Cargo Business News - Current Issue


Home The Magazine Current Issue Archives Blog About CBN Subscribe Reprints Conferences Overview Southwest Intermodal Port Productivity Conference Southeast Freight Conference Northwest Intermodal Port Handbooks Overview Pacific Northwest Ports Handbook Golden Gates Ports Handbook Southern California Ports Handbook Buy Handbook Newswire Subscribe Archives Calendar Classifieds Advertise General Information Upload Files

Service Providers and Trade Compliance Freight Forwarders Need Apply! By Sarah Reynolds, senior consultant, American River International Trade compliance is the “primary” responsibility of companies who are “principal” importers and exporters. Most companies operating in global supply chains utilize the services of freight forwarders, customhouse brokers and logistics companies; these are known as “service providers.” The United States government, through the agencies that interface in imports and exports, such as Customs Border and Protection, Bureau of Industry and Security, and the Census Bureau, all acknowledge that for a supply chain to be truly compliant, there is a natural extension of compliance management that extends from principal importers and exporters to all the service providers. This means that freight forwarders have to run their operations in a compliant manner as well. Ensuring this is also part of the responsibility of the importers and exporters that engage their services. There is sort of a doctrine of “supervision and control” required by most government agencies; many responsibilities are delegated to these providers, but the work they do must be supervised and controlled by that importer or exporter of record. This means that while it’s okay to delegate, the principal company must still have a basic knowledge of trade compliance to ensure that the parties they delegate to do what they’re supposed to. We typically measure services, technology, price, scheduling, etc., but now we must scrutinize yet another component: the trade compliance capabilities of the freight forwarder. A good number of freight forwarders and other service providers take their trade compliance responsibilities very seriously, and have some comprehensive capabilities. There are also many who don’t. The global supply chain executive’s greatest challenge in trade compliance is often sorting out which ones are good and which are not. That can be as much an art as a science. Experience, due diligence and scrutiny will help in managing trade compliance responsibility.	In This Issue News, Trends & Analysis New Items Don’t Get Carried Away Supply Chain So, how much is this worth, anyway? Compliance Corner: Service Providers and Trade Compliance Freight Forwarders need apply! Five things you should know about auto and logistics software Distorted Web Sites Supply Chain product review Security Software Solutions Features Gateway at a Glance Gulf Coast Supply Security Investments: A Balancing Act Ports & infrastructure Major retailer to Southern Cal ports: Requirements are many, costs are high Port Product Review Security Equipment Commentary Security Issues Impacting the Supply Chain Who, What, Where, When Final Say
Home \| Subscribe \| Our Conferences \| Ports Handbooks \| Advertising Info \| Publishing Services \| About Us Contact \| Calendar \| Past Issues \| Upload Files All contents of this site are copyright 2010 by Northwest Publishing Center and Cargo Business News and may not be reproduced in any way without express written consent of the author. Site design by Spilled Ink Studio

Service Providers and Trade Compliance Freight Forwarders Need Apply!