Contributing Editor Toby Gooley is a freelance writer and editor specializing in supply chain, logistics, material handling, and international trade. She previously was Editor at CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. and Senior Editor of SCQ's sister publication, DC VELOCITY. Prior to joining AGiLE Business Media in 2007, she spent 20 years at Logistics Management magazine as Managing Editor and Senior Editor covering international trade and transportation. Prior to that she was an export traffic manager for 10 years. She holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University.
A public meeting in Boston last week of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), which advises U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on commercial operations, was awash in the technical minutiae of customs compliance. Subcommittees reported their detailed recommendations in such areas as intellectual property rights, customs bonds, export manifest testing, and data sharing among government agencies, to name but a few. One broader theme that emerged was the need to expand the benefits of process modernization beyond U.S. borders and to bring best practices from abroad to the U.S.
Toward that end, a COAC working group established late last year is developing recommendations for implementing a North American Single Window encompassing the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The U.S. Single Window, part of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) and CBP's new Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) information system, is a portal that allows international traders to file information about shipments once and electronically share data with all relevant U.S. government agencies. Mexico already has such a system for imports, and Canada's version, like that of the U.S., is being rolled out in phases. A North American Single Window would provide import and export information to customs and other federal agencies in all three countries, with a stated goal of aligning and streamlining regulatory requirements, data sets, and processing without compromising enforcement and risk assessment.
During the program, CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske and other CBP officials held a separate press conference that provided updates on a wide range of topics. Among the highlights:
The "historic" July 23 switchover from CBP's legacy Automated Commercial System (ACS) to ACE was successful, with only minor "IT-type problems," said Cynthia Whittenburg, deputy executive assistant commissioner, Office of Trade. On that day it became mandatory for all electronic cargo entries and corresponding entry summaries to be filed in ACE, and CBP essentially shut off ACS. Technical teams are monitoring the new system around the clock to address any problems that arise.
CBP's staffing shortage has been reduced, but gaps remain. A systemwide review of staffing requirements in 2014 showed a shortage of more than 4,600, and Congress approved funding to hire an additional 2,000 officers that year, said Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner, Office of Field Operations. Not all of those positions have been filled; staffing at air- and seaports is "very healthy," but it has been difficult to recruit qualified agents at the Southwest land border, he said. However, a 2016 review of staffing requirements shows that staffing needs for 2017 have been reduced by approximately 500, largely due to process improvements and technology upgrades, Owen said. For example, a software "refresh" for radiation portal monitors two years ago reduced the incidence of false alarms by 85 percent, significantly cutting down on the number of officers required to monitor the machines and respond to alarms.
Kerlikowske said that "unbelievable progress" and efficiency improvements have been made on the U.S.-Mexico border, thanks to cooperation between the two governments. Among those he cited are recent changes in Mexico's laws to allow armed CBP officers to work alongside Mexican customs officers in that country; as a result, the agencies may now conduct joint inspections of Mexican produce before it enters the U.S. rather than separate inspections in each country. Mexico's customs authority is also sharing security images of railcars crossing into Brownsville, Texas, rather than both sides stopping the cars for screening.
As part of the Secure Freight Initiative, 100 percent of U.S.-bound containers at the ports of Qasim in Pakistan and Aqaba in Jordan are now being screened for weapons and contraband. The images are transmitted in real time to CBP analysts in the U.S., who review and approve or order an inspection, said Owen. Five years into the program, CBP wants to reassess the technology it has been using to screen containers overseas and has put out a request for information from technology vendors, he said.
During the event's opening remarks and the press conference, several speakers noted that Congress is increasingly interested in and supportive of trade enforcement, and that trade's unexpected prominence in the presidential campaign could be beneficial in keeping the trade community's needs and priorities in front of policymakers. When asked to what degree a change in administration affects customs policies and priorities, Kerlikowske, who plans to step down when a new president takes office, said that he couldn't comment, as he had not experienced such a change. However, he did have a recommendation for the new administration, regardless of party: that a new commissioner be appointed and confirmed as quickly as possible, and the position not allowed to remain unfilled for several years, as was the case prior to his confirmation. CBP, he said, is a "sophisticated, complex agency" that has a major impact on national security and the economy and needs leadership.
A coalition of freight transport and cargo handling organizations is calling on countries to honor their existing resolutions to report the results of national container inspection programs, and for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to publish those results.
Those two steps would help improve safety in the carriage of goods by sea, according to the Cargo Integrity Group (CIG), which is a is a partnership of industry associations seeking to raise awareness and greater uptake of the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (2014) – often referred to as CTU Code.
According to the Cargo Integrity Group, member governments of the IMO adopted resolutions more than 20 years ago agreeing to conduct routine inspections of freight containers and the cargoes packed in them. But less than 5% of 167 national administrations covered by the agreement are regularly submitting the results of their inspections to IMO in publicly available form.
The low numbers of reports means that insufficient data is available for IMO or industry to draw reliable conclusions, fundamentally undermining their efforts to improve the safety and sustainability of shipments by sea, CIG said.
Meanwhile, the dangers posed by poorly packed, mis-handled, or mis-declared containerized shipments has been demonstrated again recently in a series of fires and explosions aboard container ships. Whilst the precise circumstances of those incidents remain under investigation, the Cargo Integrity Group says it is concerned that measures already in place to help identify possible weaknesses are not being fully implemented and that opportunities for improving compliance standards are being missed.
By the numbers, overall retail sales in August were up 0.1% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 2.1% unadjusted year over year. That compared with increases of 1.1% month over month and 2.9% year over year in July.
August’s core retail sales as defined by NRF — based on the Census data but excluding automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants — were up 0.3% seasonally adjusted month over month and up 3.3% unadjusted year over year. Core retail sales were up 3.4% year over year for the first eight months of the year, in line with NRF’s forecast for 2024 retail sales to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023.
“These numbers show the continued resiliency of the American consumer,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a release. “While sales growth decelerated from last month’s pace, there is little hint of consumer spending unraveling. Households have the underpinnings to spend as recent wage gains have outpaced inflation even though payroll growth saw a slowdown in July and August. Easing inflation is providing added spending capacity to cost-weary shoppers and the interest rate cuts expected to come from the Fed should help create a more positive environment for consumers in the future.”
The U.S., U.K., and Australia will strengthen supply chain resiliency by sharing data and taking joint actions under the terms of a pact signed last week, the three nations said.
The agreement creates a “Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group” designed to build resilience in priority supply chains and to enhance the members’ mutual ability to identify and address risks, threats, and disruptions, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.
One of the top priorities for the new group is developing an early warning pilot focused on the telecommunications supply chain, which is essential for the three countries’ global, digitized economies, they said. By identifying and monitoring disruption risks to the telecommunications supply chain, this pilot will enhance all three countries’ knowledge of relevant vulnerabilities, criticality, and residual risks. It will also develop procedures for sharing this information and responding cooperatively to disruptions.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the group chose that sector because telecommunications infrastructure is vital to the distribution of public safety information, emergency services, and the day to day lives of many citizens. For example, undersea fiberoptic cables carry over 95% of transoceanic data traffic without which smartphones, financial networks, and communications systems would cease to function reliably.
“The resilience of our critical supply chains is a homeland security and economic security imperative,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a release. “Collaboration with international partners allows us to anticipate and mitigate disruptions before they occur. Our new U.S.-U.K.-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group will help ensure that our communities continue to have the essential goods and services they need, when they need them.”
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.