• The Bureau of Customs will require accreditation from empty container yards

• The accreditation allows the bureau to supervise the yards, according to BOC Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group deputy commissioner Edward James Dy Buco

• BOC is also discussing a proposal to automate the monitoring of return of empty containers to shipping lines’ designated depots

The Bureau of Customs will soon require accreditation for empty container yards, according to BOC Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group deputy commissioner Edward James Dy Buco.

In a phone interview with PortCalls, Dy Buco said the accreditation allows BOC to exercise authority over such yards which, he pointed out, are currently not regulated by any government agency.

Drafting a customs order on the issue is a priority, he said, adding the order will include among its requirements equipment that should be provided in the yard.

He noted the accreditation of empty container yards will complement BOC’s monitoring of containers, which, under the law, should be re-exported within 90 days, otherwise they will be considered importation and subject to payment of duties and taxes. He said this is also to help prevent possible congestion outside the ports.

BOC has said empty container yards are considered a type of customs facilities and warehouses under Customs Administrative Order No. 09-2019 and Customs Memorandum Order No. 18-2022, and thus require accreditation from the agency.

CMO 18-2022 implements CAO 09-2019, which provides the guidelines on the establishment, operation, supervision, and control of CFWs under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

CFWs are facilities for temporary storage of goods established and authorized by BOC. These include container yards, container freight stations, seaport temporary storage warehouses, airport temporary storage warehouses, and other premises, for customs purposes.

Automating container movement monitoring

Relatedly, Dy Buco said the BOC is discussing a proposal to adopt a system that automates the monitoring of movement of containers, particularly the return of empties to shipping lines.

Dy Buco attended a presentation in August by the Alliance of Container Yard Operators of the Philippines (ACYOP), which has been implementing its own online booking system to properly handle and schedule the return, withdrawal, and repositioning of empty containers in member-operated depots.

ACYOP is also working on the second phase of its online booking system that will allow truckers to book an appointment for returning empty containers through a mobile app to make it more accessible and provide truck drivers visibility on their booking appointments.

Dy Buco said this system will help BOC monitor the stay of containers in the Philippines. He said BOC collection districts already have their own system to monitor the movement of containers, but noted that the current system is “very limited” and not national in scope.

Stakeholders, particularly truckers and customs brokers, have been raising issues on the return of empty containers, including the non-availability of slots and queuing in container yards.

BOC has formed a task group to work closely with stakeholders on issues relating to the return of empty containers.

Source: https://www.portcalls.com/boc-to-accredit-empty-container-yards/

MARITIME experts have advocated the adoption of new maritime technologies for cleaner and safer shipping in the African continent.

Speaking at the 7th Lagos International Maritime Week, LIMW, held in Lagos, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mme Emmanuelle Blatmann, who was represented by Laurence Monmayrant, Consul-General of France in Lagos, said that profound mutations are also taking place in the maritime industry for the better.

Monmayrant  noted that the conference has put ecology on the agenda to move towards a greener footprint in the shipping industry.

She explained that, more than the energy crisis, there had been repeated major natural disasters which must trigger the change for the shipping industry as a big energy consumer.

The French envoy further explained that in France, the French private sector has moved forward three years ago as 10 French ship owners and the Italian ship-owner, Grimaldi signed a the Sustainable Actions for Innovative and Low-impact Shipping (SAILS) charter aimed at drastically reducing emissions and protecting the marine environment.

Also speaking, Otunba Kunle Folarin, Chairman, Nigerian Port Consultative Council, said that the immediate concerns that needed to be addressed were issues in the maritime and shipping environment, particularly in Marine Technology and Machinery.

In her opening remarks, convener of the Conference, Mrs Tosan Edodo, lamented the decay of infrastructure in the shipping industry.

Edodo noted that Maritime transport infrastructure has suffered a deficit in the last few years, adding that efforts should be intensified towards ensuring that bottlenecks and constraint that inhibits the flow of international trade.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/09/maritime-experts-advocate-new-tech-for-cleaner-shipping-in-africa/

NVOCCs are caught in the middle of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 requirements for reporting demurrage and detention; FMC needs to pump the brakes and allow the industry to catch up

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, passed by Congress without industry input and signed into law on June 16, has left the industry in a difficult position regarding how to comply with the new requirements for invoicing demurrage and detention (D&D) charges.

At issue is the Container Availability Date, which must now be included on all invoices as the critical piece of information that determines the fair assessment of D&D charges. However, container availability differs from the date a container is discharged from a vessel, which has been the current trigger date for demurrage.

In fact, ocean carriers and/or terminals have been unwilling or unable to provide this critical piece of information to Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carriers (NVOCCs). There is no interface currently between the parties that communicates cargo availability information. As a result, they are having difficulty providing this information on their customers’ invoices.

What’s more, it shifts the burden of proof for accurate D&D charges to the ocean carriers and/or NVOCCs, who act as intermediaries between the shippers and ocean carriers.

Further, the law stipulates that failure to include the information required on an invoice with any D&D charge shall eliminate any obligation of the charged party to pay that applicable fee. Shippers and others may also file complaints with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regarding inaccurate D&D invoices. As a result, carriers could be forced to pay refunds and penalties if they are unable to demonstrate the reasonableness of their D&D charges.

If this technology issue concerning communication and data structure for capturing and conveying the Container Availability Date is not resolved, NVOCCs and customs brokers, who frequently advance funds for their customers to ensure the smooth movement of freight, may face a disastrous cash flow situation. As middlemen, they could be dispensing funds for customers who may later assert they do not have to pay the invoice because the D&D charges were incorrectly invoiced.

Indeed, in Bakerly vs. Seafrigo, a New York-based food importer is seeking relief from the FMC after being charged nearly $3 million in D&D fees by Seafrigo, an NVOCC at the ports of New York and New Jersey.

The new Container Availability Data element must be created, captured, and transmitted both from terminals to carriers, as well as from carriers to customers and service providers.

Interestingly, when we asked the carriers if they would provide the Container Availability Date, they responded that the terminals would. The terminals, however, do not communicate with importers, customs brokers, or NVOCCs. So, how will the carriers connect to the terminals, and how will this actually work? Nobody knows.

To complicate matters further, each ocean carrier has its own ocean tariff and rules for each trade. So, the rules could state that free time begins at midnight the day after discharge, or they could state something else. Each carrier, however, has its own set of rules. As a result, free time begins when the carrier’s tariff specifies. Another moving target is when cargo is available, which is unknown to the carrier until informed by the terminal.

How will the carriers put those invoices together when there is no standard for reporting when the cargo is available? Codifying these definitions, which are not currently reflected in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, will be critical.

This new law affects both terminal processes and technology in terms of data structure and communication, and it is costly. It took effect without the typical industry commentary or phase-in periods. Normally, laws are broad, and then rulemaking gets specific, especially at the level of key data elements, as we have here. It is unusual for a law to be so specific right away.

Furthermore, the industry has been given no time to prepare, and the FMC has stated that there will be no grace period. The industry needs time to work through this issue.

We see the temporary solution to this cargo availability reporting problem being two-fold:

•There should be a grace period for the industry to adjust to the new cargo availability and D&D reporting requirements. The FMC should call on the ocean carriers and terminals and tell them that they must provide this new data set about cargo availability to the NVOCCs by a certain date. The NVOCCs should then be given at least another 30-45 days to put in place the mechanisms to deal with this new piece of data that does not currently exist today.

•If not, a temporary FMC ruling mandating D&D’s payment on credit in order to prevent cargo from being held for pickup should be issued. If the cargo has cleared customs and the transportation charges have been paid, the cargo should be released for pick up. Any D&D charges would be invoiced and paid after verification. In other words, the transaction would no longer be cash-and-carry.

Despite the unintended consequences of this cargo availability reporting rule, we do not oppose its intent. It encourages terminals to address the congestion issue more directly and removes the complacency that huge demurrage revenues have generated under the current calculation process. However, this is a significant change that does not appear to be registering clearly within the supply chain industry.

In closing, FMC needs to reconsider its enforcement until the industry catches up.

Trade Tech stands ready to help once clear reporting guidelines are established. Within our platform, we have added an event for the availability date and changed the detention calculation.

Further, we already have all of the carriers’ D&D rules embedded in our tech stack. We also have a tracking report that calculates the amount of demurrage owed for each container so that it can be audited.

At Trade Tech, we are ready, willing, and able to help the trade – both for VOCCs as well as NVOCCs.

Source: https://www.maritimeprofessional.com/news/nvoccs-caught-middle-ocean-shipping-379372