Customs Administration News

A major joint operation organised by the Australian Border Force (ABF), World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Shipping Council and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has led to 43 arrests and more than 100 drug seizures, including 98,734 kilograms of cocaine and 314 kilograms of cannabis.58 countries were involved, and the ABF worked alongside officers from German Customs, United Kingdom Border Force, US Customs and Border Protection and the Dutch Customs Administration to deliver a series of coordinated strikes on organised crime.The operation…

In the near future, a physical Customs document will no longer be required to transfer containers from one Maasvlakte terminal to the other within the Port of Rotterdam. Participating terminals APMT, ECT and RWG have made agreements with the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration for a so-called ‘paperless transfer’ system, which, beginning July 1, 2016, will considerably reduce the administrative workload – particularly for shipping lines – and simplify the exchange of containers between Maasvlakte’s five deep-sea terminals.

Sparking speculation that a recovery in commodities could be around the corner, the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities,  has risen 17.5 per cent since September 15, reports Business Standard. The indexis up 21 per cent at 943, since January this year. Analysts say the spike is due to an increase in iron ore imports by China. Iron ore prices in that country have risen 28 per cent since July. While some analysts say China is continuing to buy select commodities, the majority view on global commodities trade remains bearish. The index, analysts say, is unlikely to witness any major uptrend in the coming months, owing to a bleak outlook for the demand for commodities from China, the world’s largest importer of raw materials.

Maersk Line has been re-certified as an Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) with the AEO-F, the highest achievable accreditation in the European Union programme. The status benefits customers in several ways. The AEO-F certificate is granted to companies that meet particularly high safety and security standards in global trade, and is similar to the US C-TPAT, which Maersk Line also holds. In connection with Maersk Line’s separation from A.P. Moller-Maersk into its own legal entity, Maersk Line’s new AEO number is: DK AEOF 14-5317817. “Maersk Line was an early participant in the EU AEO programme and backs the imbedded values and visions of being a trusted supply chain partner” said Lars Lorenzen, Shore & Supply Chain Safety and Security at Maersk Line.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) has signed a MoU with Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT) & several government agencies with the aim of speeding up port formalities. The MoU, signed on the sidelines of the recent World Ports and Trade Summit 2013 (WPTS), in Abu Dhabi was between ADPC; Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA); Abu Dhabi Customs Administration (ADCA); and Abu Dhabi Terminals. Intended to act as a ”One-stop-shop” for the ports’ service and to integrate and accelerate the flow of trade-related documentation and information, the ‘Ports Community System’ (PCS) acts as a secure, centralisedelectronic systemthat manages the exchange of information between all the relevant parties.

Nicolette Kressl, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, named the new vessel of the German Customs Administration Helgoland. The Helgoland has been built from 2007 to 2009 by TKMS Blohm + Voss Nordseewerke in Emden, a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. Numerous representatives from politics, industry and administration watched the naming and commissioning ceremony of the new customs vessel at the Überseebrücke in Hamburg. Currently, the Helgoland is the latest vessel of the Customs Administration.

On December 10, the first steel plate was flame cut for a revenue cutter in SWATH technology. This action represents the official start of production of two revenue cutters in SWATH technology which will be built by Nordseewerke GmbH, a company of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The contractor is the Procurement Agency of the German Federal Customs Administration. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in May 2009. The German Federal Customs Administration has chosen a vessel…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued enhanced Importer Security Criteria for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). The Security Criteria Implementation Plan provides that, effective immediately, importers applying to join C-TPAT must submit a completed, comprehensive security profile with their application. Importers who are already C-TPAT members must harden their physical supply chain within 60 days; adopt enhanced internal supply chain management practices within 120 days; and adopt within 180 days a written, verifiable process for substantiating that business partners throughout their supply chain are meeting C-TPAT security criteria or equivalent supply chain security program criteria administered by a foreign Customs administration.