

Logistics executive Bleu Hilburn is returning to Crowley Solutions as vice president of business development for all government services. In this role, Hilburn will develop strategies to build a customer pipeline, qualify opportunities and manage all aspects of marketing, bid and capture management to drive growth and build deep relationships with government customers for Solutions.Hilburn, a 2015 Thomas Crowley Award winner, the company’s highest honor for employees, will start Aug.

Taiwanese container transportation and shipping company Evergreen Line has launched a new digital platform designed to provide customers with seamless booking capabilities and greater access to integrated trade services.Evergreen Line said in a press note that GreenX platform provides a digital portal for Evergreen customers to get instant quotes and book secured space with prioritized equipment supplied by the carrier.From the time of its soft launch last month, GreenX has received nearly 2,000 sign-ups via this one-stop digital platform, demonstrating customers’ interest in executing their bookings and trade services digitally.The digital platform is powered by BlueX Trade…

Global logistics software group, WiseTech Global has announced the acquisition of Ready Korea, a customs, bonded warehouse and trade compliance solutions provider in South Korea.Headquartered in Seoul, Ready Korea offers a cross-border compliance solution, which facilitates the lodgement of electronic transactions to the Korean Customs Service, including customs brokerage and refunds and Free Trade Agreement verification, along with bonded warehouse management.Ready Korea also provides a trade administration solution to facilitate the generation and submission of electronic import/export documentation. Customers of Ready Korea include FedEx…

Lineage Logistics Holdings, the world’s largest provider of temperature-controlled logistics solutions, announced it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Emergent Cold, the global cold chain services provider.This acquisition strengthens the Company’s leading port presence in the United States and signifies its entry into the Australian, New Zealand, and Sri Lankan temperature-controlled logistics markets, building on Lineage’s existing presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.“Food producers, manufacturers and retailers are looking for cold chain partners who can offer a dynamic and truly end-to-end temperature-controlled logistics solution…

Stephen Wang is counting the costs of President Donald Trump's trade war. He had to put down 12 times more cash as a guarantee to U.S. customs that he would pay the bill for tariffs on the Chinese-made pumps, valves and motors he imports.The cost of the guarantee - a U.S. customs bond - has shot up, an additional hit to importers already facing steep customs bills adding up to tens of billions of dollars for tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on incoming Chinese goods…

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S has acquired Vandegrift, a US-based customs house broker,  as the ocean container line pushes further into land-based logistics services and operations. This is the first acquisition of the year in the fast-growing logistics sector.“Vandegrift’s expertise and reputation enables us to place a trusted advisor in front of our customers to design and build individualized Customs Brokerage and Compliance programs that identify risk and provide solutions. This customer advocate role, coupled with our supply chain assets and global scale creates winning end-to-end solutions for companies intent on competing better in 2019,” said Narin Phol,  Regional Managing Director of Maersk North America.Price and terms were not disclosed.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that it completed the acquisition of 14.27% shares in PKT Logistics Group, a Malaysian logistics company. MOL's stake will rise from the current 20.86% to 35.13%.PKT provides end-to-end logistics solutions comprising freight forwarding, customs brokerage, contract logistics, haulage, distribution and others, to its customers from diverse market sectors.PKT owns and operates warehouses hub in Shah Alam, Selangor, offering over 55,000m2 of warehouse space in total. In 2014, PKT acquired a strategic 70-acre piece of land in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang, to develop an auto hub, a landmark investment to support the logistics needs of automotive and electronics manufacturers in northern Malaysia.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has announced that it acquired 20.9% share in PKT Logistics Group (PKT), a leading Malaysian logistics company. PKT provides end-to-end logistics solutions comprising freight forwarding, customs brokerage, contract logistics, haulage, distribution and others, to its customers from diverse market sectors. PKT owns and operates state-of-the-art, environment-friendly warehouses at its 'One Logistics Hub' in Shah Alam, Selangor, offering over 55,000m2 of warehouse space in total. In 2014, PKT acquired a strategic 70-acre piece of land in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang, to develop the 'One Auto Hub'. The 'One Auto Hub' is PKT's landmark investment to support the logistics needs of automotive and electronics manufacturers in the north of Malaysia.

Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Jeannie Eisenhart, director of talent acquisition and employee services, and Bleu Hilburn, director of logistics business development, have been honored with 2015 Thomas Crowley Awards, the company’s highest honor for its employees. Eisenhart and Hilburn each received a limited edition bronze sculpture that depicts company founder Thomas Crowley ferrying goods in a row boat across San Francisco Bay in the early 1890s. The award serves not only as a tribute to the founder of the company…

Starting July 1, Crowley Maritime Corporation will offer weekly, fixed-day, less-than-container-load (LCL) shipping services from Houston to 33 port destinations throughout the Caribbean Basin, the shipper announced today. The new logistics service is designed to enhance supply chain options for those shipping directly into the Caribbean Basin from the West and Gulf Coasts of the U.S., Crowley said. “Customers will be able to drop their cargo in Houston, and with our weekly, fixed-day service…

Further reinforcing its commitment to the Puerto Rico market, Crowley Maritime Corp. is enhancing its total suite of shipping and logistics solutions for consumers and businesses with the consolidation of its Caribbean logistics services into a single new facility in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. “By consolidating our non-vessel-operator-common-carrier (NVOCC) and less-than-container load (LCL) operations into a single logistics services center, we will be able to serve our customers more efficiently and handle increased cargo throughput…

ISS Brokerage Services, part of maritime and logistics service provider Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), is now providing U.S. Customs brokerage services across all North American ports. The new facility has been introduced after US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) granted a National Brokerage Permit to ISS Brokerage Services to file customs entries remotely via Remote Location Filing (RLF). The company can now undertake customs brokerage in all North American ports outside its Houston base to offer a faster RLF electronic filling capability to clients in the US.

The North American spat pitting Canada and Mexico against the United States over meat labels has sown confusion among producers and shippers in all three countries, with a trade war potentially just weeks away. The World Trade Organization on Monday authorized Canada and Mexico, the biggest markets for exported U.S. goods, to retaliate against the United States' meat-labeling rules, setting the annual level at C$1.055 billion for Canada and $228 million for Mexico. The United States took a step towards defusing the row on Wednesday when the U.S. Congress approved a spending bill that includes the repeal of federal laws mandating meatpackers identify where animals are raised and slaughtered.

New policies making it easier for foreign-flagged vessels to explore the coastlines of Australia have lead DYT Yacht Transport (DYT) to schedule its largest semi-submersible yacht carrier, the 686-foot (209-metre) Yacht Express, to deliver yachts to the South Pacific. The trip coordinates with the end of the Mediterranean charter season, starting in Genoa (Italy) in November to accommodate private luxury yachts and charter vessels departing from the Mediterranean Sea. Operating with its unique float-on/float-off method…

Switzerland-based supply chain solutions provider Panalpina is to acquire its Egyptian agent Afifi, a family-owned company specializing in freight forwarding, customs clearance and logistics. The move is an important step in Panalpina’s continued strategic expansion in growth economies, in particular in the Middle East and Africa, the company said. Afifi has been Panalpina’s agent in Egypt for the last 20 years. “Egypt has a lot of potential for us,” said Peter Triebel, Panalpina’s regional CEO for the Middle East, Africa and CIS.

For the past six months, Crowley Maritime Corporation has provided critical logistics services in support of Operation United Assistance (OUA), the U.S. military’s mission to fight the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa, the company announced today. Specifically, Crowley has supplied emergency shipping, warehousing, trucking, stevedoring, customs brokerage and other logistics capabilities, first to the U.S. Government’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and now to the U.S. Army in both Liberia and Senegal, Africa. These efforts have supported the more than 3,000 deployed U.S.

Toronto-headquartered Livingston International says it has acquired New York-based FPA Customs Brokers, Inc. “We look forward to welcoming the FPA team and their clients into the Livingston family,” said Livingston CEO Steven C. Preston. The acquisition bolsters Livingston’s air/sea customs brokerage operations, and expands the company’s presence in the United States. Notably, it strengthens Livingston’s footprint in New York and Los Angeles, the country’s two largest ports. Livingston was also attracted to FPA’s expertise in the retail textiles and apparel industry sectors in which Livingston continues to grow its presence. “This transaction…

CEVA Logistics, one of the world’s leading supply chain management companies, today announced the expansion of its Los Angeles (LAX)/Torrance freight management operation. One of the largest operations in CEVA’s global network, the company’s LAX/Torrance station now comprises three facilities totaling more than one million sq. ft. (92,903 sqm.) and 170 dock doors. The latest facility to be added to the LAX/Torrance campus features 319,000 sq. ft. (29,635 sqm.) of warehouse space and 50,000 sq. ft. (4,645 sqm.) of office space, with 50 dock loading positions. The site is strategically located near major Los Angeles roadway arteries and is only seven miles from the world ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and eight miles from the LAX International Airport.

CEVA Logistics, one of the world’s leading supply chain management companies, today announced plans to expand its presence in the San Diego market with a new Freight Management and Logistics facility totaling 125,000 sq. ft. (11,612 sqm.) and 23 dock doors. The new facility will be the largest Freight Management and Logistics facility serving the San Diego market and represents the largest new warehouse agreement completed in central San Diego in the past five years. It will combine two current CEVA operations – a customer-dedicated facility presently based in Poway, CA, and the company’s current Freight Management operation, which is located in the same office park as the new facility in Mission Trails Industrial Park…

Customs brokerage and trade compliance advisors, Livingston, say that to better reflect the company’s integral role in regulatory affairs for its clients, Livingston has appointed Candace Sider to the newly created position of Vice President, Regulatory Affairs Canada. Sider will be responsible for developing and implementing government affairs strategy, as well as the overall management of Livingston’s political engagement with federal and provincial officials, regulatory agencies and key policymakers. She will be Livingston’s primary representative with the Canada Border Services Agency, focused on regulatory changes that impact global trade, compliance and risk management.

CEVA Logistics, one of the world's leading supply chain management companies, has expanded its market presence in Chicago with the opening of a fourth facility. The company's Chicago operations near O'Hare International Airport (ORD) now encompass four facilities totaling over 650,000 sq. ft. (60,387 sq m) and 115 total dock doors. The new, 208,406 sq. ft., multi-use logistics facility features state-of-the-art security including a 128-camera CCTV system, gate and access control, and security on duty inside the building on a 24x7 basis. The facility has 30 dock doors and two van ramp doors. The new facility, located at 1925 Busse Road…