Monday, April 21, 2014

Ag group: Documentation rules in Japan and EU imperil U.S. agriculture exports

The Agriculture Transportation Coalition has announced efforts to revise new export documentation rules that threaten the viability of U.S. agriculture exports via ocean carrier, especially perishable goods, according to a coalition statement.

The coalition said that Japan and the EU have imposed unrealistic deadlines for advance submission of export documentation. The new regulations can cause unforeseen delays, threatening the viability of such exports from the U.S., and the group said it will address these and other supply chain issues with agriculture exporters, ocean carriers and other stakeholders at its annual meeting in June.
   
In the wake of 9/11, ATC said no cargo is loaded on a ship in the U.S. unless Customs and Border Protection has had a chance to run the data through its computers to determine if it poses some risk.
 
More recently, a number of U.S. trading partners are imposing similar data collection demands on products exported from the U.S. Both the European Union, Japan, and China have programs requiring ocean carriers to submit data describing the identity of the exporter, the importer on the other side of the ocean, container number, description of the cargo, place of origin, destination, the statement said.

A problem arises because U.S. exporters of citrus and other perishables, although willing to provide such information, need expedited treatment in order for their products to be viable upon delivery, ATC says.
 
For example, cargo information must be provided to Japanese Customs authorities by the shipping line 24 hours prior to departure of the vessel. This means the vessel operator must have the info at least 24 to 72 hours earlier, the statement said, which adds several days to the outbound cargo movement. For perishable goods, this means the difference between fresh fruit or spoiled products that cannot be sold.
 
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition said is working with U.S. and Japanese, European and Chinese authorities to close the gap between the need for advance shipping data and the physical realities of the global trade of agriculture and perishables.


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