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   Vol. 14  No. 17
Monday February 23, 2015

Best In Show-FIATA Part 2

Best In Show Part VIB

     This is the last in the series titled “Best In Show.” There were three important and informative gatherings that capped off the air cargo trade show event year for 2014.
     First came The Air Cargo Handlers Conference (ACH) held in Milan. Next was The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) Air Cargo Forum (ACF) held in Seoul, Korea. Finally, there was the FIATA annual world event that was held in Istanbul, Turkey.
      To us, the content of these industry encounters can serve as a primer for things to come this year. If you missed any part of this series just scroll to the bottom of this article and select a highlighted issue and click to read.

Gordon Wright     At FIATA in Istanbul, speaker Mr. Gordon Wright, Customs & Cargo Trade Facilitation Senior Manager, IATA gave an interesting presentation introduction on the topic: ‘The air cargo supply chains call on a joint approach to aviation security advance information.’
     Gordon drew attention to the fact that there had been heightened awareness of the requirement for advance security information since the Yemen incident in 2010. Since then IATA have been pursuing their strategic objectives through the customs Affairs Institute and the Cargo Security Task Force, recognizing the need to be proactive and create solutions in conjunction with regulatory authorities.
     The USA advance screening pilot started with the four main integrators, and realized that for this to be effective, they needed to push back the receipt of information prior to departure. This has resulted in co-operation between TSA and customs to mitigate the risks. The envisaged dataset (7+!) required for customs and security filing includes the following:
          Shipper name
          Shipper address
          Consignee name
          Consignee address
          Cargo Description
          Total Quantity based on the smallest packing unit
          Total Weight
          +1 the air waybill number.
     This constitutes the basic set of data required and is contained within the FHL.
     Regarding the ACAS pilots, 42 companies are now participating, accounting for 85 percent of movements into the U.S. Requested messages are received, and a ‘good-to-load’ message is sent once the risk assessment has been completed. The findings to date are that the data quality is good, there have been 165 million transmissions, and there have been nil ‘do not load’ messages.
     It now seems likely that the EU will adopt the same modus operandi (Precise) and these changes will be part of the EU customs code with implementation likely to be after May 2016.
Gordon also touched on the SAFE framework of standards and the need for a global standard and harmonized approach.
     (For those unfamiliar with “SAFE,” the WCO Council adopted the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade [SAFE Framework] that would act as a deterrent to international terrorism, secure revenue collections, and promote trade facilitation worldwide)
     SAFE is not legally binding even though 170 WCO member states have undertaken to implement the standards. The next step is to include the ACAS, Precise, and other relevant standards into SAFE.


Advisory Body Information Technology (ABIT)

Lance Thompson     Dr. Lance Thompson, Conex/International Development Manager spoke on the topic of International Technical Standards and Recommendations
     Dr. Thompson now heads up the work carried out by UNCEFACT covering International Technical Standards and recommendations. The focus is to have a shared understanding of information to be exchanged. Dr. Thompson explained that the WCO data model is now focusing on allowing other government departments to be able to re-use the information. Alignment to the WCO data model by national customs authorities also enables customs to engage in information sharing.
     UNCEFACT, meanwhile, has the responsibility to develop simple, transparent, and effective processes for global business through the development of Trade Facilitation Recommendations and e-business standards, often achieved through public/private partnerships.
     The technical specifications for the messages are freely available on the Trade Facilitation Implementation guide.


Geoffrey comments:

     There have been repeated calls over the last two conferences covered by FT (TIACA and FIATA) for global standards in terms of advance security data and a plea from trade that customs, security, and other regulatory authorities work together to ensure that repetition is reduced. FT can only endorse this plea as it certainly makes life easier for all concerned. The signs are very good and more and more standards organizations are joining forces to ensure that they are aligned.
     FT also believes that if you want people to adopt standards, then make them free of charge. Thus we take our hat off to UNCEFACT, Dr. Lance Thompson, and all the others involved in designing the UNCEFACT standards and guidelines and making them freely available to key stakeholders.
     The website for UNCEFACT is well worth a look and is well laid out. It certainly contains lots of useful information. A small suggestion: we don’t think many people are aware of the great work that the UNCEFACT teams do. FT suggests that they might do a little more to publicize their achievements such as regular newsletters, press releases, etc.”
     Overall impression was it was a very well-attended conference and a great place to network. There were a lot of interesting speakers covering a wide variety of topics, which FT found very interesting.
     Having covered workshops at ACH2014 and TIACA ACF, FT is now becoming an advocate of these mediums to express and share ideas. Perhaps that is something to consider at FIATA World Congress 2015?
Geoffrey/Flossie


If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
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FT021315
Vol 14. No. 14
Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay
Duggan To Saudia

Will Cargo Embrace AIR?
Chuckles For February 13, 2015
Coo Coo Keukenhof
FT021715
Vol 14. No. 15
Stop The World I Want To Get Off
AFKLMP Heats Up Cool
Something For The Kids
Chuckles For February 17, 2015
Weathering Fat Tuesday