NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance: Recent Episodes
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6-minute read
For the past two years, we’ve turned to the Allianz Risk Barometer to uncover the biggest threats businesses face. This annual report from global insurer Allianz Group highlights the key concerns and emerging challenges shaping the year ahead.
Today, we look into the five biggest concerns keeping business leaders up at night – plus one rising challenge on the horizon. Understanding these risks can help companies prepare for what lies ahead.
The report, based on a survey of 3,778 risk management experts across 106 countries, reveals the top risks for businesses in 2025:
- Cyber incidents are the biggest threat, with 38% of experts identifying them as their top concern—a record 7% increase from previous years.
- Business interruption ranks #2 (31%), showing how disruptions can severely impact operations.
- Natural catastrophes are #3 (29%), emphasizing the growing risks from extreme weather events and disasters.
- Changes in legislation and regulation hold the #4 spot (25%), driven by evolving sustainability rules and emerging tech governance.
- Climate change is at its highest-ever ranking at #5 (19%), as businesses deal with new regulations, compliance costs, and operational disruptions from worsening weather patterns.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) risks have entered the top 10 for the first time, reflecting concerns about its rapid development.
Let’s look into these risks in more detail.
Cyber Incidents: The Biggest Business Risk in 2025Cyber incidents, including ransomware attacks, data breaches, and IT outages, are the #1 global risk for businesses in 2025.
This marks the fourth year in a row at the top, rising from #8 a decade ago with just 12% of responses to 38% today.
“For many companies, cyber risk, exacerbated by the rapid development of AI, is the big risk overriding everything else,” – says Rishi Baviskar, Global Head of Cyber Risk Consulting, Allianz Commercial
Cyber threats are the top concern worldwide, ranking #1 across North and South America, Europe, and Africa, as well as in 20 countries across both developed and emerging economies. It’s also the leading risk for businesses of all sizes and industries.
Ransomware attacks are increasing, often targeting sensitive data to pressure companies into paying. And data breaches are the most feared cyber risk.
According to Daniel Muller, Emerging Risks and Trends Manager, Allianz Commercial cyber is likely to remain a top risk for organizations going forward, given the growing reliance on technology and as AI is incorporated into a growing number of products and services:
“Advancements in technology, enhanced connectivity, faster network speeds, and the rise of remote work and digital commerce will continue to elevate cyber risks, such as data breaches and ransomware attacks. AI will further amplify and accelerate these threats, but it also holds the potential to enhance cyber security measures, offering a dual-edged sword in the digital landscape.”
Cyber risks are closely linked to other top business threats. According to the Allianz Risk Barometer, cyber incidents are the leading cause of business interruption, making them a major concern for companies worldwide.
Business InterruptionBusiness interruption (BI) has consistently ranked #1 or #2 in the Allianz Risk Barometer for the past decade. It remains a top concern due to supply chain disruptions, which worsened during and after the pandemic.
BI is often triggered by natural disasters, cyberattacks, insolvency, or political risks like conflict and civil unrest.
In 2025, BI is the #1 risk in the Asia-Pacific region and the top concern for 11 industries, including food, consumer goods, hospitality, heavy industry, energy, transport, and manufacturing.
According to respondents, the biggest BI risks are cyber incidents and natural catastrophes, followed by fire, machinery breakdown, and supplier failure.
The increasing use of automation and digitization has made supply chains more efficient but also more vulnerable.
“Automation and digitization have significantly accelerated processes, which can sometimes overwhelm individuals due to the rapid pace and complexity of modern technologys” – says Michael Bruch, Global Head of Risk Advisory Services, Allianz Commercial
One of the largest BI events last year was the CrowdStrike IT outage in July, caused by a faulty security software update. It impacted Microsoft Windows systems, costing Fortune 500 companies over $5.4 billion in losses, with insured losses between $540 million and $1 billion.
“Last year’s outage affecting CrowdStrike and Microsoft users was a reminder that IT and software supply chains can go down, and when they do, it can have a global impact,” – Rishi Baviskar, Global Head of Cyber Risk Consulting, Allianz Commercial
Supply chain disruptions with global effects now occur approximately every 1.4 years, a trend that is rising.
These disruptions can increase product costs by 5% to 10% and cause additional downtime, according to a white paper from Circular Republic, in collaboration with Porsche Consulting2, Allianz and Agora Strategy.
Shipping and transport risks are also growing concerns, reflecting disruption brought by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea and drought-related transit restrictions in the Panama Canal that are affecting global trade.
As 90% of global trade relies on sea transport, disruptions can have massive economic consequences. A prime example is the Ever Given blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021, which lasted six days and cost an estimated $60 billion in losses.
With increasing cyber threats, climate risks, and geopolitical tensions, business interruption will remain a top concern in 2025.
Natural CatastrophesNatural catastrophes remain a top concern in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer.
In 2024, total economic losses from natural catastrophes reached US$310 billion, according to Swiss Re. Severe convective storms, tropical cyclones, and floods accounted for nearly 90% of all global insured losses related to natural events and 85% of total economic losses from natural hazards.
“In addition, every major continent experienced at least one historically anomalous extreme weather or climate event last year,” notes Mabé Villar Vega, Senior Catastrophe Risk Research Analyst at Allianz Commercial.
Changes in Legislation and RegulationLegislation and regulation are still ranked among the top four risks in the Allianz Risk Barometer.
Sustainability reporting requirements are high on the agenda, while companies are also more concerned about the prospect of tariffs.
Both the EU and the US have promised to cut bureaucracy in 2025. Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to reduce red tape, while Donald Trump has created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to simplify regulations.
However, many businesses remain sceptical, as reducing bureaucracy has been promised before but rarely delivered.
Climate ChangeClimate change has risen to #5 in the global risk rankings, its highest position yet.
The renewed focus comes after extreme weather events and record-breaking temperatures in 2024.
Hail, floods, and wildfires are now more significant threats than traditional risks like earthquakes and tropical cyclones.
Businesses are most concerned about physical damage and business interruptions caused by climate change. Managing transition risks—such as decarbonization and net-zero strategies—has also become a top sustainability challenge due to complex regulations, policy uncertainty, and data transparency issues.
“Every action we take has an impact. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we must collectively change our behaviors, such as reducing waste, conserving energy, and adopting sustainable practices,” says Daniel Muller, Emerging Risks and Trends Manager, Allianz Commercial.
The increasing frequency of costly disasters raises concerns about the affordability and insurability of properties in high-risk areas.
“The burden of natural disasters will increasingly fall on governments and taxpayers in areas prone to costly hurricanes, storms, and floods. Climate change raises critical questions about the insurability and affordability of coverage for frequent or likely events. Therefore, the focus must urgently shift to loss prevention and mitigation, involving governments, insurers, and communities,” Muller adds.
Newly Emerging RiskNew technologies, particularly AI, have entered the top 10 global risks at #10 for 2025, driven by rapid advancements since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. While AI offers efficiency and process improvements, it also introduces new risks.
“Companies have little choice but to adopt AI due to its rapid advancement. Those who hesitate risk falling behind competitors and missing valuable opportunities. While technology development used to be gradual, today’s fast-paced AI landscape, coupled with regulatory and legal lag, demands swift adoption,” says Daniel Muller, Emerging Risks and Trends Manager, Allianz Commercial.
Opinions on AI’s impact are divided—50% of respondents see more benefits than risks, 35% are neutral, and 15% believe risks outweigh the benefits.
AI presents both opportunities and threats. Take cyber risk. AI is being used by criminals and nation-states to cause disruption or spread misinformation.
But it can also help mitigate risks and build resilience, says Rishi Baviskar, Global Head of Cyber Risk Consulting, Allianz Commercial, who stresses that AI also has a vital role to play in helping to mitigate the impact of cyber-attacks.
“AI can help improve processes and productivity, but it also impacts employees and raises questions in areas like ethics, privacy and cyber security. There is a balance to be found between the risks and the rewards.”
Source: Allianz Risk Barometer 2025, Allianz Commercial. The full report can be found here
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2-minute read
A Christchurch nursery and its director have been fined $42,500 for breaching New Zealand’s biosecurity regulations by illegally removing hundreds of imported plants from quarantine.
New Zealand enforces strict biosecurity regulations to protect its unique environment and agricultural industry from invasive species, pests, and diseases.
Under the Biosecurity Act, imported plants must remain in a PEQ facility for a minimum of three months, during which they are monitored for potential biosecurity threats.
The nursery registered as a Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ) facility with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and its director, were found guilty of prematurely taking 220 imported plants out of quarantine, violating the Biosecurity Act.
“These rules are there for a reason – to protect New Zealand from any potential pests and diseases which could be a risk to our biosecurity,” said Gerald Anderson, MPI regional manager for investigations in the South Island.
The Incident: Violation of RegulationsThe case came to light following the importation of 600 Nandina domestica plants, an evergreen shrub from Australia, in September 2022. The plants were placed in the nursery’s PEQ facility, where they were required to remain for three months to comply with quarantine regulations.
However, after just one day, the nursery’s director illegally removed 220 of the imported plants from quarantine and relocated them to a non-PEQ area.
In an attempt to evade detection, he replaced the imported plants with similar-looking domestic ones. An audit conducted by an MPI inspector initially failed to catch the breach, as the inspector mistakenly believed the swapped plants were the original imports.
While the director declined a formal interview with MPI, he admitted to breaking the law.
Legal ConsequencesThe case was taken to the Christchurch District Court, where the director and the nursery pleaded guilty to charges under the Biosecurity Act. As a result, the court imposed a fine of $42,500.
Although no pests or diseases were found on the plants removed from quarantine, the breach of regulations posed a potential risk to New Zealand’s biosecurity.
MPI investigators emphasized that violations of quarantine measures could have serious consequences for the country’s biodiversity and agricultural industry.
Gerald Anderson from MPI highlighted the seriousness of the breach, stating, “The director was highly experienced and fully aware of the quarantine regulations. These are not arbitrary rules – they are in place to protect our environment from threats that could cause significant damage.”
Why Biosecurity MattersNew Zealand’s economy relies heavily on its agricultural sector, and its ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to invasive species.
Breaches of biosecurity, such as this one, could have catastrophic consequences if pests or diseases were introduced.
This case, while not resulting in any immediate threat, highlights the importance of maintaining compliance with biosecurity regulations.
The $42,500 fine handed down in this case underscores the critical role of biosecurity in protecting New Zealand.
Source: This work is based on/includes MPI data which is licensed by Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence .
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5-minute read
The cost of shipping goods has once again surged, posing challenges for businesses and consumers worldwide.
As customs brokers, we stay informed about market developments, ensuring our clients are well-prepared for these changes.
In this article, we look at the latest report from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Economic Division (MFAT), which reveals that shipping rates have nearly doubled since late April and the reasons behind it.
These rising costs are due to disruptions in key shipping routes, especially the Red Sea, where security issues have diverted traffic from the Suez Canal.
This detour, along with a shortage of shipping containers and congestion at major ports, have reshaped global logistics and impacted economies from Asia to Europe.
As these trends unfold, concerns about inflation and economic stability are growing, echoing the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, there are signs that this current rise in costs, while significant, may not be as severe as what was experienced in previous years, concludes the report by MFAT.
Disruptions in the Red Sea Continue to Weigh on Global ShippingSince December last year, commercial shipping between Asia and Europe has faced significant disruption in the Red Sea because of Houthi attacks on vessels transiting the area.
For the most part, commercial shipping companies decided to divert shipping away from the most direct route, via the Suez Canal, and instead sail around the African continent.
Data from IMF’s PortWatch reveals that since December last year, sailings of commercial shipping via the Suez Canal fell by around 40 per day or 52% (Figure 1A).
Figure 1: Commercial shipping continues to avoid the Red SeaAt the same time, daily sailings around the Cape of Good Hope gained an average of 35 sailings or 71% (Figure 1B).
The move added around 40% in voyage distance, causing shipping delays of 2-5 weeks and raising trade costs to and from Europe.
Further adding to global shipping woes, the Panama Canal, another key trade route between the Indo-Pacific and Europe, also added to the disruption of global sea trade.
Low water levels caused by an extended period of drought last year forced operators to place restrictions on the number of ships transiting the waterway and draft limits that reduced the weight these ships can carry.
Shipping Costs Higher Once AgainAfter an initial jump in freight rates in January, shipping costs began to moderate as global supply chains adjusted to a new reality.
Since May, however, we have seen the resumption of rising freight costs.
Global measures of shipping rates have almost doubled since late April (see Figure 2 below).
And on some routes, such as Shanghai to Rotterdam, costs have experienced much larger gains.
Fortunately, overall shipping costs still sit well below the peak experienced during COVID-19.
However, it will take time to show up in New Zealand’s economic data, with shipping costs typically being recorded with a lag of around 3-to-9-months (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Rising shipping costs take time to be felt in New Zealand*Global Sea Freight Capacity Current shipping disruptions have led global shipping capacity to become finely balanced, meaning prices are more sensitive to changes in demand.
The available shipping capacity has been taken up because longer sailing times between Asia and Europe mean more ships are needed to service these routes.
At the same time, global merchandise export volumes are recovering (Figure 3), particularly those from Asia.
Figure 3: Global export growth is recovering after a subdued 2023For example, China’s goods exports have shown strong growth over the first half of 2024 and even posting a 7.6% yoy jump in May.
A resilient US economy has supported demand, but there has also been a general rebuilding of inventories globally.
Global trade is expected to recover further over 2024, with the WTO forecasting the volume of global merchandise exports will expand 2.6% this year, following a small contraction last year.
Shortage of Shipping ContainersAnother consequence of ongoing disruption has been a shortage of shipping containers.
With ships spending more time in transit, the global shipping sector requires more equipment to transport goods to and from Europe.
Moreover, the net flow of containers tends to be from China, a major global manufacturer, to consumers in the West.
Currently, empty containers aren’t returning to where they are needed quickly enough, adding to the equipment shortages.
In addition, new container production dropped off sharply last year as merchandise trade experienced a post-COVID fall.
The shortage has seen the price of containers rise sharply, with containers in China doubling in price compared to September.
The rerouting of ships around Africa and equipment shortages are causing flow-on effects, including an increase in off-schedule arrivals that is playing havoc with logistics management and increasing congestion at some major Asian ports.
Ships calling on key Asian ports, such as Singapore and Shanghai, are experiencing delays in entering ports and in the loading and unloading of cargo.
Encouraging Outlook While shipping costs will likely remain elevated while commercial shipping avoids the Red Sea, current supply-chain issues are not expected to match those experienced during the pandemic disruption, the MFAT report concludes.
Firstly, the rise in shipping costs this year has not been experienced universally and has been most acute on routes between Asia and Europe.
In contrast, the COVID-19-driven surge in shipping costs was felt worldwide, resulting from an explosion in the demand for goods in 2021.
Secondly, manufacturers are already responding to the shortage of containers by boosting production.
China is the largest manufacturer of shipping containers, and production has been ramping up. According to Bloomberg(external link), over the first five months of this year, manufacturers in China have produced a similar number of new containers as they did over the same period in 2021.
As the new supply of containers comes online, they should help to plug some of the gaps experienced by shipping companies.
Thirdly, conditions in the Panama Canal are improving and allowing authorities to begin easing restrictions there.
Water levels in Lake Gatun, the main body of water that feeds the canal system, have steadily risen since April.
And above-average rainfall forecasts have allowed canal authorities to increase the number of ships able to ply the waterway.
From late July, 34 ships per day will be able to traverse the canal, up from 24 at the start of 2024 and not far from 36-38 ships per day, typically under normal conditions.
Authorities have also relaxed vessel draft limits, allowing ships to carry larger loads through the waterway.
Although the Panama Canal is a far smaller chokepoint than the Suez Canal, accounting for around 7% of global sea trade, improved conditions should take some pressure off global shipping.
Finally, the economic climate, both here in New Zealand and abroad, vastly differs from what was experienced during the pandemic.
For instance, the sustained rise in inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic was driven by a global surge in broad-based demand across goods, labour, and capital markets.
In contrast, current global shipping disruption is an isolated supply-side inflation factor.
At the same time, demand is far more subdued, with households tightening their belts in the face of high interest rates and rising unemployment.
And while rising shipping costs remain a risk factor in the fight against inflation, the current episode is likely to be less severe than the experience during COVID-19.
Source: New Zealand Foreign Affairs & Trade. Global shipping costs are rising once again. Market Intelligence Report. July 2024
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3-minute read
An international freight company based in Auckland and its logistics manager have been collectively fined over $28,000 for breaching biosecurity regulations.
The charges stem from their failure to conduct mandatory biosecurity checks and their transportation of 15 sea containers to unauthorized locations for unpacking.
Under the Biosecurity Act, all sea containers arriving in New Zealand must be sent from the port of first arrival to a Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Approved Transitional Facility (ATF) for inspection and unpacking.
The company and its manager faced sentencing at the Manukau District Court. Each faced eight charges under the Biosecurity Act following a prosecution by MPI. The company was fined $16,250, while the manager received a fine of $12,000.
Gary Orr, MPI’s director of investigations, emphasized the importance of these regulations in safeguarding New Zealand’s borders from potential biosecurity threats.
He noted that when sea containers are diverted to unpacking sites that are not approved by MPI, they pose significant risks of introducing pests or organisms harmful to the environment and local livelihoods.
“When imported sea containers are sent to and unpacked at unapproved locations, they leave the country vulnerable to pests or unwanted organisms that could have a devastating effect on the environment and people’s livelihoods.
“The rules are there for a reason – to protect our borders from the threat of unwanted biosecurity threats,” says Garry Orr.
During the investigation, compliance officers discovered that between December 2021 and April 2022, the company was responsible for conducting biosecurity checks at their MPI Approved Transitional Facility for 15 sea containers.
However, none of these containers underwent the required checks in full. Subsequently, 13 out of the 15 containers were sent to what was described as a grass paddock on a farm—far from meeting the standards of an MPI-approved transitional facility.
This action, as noted by Gary Orr, potentially exposed New Zealand to exotic pests that could have been present on or within the containers.
Despite confirming that no such pests were found in the containers in question, Orr stressed that the defendants had taken an unacceptable risk with the country’s biosecurity.
In conclusion, the fines imposed reflect the seriousness of failing to adhere to biosecurity protocols designed to protect New Zealand’s delicate ecosystem and agricultural industries from the threat of invasive species.
Transitional and Containment Facilities for Border ClearanceGoods, sea containers and air containers arriving in New Zealand must first go to a facility approved by MPI. Transitional, containment and quarantine facilities have different roles and must meet certain requirements to operate.
If you are importing goods – especially plants, animals, and related products – they need to first go through a transitional or containment facility and may need to be quarantined.
Transitional facilitiesTransitional facilities are approved by MPI to receive containers and goods that may pose a biosecurity risk. Goods or containers may need to be inspected or treated at the facility before they can be ‘cleared’ for entry into New Zealand.
Every transitional facility has to have an MPI-approved transitional facility operator and, if receiving containers, an accredited person available (who may also be the operator) who has been approved by MPI.
Transitional facilities can hold, inspect, treat, identify, or destroy and dispose of uncleared risk goods.
Types of goods that need to go to transitional facilities include:* agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines * animals and animal products * biologicals * food products * plants and plant products * other organisms * used machinery or vehicles * wood and wood products.
An import health standard (IHS) will tell you what you need to do to import your specific commodity. Find out more about IHS on the MPI website here
Post-entry quarantine facilitiesPost-entry quarantine (PEQ) facilities are places that hold plants that could have pests or unwanted organisms. Plants are held in PEQ until they are assessed, and a biosecurity clearance is granted if they meet the criteria.
Containment facilitiesContainment facilities are places approved for holding organisms that should not become established in New Zealand. For example, zoos are containment facilities.
Some laboratories are also containment facilities because they import microorganisms for testing, which are never allowed general release into New Zealand.
More information about ATFs can be found on the MPI website here
Source: This work is based on/includes MPI data, which is licensed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence
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3-minute read
If you’ve ever wondered how ports rank globally, the latest Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) report by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence offers valuable insights.
While port performance can be evaluated using various metrics—such as terminal capacity, space utilization, cost, landside connectivity and services, and ship-to-shore interchange—the CPPI report specifically measures the time a vessel spends in port.
Since the beginning of maritime trade, ports have been crucial to the economic and social development of nations.
Malcom McLean’s introduction of containerization in 1958 revolutionized the shipping industry, significantly affecting manufacturing locations and methods. As such, container ports are vital nodes in global supply chains.
However, inefficient ports can cause shipment delays, supply chain disruptions, additional costs, and reduced competitiveness, affecting not only the local economy but also the broader supply chain.
Poor port performance can disrupt shipping schedules, increase import and export costs, and hinder economic growth and poverty reduction.
While the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath on the sector eased further in 2023, continuing or new disruptions in the form of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Aden, and draught restrictions on the Panama Canal, all impacted container shipping.
These changes influence port performance and rankings, with some issues being systemic and others location-specific.
One positive outcome of the pandemic was increased attention to the resilience and efficiency of ports, as inefficiencies directly impact consumer choice, pricing, and economic development.
The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence ranked more than 400 ports in their latest edition of the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) based on the time ships spend in port (Figure 1).
The report suggests that this index should be viewed as an indicative, rather than definitive, measure of container port performance.
Figure 1: The CPPI 2023: Global Ranking of Container Ports
The top-ranked container ports in the CPPI 2023 are Yangshan Port (China) in first place, followed by the Port of Salalah (Oman) in second place, retaining their ranking from the CPPI 2022.
Third place in the CPPI 2023 is occupied by the port of Cartagena, up from 5th place in the CPPI 2022, whilst Tangier-Mediterranean retains its 4th place ranking.
Tanjung Pelepas improved one position to 5th, Ningbo moved up from 12th in 2022 to 7th in 2023, and Port Said moved from 16th to 10th in 2023.
Ports moving in the other direction in the top ten: Khalifa Port fell from 3rd position in 2022 to 29th position in CPPI 2023, and Hamad Port fell from 8th in 2022 to 11th in 2023.
The Anatomy of a Port CallAs per the report, every container ship port call can be segmented into six distinct steps. These individual steps are illustrated in Figure 2.
‘Total port hours’ is defined as the total time elapsed between when a ship reaches a port (either port limits, pilot station, or anchorage zone, whichever event occurs first) to when it departs from the berth after having completed its cargo exchange.
The time spent from berth departure (All Lines Up) to the departure from the port limits is excluded.
This is because any port performance loss that pertains to departure delays, such as pilot or tug availability, readiness of the mooring gang, channel access and water depths, forecasting completion time, communication, and ship readiness will be incurred while the ship is still alongside the berth.
Figure 2: The Anatomy of a Port Call
The full report and rankings of more than 400 ports can be found here.
Source: The World Bank, 2024. “The Container Port Performance Index 2023: A Comparable Assessment of Performance based on Vessel Time in Port (Fine).” World Bank, Washington, DC. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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3-minute read
In the world of maritime commerce, unexpected events like the recent Baltimore bridge collapse involving the Dali box ship can have profound implications for cargo owners.
As the fallout from such an incident unfolds, it’s essential for cargo owners to understand a fundamental principle of maritime law known as the General Average (GA) and the importance of having adequate insurance coverage.
What is the General Average, and why should you care?GA is a centuries-old maritime principle that mandates all parties involved in a sea voyage to share the losses incurred due to sacrifices made to save the voyage from peril.
In simpler terms, if part of the cargo is thrown overboard to prevent the entire vessel from sinking or to mitigate risks, the costs of such actions are shared among all cargo owners, shipowners, and other involved parties.
According to CNN Business, the recent catastrophic collision involving a cargo ship that obliterated Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge is anticipated to result in billions of dollars in damages.
However, understanding the complex web of liabilities will require a deep dive into maritime law, one of the oldest legal domains that traces its roots back thousands of years.
Sean Pribyl, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight, emphasized the ancient origins of maritime law, dating back to civilizations like the Phoenicians and Greeks.
He explained to CNN Business that maritime law originated around 3,000 years ago when lawmakers on the island of Rhodes faced a problem.
During risky voyages, crews sometimes had to throw valuable cargo overboard to save the ship. However, deciding whose cargo to sacrifice led to disputes.
To solve this, ancient lawmakers created a rule called general average. It means that if any cargo is lost to save the ship, the costs are shared equally among all the cargo owners. Pribyl added that these days, it can also extend to costs related to repairs and other expenses.
In the case of the Dali incident, while the vessel’s salvage operations are still ongoing, vessel 0wners have declared General Average, according to a customer advisory from MSC, which stated that
“this decision indicates that the Owners expect the salvage operations to result in high extraordinary costs for which they expect contribution from all salvaged parties under General Average”.
Following the advisory, shipping analyst Lars Jensen, in a LinkedIn post, expressed his hope that shippers with cargo aboard the Dali have adequate insurance coverage. Otherwise, they may face responsibility for their portion of what is anticipated to be a substantial salvage bill.
This shows that even today, ancient maritime laws like the GA still play a vital role in determining who bears the financial burden in maritime accidents.
Why is having insurance crucial for cargo owners?Understanding the complexities of GA and its financial implications can be daunting, especially considering that the process of assessing cargo values and determining each party’s contribution can take years.
Despite several high-profile cases in recent years, the General Average remains rare in shipping and something many cargo owners aren’t aware of or consider insuring against.
While there might be some coverage by a freight forwarder or carrier under their standard trading conditions, these are typically limited, as opposed to the actual value of the goods. As such, many cargo owners might find themselves uninsured or underinsured, facing unexpected financial burdens.
Having comprehensive marine cargo insurance is your best defence against such uncertainties.
A robust insurance policy tailored to your specific needs can provide coverage for potential GA expenses, ensuring that you’re protected against unforeseen losses arising from maritime incidents.
In conclusion, as a marine cargo owner, it’s essential to educate yourself about the General Average and the role it plays in maritime commerce so you can protect your business from the financial repercussions of unforeseen events.
Stay informed, stay prepared, and sail confidently into the future.
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2-minute read
Amidst disruptions in the Red Sea, the reliability of ocean shipping schedules took a significant hit in January, dropping to just 39.4%, marking the lowest point since October 2022, according to a report by Sea Intelligence cited by the Loadstar.
Consequently, shippers are increasingly turning to sea-air or airfreight alternatives to navigate the challenges posed by the crisis.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for January 2024 global air cargo markets, indicating a strong start to 2024.
• Total demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), increased by 18.4% compared to January 2023 levels (19.8% for international operations). This significant upturn marks the highest annual growth in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) since the summer season of 2021.
• Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), was up 14.6% compared to January 2023 (18.2% for international operations). This was largely related to the growth in belly capacity. International belly capacity rose 25.8% year-on-year (YoY) on the strength of passenger markets.
“Air cargo demand was up 18.4% year-on-year in January. This is a strong start to the year. In particular, the booming e-commerce sector is continuing to help air cargo demand to trend above growth in both trade and production since the last quarter of 2023. The counterweight to this good news is uncertainty over how China’s economic slowdown will unfold. This will be on the minds of air cargo executives meeting in Hong Kong next week for the IATA World Cargo Symposium with an agenda focused on digitalization, efficiency and sustainability,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Air cargo growth outpaced trade and production. Several factors in the operating environment should be noted:
• Global cross-border trade increased by 1.0% in December compared to the previous month (-0.2% YoY).
According to IATA, this increase is likely the result of multiple factors pulling in opposite directions. Capacity constraints in maritime shipping imposed by the attacks in the Red Sea weighed down on increased demand triggered by the Holiday season and various types of business year-end transactions.
• In January, the manufacturing output Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) improved to 50.3, surpassing the 50 mark for the first time in eight months, indicating expansion.
The new export orders PMI also saw an increase to 48.8, but remains below the critical 50 threshold, suggesting a continuing yet decelerating decline in global exports.
• Inflation in major economies continued to ease from its peak in terms of Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January, reaching 3.1% in both the US and in the EU, and 2.1% in Japan.
China’s CPI, however, indicated deflation for the fourth consecutive month, raising concerns of an economic slowdown. China’s negative inflation rate of -0.8% was the lowest since the Global Financial Crisis in 2009.
Asia-Pacific Regional PerformanceAsia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 24.6% in January 2024 compared to the same month in 2023.
This performance was above the previous month (+18.5%). Carriers in the region benefited from ongoing growth in international CTKs on three major trade lanes: Africa-Asia (+52.5%), Middle East-Asia (+29.5%) and Europe-Asia (+27.5%).
Available capacity for the region’s airlines increased by 25.0% compared to January 2023 as more belly capacity came online from the passenger side of the business.
Source: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Air Cargo Market Analysis January 2024 and the Loadstar
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4-minute read
Consumer behaviour is changing, urging businesses to understand evolving preferences, habits, and expectations in the digital era.
The pandemic has expedited this shift, particularly in tech-driven interactions.
As online retail competition intensifies, businesses must stand out by offering unique experiences and value propositions.
Reliable deliveries are also crucial for customer satisfaction, emphasizing the importance of delivery partners.
Insightful report from New Zealand Couriers Ecommerce Insights – Consumer Report 2024 empowers businesses to understand e-commerce opportunities, implement effective strategies, and make informed investments.
Despite challenges like rising prices, online shopping continues to grow due to its convenience and value.
As such, the report highlights that by staying ahead of consumer preferences and leveraging growth opportunities, businesses can thrive in the digital age.
Current TrendsOnline Trading Continues to GrowReport highlights that affordability is a major concern for Kiwis with 65% of consumers considering rising prices and inflation as their primary concern.
Despite these economic challenges, online shopping continues to grow in popularity due to its convenience and value.
Post-pandemic, there’s been a surge in online trading, prompting Kiwi businesses to prioritize e-commerce.
The convenience of 24/7 shopping, better prices, and value-driven preferences drive this growth. High-volume shoppers and younger consumers, particularly, are drawn to online sales to satisfy their shopping needs.
In New Zealand, the number of e-commerce businesses has risen to 12,294 as of 2023, an 8% growth from the previous year.
With a projected annual growth rate of 14.48%, by 2027 the total amount of digital payments is expected to reach NZD 36.6 billion (from a 2023 base of NZD 21.3 billion).
Shoppers Do Their ResearchAccording to the report, when it comes to searching for product information, Google remains the go-to source for Kiwi consumers.
81% of retail shoppers will conduct online research before they commit to buying an item, and similarly, 78% of internet users will use social media to gather information about a brand.
Older Kiwis place more reliance on customer reviews compared to their younger counterparts.
However, for the younger generation, who primarily use Facebook and Facebook Messenger as their top social media sources, it is evident that family, friends, and acquaintances still hold significant influence as trusted sources of information.
While the methods of sourcing external social information may vary across generations, the importance of reviews remains consistent.
User PrivacyThe report underscores concerns about data privacy, which prompts consumers to be cautious with personal information sharing, leading retailers to face challenges in engaging audiences.
50% of respondents said they do not share any more personal data than necessary.
As such, it is highly important for merchants to not only provide convenient and reliable services through their own websites but also to prioritise data privacy and security.
The findings of the report show that the lack of a guest checkout on eCommerce websites was a top reason for cart abandonment, as many consumers are no longer willing to create accounts across multiple websites.
SustainabilityThe report highlights a clear trend towards increased sustainability, as consumers increasingly value environmentally friendly options.
Kiwis have a growing desire to adopt sustainable lifestyles, with 85% of respondents emphasising the importance of environmentally friendly or recyclable packaging.
Other studies cited in the report have revealed that half of Kiwis have stopped purchasing certain products or services due to their negative environmental or societal impact.
While it is evident that this awareness may not always translate into immediate action, it undoubtedly influences a change in purchase action.
Global studies show that products with ESG-related (Environmental, Social, and Governance) claims tend to experience faster growth compared to those without such claims.
Recognising that the customer experience encompasses the entire product offering, it becomes evident that integrating sustainability measures within delivery partnerships can bring significant advantages to merchants in terms of expanding their business.
What Consumers WantDespite significant shifts in the retail landscape, it’s evident from the report’s findings that consumers still prioritize reliability when it comes to delivery.
For merchants sending a high quantity of parcels, live tracking of deliveries is becoming increasingly important.
Recent data also suggests that compared to 2021, a larger number of Kiwi consumers are now willing to pay additional fees for services, with over half paying a delivery fee for their selected standard delivery on items.
What’s Driving the Shift to Online?The pandemic acted as a catalyst, forcing many consumers to try online shopping for the first time and realise its convenience and benefits.
The ability to shop 24/7 is a significant advantage to online shopping, allowing consumers to make purchases at their convenience, irrespective of store operating hours.
Additionally, nearly half of high-volume online shoppers cite price as a major factor driving their shift towards online shopping.
Discounts, promotions, and the ability to compare prices across different platforms contribute to the appeal of online shopping for price-conscious consumers.
Significance of Delivery OptionsWhen it comes to consumer preferences, standard delivery remains a preferred choice. However, for considered purchases, Click & Collect emerges as desirable, particularly among male consumers.
On the other hand, female consumers tend to lean towards making impulse purchases, showing a higher preference for standard delivery.
This insight highlights the importance of tailoring delivery options based on the target demographic to maximise customer satisfaction and drive sales.
TransparencyReport findings show that 97% of Kiwi consumers value accurate and up-to-date parcel tracking as highly important but are seldom willing to pay for it.
It appears that Kiwi consumers have become accustomed to receiving up-to-date tracking information from larger businesses without incurring any additional costs.
As a result, they now expect the same level of service from smaller businesses as well.
In conclusion, the landscape of consumer behaviour is continuously evolving, especially in the digital era accelerated by the pandemic.
Businesses must adapt to these changes by offering unique experiences, prioritizing reliable deliveries, and understanding consumer preferences.
The insights provided by the New Zealand Couriers Ecommerce Insights – Consumer Report 2024 are invaluable in navigating shifting consumer trends, empowering businesses to implement effective strategies and prioritize partnerships and operational upgrades.
By staying ahead of trends, fostering strategic partnerships, and embracing sustainability, businesses can not only meet but exceed the expectations of today’s consumers.
Source: New Zealand Couriers Ecommerce Insights – Consumer 2024 Report. The full report can be found on the NZ Couriers website here
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4-minute read
Amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea, a substantial impact on global shipping is unfolding.
As vessels steer away from the conflict zone, opting for a lengthier journey around Africa to avoid the Suez Canal, freight costs soar, and transit times extend.
In this article, we unravel the insights shared by Rabobank researcher Stefan Vogel in an interview with Heather du Pleassis-Allan, shedding light on how this maritime predicament is affecting New Zealand’s trade landscape.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: The war in GAZA is starting to take a toll on our freight costs. With Houthi rebels in Yemen attacking ships in the Red Sea, international shipping has got slower and more expensive.
Can you please explain what’s happening? To avoid the Suez Canal, a whole bunch of ships are basically going around Africa to get to Asia and to Europe?
Stefan Vogel: Exactly, and that basically means they need longer transit time.
And if you need a longer time, it reduces the availability of those ships to pick up the next load, so we’re actually reducing quite a bit of capacity, especially container availability.
Goods getting into New Zealand or getting out of New Zealand need those containers.
If we’re looking at container freight rates, they pretty much doubled just in the last six weeks because of the incident, so it’s getting pricier for us to bring goods into Australia and New Zealand.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: How much longer does it take to go all the way around Africa?
Stefan Vogel: It depends on where you’re coming from, but you can roughly say it takes about 9 to 15 days longer.
If you look at the route between Asia and Europe, for example, you could basically only do four runs rather than five runs a year with such vessels, so going around Africa reduces the capacity easily by 20%.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: If you were to compare what’s going on right now and the disruption that this is causing the supply chains to the disruption caused by COVID, is it the same scale or less?
Stefan Vogel: We’re not anywhere yet at that scale. If you think about prices, even after having doubled for container freight, they are still about three times lower than they were in very high periods seen in 2021 after COVID screwed up the whole logistics.
So, we’re not there yet, but we also don’t see that the Red Sea crisis is at its peak right now.
We still feel that this will be an ongoing issue for quite a while in 2024 and will continue to impact the shipping side.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: How much longer and how much worse?
Stefan Vogel: That’s the big question. Right now, we haven’t found a solution. The US and the UK are trying to protect the area.
However, it’s a big area in the Red Sea with a lot of vessels passing through.
We have seen more and more ships going around Africa, but that also means they may have to refuel somewhere halfway along the way.
African ports might struggle to accommodate all these vessels within the 9 to 15-day timeframe I mentioned earlier.
It may take longer due to the necessity of waiting to refuel. It’s not as simple as filling up at a gas station like we do with our cars.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: So, the silver lining for New Zealand is that, in some instances, there will be countries that find it easier to obtain goods from us, picking Asia here, rather than going for the longer route from Europe via Africa.
What kind of industries are we talking about here, and what exporters are likely to benefit from this?
Stefan Vogel: So, if you think about many of the dairy products and a significant amount of meat that we export, go to Asian markets. So we don’t have to go through the Suez Canal.
But those coming from Europe or the East Coast of the US usually go through the canal, so given that they have a longer way, that’s a little bit better for us than for them. But we still have to pay those higher costs.
The other thing to keep in mind is that in a post-COVID scenario, when freight rates were high, a lot of the big shipping companies with containers prioritized their prime routes because that’s where they made money, going from China to Europe or to the US.
They didn’t really want to come down as happily into New Zealand and Australia because they didn’t make too much money on that route.
We may see a similar situation evolving at some point in the future. Therefore, our exporters may want to keep a close eye on the availability of containers and have a close connection with their export partners to make sure we still get all the shipping done that we need.
Heather du Plessis-Allan: If an exporter suddenly finds an interest from one of these markets, opting for them instead of Europe, could they expect that this is a short-term rather than a long-term thing?
Stefan Vogel: Overall, it will only put us slightly at a price advantage.
A lot of the products originating in Europe and what comes from here are rather different, so I don’t see the Asia markets swapping everything over to us.
However, for products in direct competition, there might be a slight advantage.
But as I said, if we’re struggling to find containers, we may actually have an issue on that side that costs us as much as it may cost the Europeans or the Americans who have to go a longer route over to Asia.
So, there might be some silver lining, but let’s see. I hope it actually plays out this year.
Source: Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive, Newstalk ZB. This interview transcript was edited for clarity.
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4-minute read
The evolving landscape of global business risks is front and centre in the Allianz Risk Barometer 2024, which sheds light on the most pressing challenges faced by companies worldwide.
According to the Allianz recent survey on business risks, the main problems companies are facing worldwide right now are digitalization, climate change, and uncertain global politics.
Many of these issues are causing real problems, like extreme weather, cyber attacks, and conflicts between regions. These challenges are expected to put a strain on the ability of companies to adapt and survive.
Last year, we examined the significant business risks for 2023 using the Allianz Risk Barometer. Now, let’s explore how this year’s findings compare to those from the previous year.
According to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2024, a cyber event claims the top spot as the leading global business risk for 2024.
The survey reveals that concerns about cyber incidents, including ransomware attacks, data breaches, and IT disruptions, rank highest among global business worries this year.
Business interruption closely follows as the second most significant peril.
The latest compilation of top global business risks, based on insights from over 3,000 risk management professionals, identifies natural catastrophes, fire, explosion, political risks and violence as notable risers in the rankings.
Allianz Commercial CEO Petros Papanikolaou comments on the findings, stating,
“The top risks and major risers in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer reflect the big issues facing companies around the world right now – digitalization, climate change, and an uncertain geopolitical environment.”
Papanikolaou emphasizes the impact of these risks, noting that extreme weather, ransomware attacks, and regional conflicts are expected to test the resilience of supply chains and business models in 2024. He urges brokers and insurance customers to adjust their insurance covers accordingly.
The survey highlights that large corporations, mid-size companies, and smaller businesses share common concerns, with cyber threats, business interruption, and natural catastrophes topping their risk lists.
However, a growing resilience gap between large and smaller companies is noted, as larger organizations have heightened risk awareness since the pandemic, actively upgrading their resilience.
Conversely, smaller businesses face challenges in allocating time and resources to identify and prepare for various risk scenarios, resulting in longer recovery times after unexpected incidents.
In terms of cyber activity trends for 2024, the Allianz Risk Barometer indicates that cyber incidents (36% of overall responses) remain the most critical global risk for the third consecutive year.
Cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging new technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, to automate and accelerate attacks.
Data breaches are identified as the most concerning cyber threat, followed by attacks on critical infrastructure and physical assets. The report notes a significant increase in ransomware attacks in 2023, with insurance claims activity rising by over 50% compared to 2022.
“Cyber criminals are exploring ways to use new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) to automate and accelerate attacks, creating more effective malware and phishing. The growing number of incidents caused by poor cyber security, in mobile devices in particular, a shortage of millions of cyber security professionals, and the threat facing smaller companies because of their reliance on IT outsourcing are also expected to drive cyber activity in 2024,“ explains Scott Sayce, Global Head of Cyber, Allianz Commercial.
According to the Loadstar, crime in the digital sphere of supply chains and cybercrime itself are rising concerns.
Big players like DP World, DNV and Expeditors all faced large-scale cyber-attacks last year.
The TT Club logistics risk manager Joshua Finch told the Loadstar: “What we’ve seen a lot is where a criminal organisation will impersonate a legitimate carrier. They will hack into a haulage firm or carrier’s business and copy documents to convincingly impersonate that firm.”
The TT Club’s MD of loss prevention, Mike Yarwood, explained to the Loadstar: “The fact that so many records are now electronic and on a server somewhere means they are accessible to someone who knows how to get at them, something we consider generally as ‘internet-enabled crime’.”
Business interruption (31%), despite a slight easing of post-pandemic supply chain disruptions in 2023, retains its position as the second biggest threat in 2024.
The survey emphasizes the interconnectedness of the global business environment and the reliance on supply chains for critical products or services.
Natural catastrophes (26%), ranking third, experienced a notable rise, moving up three positions.
The survey highlights 2023 as a record-breaking year for natural catastrophes, with extreme weather events causing insured losses exceeding US$100 billion.
Political risks and violence (14%) have moved up to the eighth position from the tenth, driven by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and tensions between China and the US.
2024 is also a super-election year, where as much as 50% of the world’s population could go to the polls, including in India, Russia, the US, and the UK.
Dissatisfaction with the potential outcomes, coupled with general economic uncertainty, the high cost of living, and growing disinformation fueled by social media, means societal polarization is expected to increase, triggering more social unrest in many countries.
While Macroeconomic developments (19%) fall to the fifth position from the third, there is hope for economic stabilization in 2024, though growth outlooks remain subdued – just over 2% globally in 2024, according to Allianz Research.
“But this lackluster growth is a necessary evil: high inflation rates will finally be a thing of the past,” says Ludovic Subran, Chief Economist at Allianz. “This will give central banks some room to maneuver – lower interest rates are likely in the second half of the year. Not a second too late, as stimulus cannot be expected from fiscal policy. A caveat is the considerable number of elections in 2024 and the risk of further upheavals depending on certain outcomes.”
The shortage of skilled workforce (12%) drops to the tenth position globally but remains a top five business risk in Central and Eastern Europe, the UK, and Australia.
The survey emphasizes the critical role of IT and data experts in the fight against cybercrime, as they are the most challenging workforce to find.
Source: Allianz Risk Barometer 2024 by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (the full report can be found on the Allianz website) and The Loadstar.
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3-minute read
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for November 2023 global air cargo markets, indicating the strongest year-on-year growth in roughly two years.
This is partly due to weakness in November 2022 but also reflects a fourth consecutive month of strengthening demand for air cargo.
- Global demand for air cargo, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTKs), increased by 8.3% compared to November 2022. For international operations, demand growth was 8.1%.
- Capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTKs), was up 13.7% compared to November 2022 (+11.6% for international operations).
Most of the capacity growth continues to be attributable to the increase in belly capacity as international passenger markets continue their post-COVID recovery.
Compared to November 2019 (pre-COVID-19), demand is down 2.5%, while capacity is up 4.1%.
Some indicators to note include:
• Both the manufacturing output and new export order Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMIs) – two leading indicators of global air cargo demand—continued to hover just below the 50-mark in November, with small positive movements indicating a deceleration of the economic slowdown.
• Global cross-border trade recorded growth for the third consecutive month in October, reversing its previous downward trend.
• Inflation in major advanced economies continued to soften in November as measured by the corresponding Consumer Price Index (CPI), centering around 3% year-on-year for the United States, Japan, and the EU.
In the meantime, China exhibited negative annual growth in its CPI for the second time in a row.
• Air cargo yields (including surcharges) continued their significant upward trend (+8.9% since October). Rising yields are in line with improving air cargo load factors over recent months. This could be tied in part to booming e-commerce deliveries from China to Western markets.
“November air cargo demand was up 8.3% on 2022—the strongest year-on-year growth in almost two years. That is a doubling of October’s 3.8% increase and a fourth month of positive market development. It is shaping up to be an encouraging year-end for air cargo despite the significant economic concerns that were present throughout 2023 and continue on the horizon,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Asia-Pacific Regional Performance saw air cargo volumes increase by 13.8% in November 2023 compared to the same month in 2022.
This performance was significantly above the previous month’s growth of 7.6%.
Available capacity for the region’s airlines increased by 29.6% compared to November 2022 as more belly capacity came online with the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.
Anticipated Surge in Air Freight RatesIATA’s data is understandably lagging by about two months and does not encompass the current Red Sea crisis or the anticipated shift in volumes from ocean to air.
According to The Loadstar, shippers are considering a targeted use of airfreight to address the rising delays resulting from the Red Sea crisis.
Despite disruptions at sea, current airfreight data does not indicate any significant shifts in rates. However, this situation is anticipated to change in the upcoming week.
Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer for Xeneta, explained to the Loadstar that the delays in the Red Sea haven’t yet affected rates, but such an impact is expected.
He explained that the previous week, being the one following the new year is typically slow. Nevertheless, there is a noticeable trend of shippers transitioning to airfreight.
Mr. van de Wouw mentioned that this shift to airfreight would likely be evident in rates in the coming week. He added that it would take some time for goods to reach the hands of forwarders, emphasizing the observable shift from sea to air.
A forwarder in Southeast Asia concurred to the Loadstar that the disruption hasn’t yet influenced airfreight rates significantly.
He explained that there is a slight increase, but the price difference between air and ocean freight remains substantial.
However, for ocean freight, shippers are seen hastening their shipments in anticipation of an expected rise in ocean freight rates.
Source: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Loadstar
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8-minutes to read
The crisis in the Suez Canal is causing significant disruptions in global supply chains, with container ships having to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi terrorist threats near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, resulting in a considerable impact on the operational capacity of the global container fleet.
In a recent episode of Lodestar’s podcast, host and producer Mike King explores the extent to which these diversions have affected the global container fleet and the repercussions on freight rates, contract negotiations, and transit times.
The discussion also examines the implications of these disruptions leading up to the Chinese New Year factory closures in February and takes a more long-term perspective on the potential consequences for ocean supply chains if such disturbances persist.
Ultimately, the question posed is whether the ‘Suez’ crisis represents the most significant shock to global logistics and trade since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike King: First up, we’re going to get an update on shipping disruption in the Red Sea, where Houthi attacks from Yemen prompted the mass diversion of container ships around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal and examine what this is doing to freight rates.
Who else could give more insight than Peter Sand, Chief Analyst at Xeneta.
Is this the biggest supply chain disruption we’ve seen since COVID messed up supply chains?
Peter Sand: The disruption that container shipping lines are facing right now in the Red Sea area is a very ugly showcase of geopolitics going wrong again.
We’re witnessing a massive exodus of container services that used to transit this area, now going around the Cape of Good Hope.
To understand the significance of this, look at the rates on key trades disrupted by this, from the Far East going into the Med and North Europe; they went up almost by 100% over the past three weeks.
It’s the biggest disruption we’ve seen since COVID, and there are similarities to the Ever Given incident, but it’s very different from what caused it and how we resolve it in the end.
(The reference to Ever Given is the ship that blocked the Suez Canal during the global COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the Suez Canal closing for 6 days, which had a domino effect for weeks and months later).
Mike King: How much of the global fleet is now tied up sailing around the Cape, and what does this mean for the supply-demand balance in 2024 if this continues?
Everyone expected excess supply that had been pushing freight rates down in the last part of 2023.
Peter Sand: Carriers can work their magic either way they want.
You could fit anywhere between 1.5 to 2 million teu into all the trades that currently go via the Suez Canal.
If they need to go around the Cape of Good Hope and this becomes a full blockage for container shipping, this is more or less the amount of new tonnage coming on in 2023.
So there is a crunch, but I would say it’s not like shippers or carriers are going to scream for capacity. It is a manageable situation, but of course, there could be a lot of nasty domino effects.
There are a lot of higher costs related to it, and there are also knock-on effects for trades that are not directly impacted by this event, simply from capacity being redeployed or from cargo finding other ways.
I must say that it’s some fireworks we didn’t anticipate, but we saw it with a slight burner already back in late November, and now we’ve just recorded the 24th incident in the Red Sea on the 2nd of January.
And even though Operation Prosperity Guardian is working now, it’s not really making the safe passage that everybody wanted to happen, at least yet.
Mike King: As you referenced, things are getting more expensive to ship. Can you put some numbers on spot freight rate increases we’ve seen in recent weeks, and if you want to make some forecasts about where rates might go from here?
Peter Sand: Three weeks ago, Xeneta advised that during times like this, spot rates do have the potential to jump by as much as 100%.
Fast forward; we are already there. So looking at the rest of January and also into the Chinese Lunar Year, which is about to happen, leading to the peak of the container shipping industry, we may even see a doubling once again.
If we look at the rates into North Europe from the Far East, we are just shy of US$3000 right now and just shy of US$4000 into the Med.
It’s doubled already in the short term, so don’t be surprised if you get another flurry of surcharges thrown at you from the carriers.
Of course, if you’re a shipper, everything is up for negotiation, regardless of the cause of the situation, but rates seem to go only one way as long as the situation is so rich in uncertainty.
We’ve seen Maersk and Hapag Lloyd extending their pauses for another week or so, and that, of course, adds to the inefficient deployment of capacity and higher rates.
Of course, in due time, we’ll also see a knock-on effect on the long-term rates.
We have seen carriers calling for bills of lading clauses that allow them to pass on extra cost, but of course, if your base rate is fairly fixed on a long-term service contract, you will not be phased by the full brute force of what is happening right now on the spot market.
Mike King: As you mentioned earlier, we have got factory closures in February for the Chinese Lunar Year.
How are carriers planning for the coming months, and what does this mean for shippers trying to organize around inventory, particularly for Valentine’s Day sales?
Peter Sand: Either you have goods for Valentine’s Day, or you don’t.
If you have your goods shipped on some of those services that all of a sudden find a longer way, adding 10-14 days of transit times, that could be super business-critical for you.
I think it’s also fair to say that we have seen some of the smaller shippers with goods already in transit really worried because of this massive disruption.
You could do very little to avoid this; the escalation was quite fast. You may have your drawer full of contingency plans to handle something that looked like this but not at this scale, and the magnitude is a bit mind-blowing.
Following mid-December weekend when multiple rockets and missiles were fired at container ships, we saw a massive rerouting.
It’s still what we’re facing right now, so obviously, some smaller shippers, some niche shippers, some with goods that really depend on specific seasons are the hardest hit right now, but in general terms, nobody comes free from a supply chain disaster like the one that we are watching right now.
Mike King: We saw that during the pandemic, a major disruption such as this really threw supply chains out of sync very quickly.
One result was that equipment and ships ended up being in all the wrong places, which resulted in congestion and shortages of boxes on a localized level.
Are you seeing any signs of similar patterns emerging now?
Peter Sand: Not yet. It’s too early to call a shortage of equipment a problem right now, but if this drags on and we see no immediate result to the current situation, you can easily imagine months to pass before we get reinstated safe passage through the Red Sea, there will be an extra need to ensure that equipment is available.
But at the current time, I think uncertainty is the one thing that may push rates up for equipment and prompt carriers to relocate equipment faster than they would otherwise do as a part of their contingency plans to deal with this new situation.
Mike King: When we’ve had disruptions in the past, we’ve seen some shift of cargo from ocean to overland or air. Is your air freight data showing any signs of a shift like this, or are you expecting something like that to happen?
Peter Sand: It’s one thing that we follow quite closely, but there hasn’t been a significant effect on air yet.
Air freight is full of capacity, and there hasn’t been a massive development in terms of rates for air cargo.
We did see a significant uptick in rates in November and December but not something that you can connect to the disruption in the Red Sea.
But then again, we’re talking early January; if we talk late January and the squeeze on some goods and supplies for Valentine’s Day and also in the lead-up to the Chinese Lunar Year, I think we could expect to see some uptick just because of the longer transit times for time-sensitive goods that have nowhere else to go but air.
Mike King: Suez obviously isn’t the only big shipping story at the moment.
We heard last year about dry water levels on the Panama Canal, all because of droughts due to El Nino in the fourth quarter, which was supposed to be the wet season in Panama.
It’s now supposed to be the dry season in Panama, but we had some rain in December. What’s the situation there at the moment?
Peter Sand: Fortunately, we got a bit of rain during December, and that prompted the Panama Canal authorities to adjust their guidance in terms of the capacity for January and February.
They have announced a gradual reduction of capacity, going down to 18 transits in February. That is now held at something like 22 or 24, at least not at the very low end of the scale, and that’s due to some water coming into the watershed of the Panama Canal.
We’re still almost six feet below where we should otherwise be at this point in time because this is normally when the dry season starts and when the watershed is filled up following half a year of the wet season.
But we really didn’t get the wet season. This is something that I have foreseen to impact the year 2024.
We’ve seen many carriers taking out services from Panama and deploying them on the Suez Canal.
Following the most recent disruptions, some are bringing ships back to the Panama Canal, so it may be a little bit of a blessing in disguise that the Panama Canal is not cutting all the way down daily transfers to 18, and container shipping is still receiving some sort of preferred treatment.
Mike King: The two canals, the two key arteries of global trade, are really struggling right now, and things are changing every day, which is a very difficult situation to read for the shipping line network planners.
Source: The Loadstar. This extract from the podcast was edited for clarity. The full podcast can be found on The Loadstar website.
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The post Sailing Through Uncertainty: Current Global Shipping Challenges appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read
New Zealand Customs shared what they learned in their 2023 Time Release Study. Let’s look into how they clear cargo quickly, showing their dedication to making international trade fast and effective.
A Time Release Study (TRS) is a World Customs Organization method of measuring Customs’ performance in clearing cargo moving across the border, measuring the times of various events and procedures from arrival to release to market.
Customs is just one component in the supply chain, and there are multiple factors affecting the international movement of cargo.
By measuring performance, Customs can establish a baseline of indicators, assess their effectiveness, and identify improvements that help grow the economy by making sure trade flows freely across the border.
This is the fourth comprehensive TRS carried out by the New Zealand Customs Service.
The first two studies occurred in 2009, where one study looked at the New Zealand Customs Service, while the second study was conducted jointly with the Australian Customs Service.
Another TRS was carried out in 2022 to provide an updated benchmark of Customs’ clearance processes to allow an assessment of effectiveness over time.
This study targeted international cargo vessels and flights for the week Thursday 31 August to Wednesday 06 September 2023 (7 days).
During this week, NZ Customs analysed data from 12,554 import entries and 5,618 export entries across both sea and air cargo that arrived or departed from New Zealand seaports and airports.
The study also used data from industry partners involved in border clearance, including port and air freight companies.
Key resultsImport entries that are correctly reported are cleared quickly and, on average, before the arrival of the vessel carrying that cargo.
Export entries that are correctly reported are cleared in advance of loading for export.
98.82% of import and export entries for air and sea cargo were cleared within five minutes of lodgement.
According to New Zealand Customs, when items are reported accurately, they can be cleared within a matter of seconds.
Air Cargo100% of export entries for air cargo cleared before the departure time of the aircraft.
78.3% of import entries for air cargo were lodged and released by Customs before arrival into New Zealand.
On average, import entries for air cargo were lodged and released by Customs 16 hours and 47 minutes before the arrival of the aircraft.
This reflects the much shorter flight times from an overseas departure point to the aircraft landing.
Sea Cargo93.9% of sea cargo import entries for FCLs were lodged and cleared by Customs before arrival into New Zealand.
87.7% of export entries for FCLs shipped by sea were lodged at least 48 hours before loading on the vessel for export.
The 2023 study provides a useful assessment of the efficiency of Customs’ (and MPI’s) processes in the movement of clearing cargo for trade.
From the 2022/23 reporting period, NZ Customs was expected to process 98% of trade transactions within 30 minutes.
Due to the improved timeliness of Customs processing and exceeding its performance measures, the specified timeframe has been reduced for the 2023/24 period and is now 5 minutes.
These exclude entries referred for further Customs intervention.
During this study, 98.82% of all import and export entries lodged were cleared within 5 minutes.
These measures confirm NZ Customs has good processes in place to facilitate the clearance of cargo and does not unnecessarily impede the delivery of cargo that is reported correctly.
These processes include electronic reporting, business rules, risk management and alert systems, deferred payment schemes, post-entry auditing capability, and ongoing engagement with the importing and exporting industry at all levels in Customs.
Customs plans to hold a Time Release Study every two years (the next one in 2025) and work with port and cargo operators to achieve this.
Full study can be found here
Source: New Zealand Customs Service
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The post Seamless Borders: New Zealand Customs’ 2023 Time Release Study appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read
If you are importing building products into NZ, be sure to know New Building Product Information Requirements.
On 11 December 2023, new regulations for building product information requirements will commence.
The new regulations have been made to provide building product users with information about how building products contribute to compliance with the Building Code.
They place obligations on New Zealand-based manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors.
What Is ChangingThere will be new regulations about building product information so that people who use the products will be able to see how they contribute to Building Code compliance.
If you are based in New Zealand and are a manufacturer, importer, wholesaler, retailer, or distributor of building products, you will have to follow the new regulations.
They have been introduced to:
- improve the quality and consistency of building product information
- help people choose and install the right products for their needs
- enable more efficient consenting.
When the Changes HappenThe changes happen from 11 December, 2023.
The new regulations were announced in June 2022 to give 18 months to get ready for them.
What You Need to DoNew Zealand-based Importers and ManufacturersUnder the regulations, manufacturers and importers of designated building products have new responsibilities.
- You must provide a minimum level of information about certain building products you supply to the New Zealand market, including how the product will perform.
- You will be required to provide the information free if it is online.
- You may need to put more effort into collating, producing and disclosing your product information than you previously did.
- You will have to make some decisions about how you will meet the new requirements.
There are a number of decisions you can make that will help you to meet the new regulatory requirements:
- Decide which of your building products are captured by the regulations (some may not be). This is outlined in Regulation 7 – legislation.govt.nz
- Look at where you can group lines of products together on one product information disclosure or where you can produce a product information disclosure for systems.
- Look at what technical product information you already have for your building products. For example, a product technical statement, technical data sheet, or appraisal. You can build on this information by carrying out a gap analysis using the checklist developed by MBIE.
- Identify any existing information that needs to be brought up to requirements, or that needs to be added, eg whether the product is subject to a warning or a ban under section 26 of the Building Act 2004.
- Consider linking to larger supporting documents, such as installation manuals and maintenance manuals, that may already exist elsewhere on your website.
- Collate and publish the required information about your product.
New Zealand-based wholesalers, distributors, and retailers* You will need to check that certain building products you supply include product information. * You will be required to have the building product information available to customers when certain building products are for sale. * You are not expected to constantly review the information disclosed by a manufacturer or importer. We recommend that you communicate with product manufacturers about any changes that impact the information you have available about the building product.
Tools and Resources to Help YouTo learn more about the new regulations, visit the Building Performance website here, which has resources and tools, such as a checklist and step-by-step guide, to help you understand your obligations and how to comply.
Source: Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
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3-minute read
At the end of last year, we shared in our blog that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) developed industry standards to digitalize passenger experience at airports.
These standards involve contactless biometric processes, which will bring the aim of having travellers arrive at airports ready-to-fly one step closer to reality.
Recently, IATA, with industry partners, successfully tested the first fully integrated digital identity travel experience, from shopping for flights to arrival on a journey from London Heathrow (LHR) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) with British Airways.
“Our vision for future travel is fully digital and secured with biometric identification. While the technology exists to do this at each stage of a journey, linking these steps together has proven challenging. Today with our partners we showed that it is possible. This will open up a world of possibilities for simpler journeys in the future,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.
According to IATA, the trial journey illustrated the potential of a future fully integrated digital travel experience leveraging biometrics with:
Personalized Offers
This will be seen from the shopping experience, where travellers will be able to receive personalized offers through all shopping channels. The LHR-FCO passenger shared their loyalty card data (stored as a verifiable credential in their smart phone’s digital wallet) with a travel agent.
This enabled airlines to use the new IATA’s data exchange programme to make personalized offers through the travel agent channel.
Simplified Orders
Once the traveller has chosen among the offers, an order is generated as a verifiable credential that can be stored in a digital wallet.
No more Passenger Name Records, e-tickets or electronic miscellaneous documents are needed.
All the information about the journey is stored in the verifiable credential, which can also be read as a QR code.
Effortless Travel Requirements Check
Many processes can be done long before the traveller gets to the airport.
Along with the digital wallet, a digital passport (stored in the traveller’s digital wallet) will be a key enabler.
By sharing the nationality data of the digital passport, passengers can confirm their travel document requirements. IATA has a solution to support real-time information on travel document requirements for international air travel.
“Ready to Fly” – Simplifying and Securing Check-ins
The LHR-FCO traveller also chose to share their digital passport and order data with their airline, British Airways, to receive a confirmation that they are Ready-to-Fly and seat assignment via text message, being spared from manual data input.
Traditional boarding passes may become optional if travellers are offered and accept a contactless experience at the airport.
Contactless Airport Experiences
For travellers who choose to share their biometric data, storing your phone and proceeding hands-free (with your phone and your passport in your pocket or purse) through the airport will be possible.
Biometric gates cleared the way for the LHR-FCO traveller through security, into lounges and onto the aircraft.
“As an airline, we are always innovating and looking at ways to make the customer journey as seamless as possible. We introduced biometric boarding on selected flights earlier this year and it has been a huge success with positive customer feedback. Working with IATA on enabling a fully integrated travel journey helps us build on that and shows us what could be possible in the future,” said Dirk John, British Airways Chief Information and Digital Officer.
The full paper about the end-to-end journey using Digital Identity can be found here
Source: International Air Transport Association (IATA)
On a side note, in New Zealand, the NZ Customs authorities have recently conducted trials involving digital declarations as an alternative to conventional paper arrival cards.
These digital declarations are seamlessly integrated with travellers’ passports and are automatically processed upon their arrival in New Zealand.
The successful outcome of these trials has led to the implementation of this technology, offering travellers arriving at all New Zealand international airports the choice to complete a digital declaration instead of a traditional paper arrival card before their journey to the country.
P.S. Easy Freight Ltd helps New Zealand importers & exporters to save money on international freight and reduce mistakes by guiding how to comply with Customs and biosecurity rules.
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The post A Glimpse into the Fully Digital Future Air Travel appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read
The Port of Auckland has revealed a general price increase of 7% starting from January 1, 2024.
Furthermore, new surcharges for commercial port users will be implemented as of March 1, 2024.
The port’s current mission, under the leadership of CEO Roger Gray, is to position itself as “New Zealand’s premier import hub,” serving as the primary gateway for cargo into Auckland and the upper North Island.
Roger Gray emphasizes that the price increase includes an adjustment related to inflation.
Statistics New Zealand’s September quarter CPI data indicates an annualized inflation rate of 5.8%.
According to NZ Shipping Gazette, an advisory sent to port users argues that, given the port’s asset base valued at approximately $1.6 billion, it needs to generate an annual net profit of $80-$100 million to maintain and replace assets as they deteriorate.
Failing to achieve this level of profitability could potentially lead to the port’s closure, which is undesirable for such a crucial supply chain link.
To generate a fair return on investment, Mr. Gray suggests that higher increases in certain charges are necessary.
The port’s primary focus is to optimize the balance of container and cargo flows on a 24/7 operational basis.
The new pricing structure seems to employ a combination of incentives and penalties to encourage shippers to diversify their bookings within the port’s vehicle booking system.
Among the price changes is a $30 per container increase in peak season landside access fee, from $65 to $95, plus a $20 per container increase in off-peak time, raising the fee to $40.
Additionally, a $20 per TEU rail handling charge will be applied to containers beginning January 1.
From March 1, the port will introduce a landside access fee at Multi-Cargo, charged per truckload for breakbulk and bulk cargo movements.
The specific price per truck will be disclosed by November 30.
A novel charge, effective from January 1, is the $750 setup cost for a new ‘authority to work’ access permit, which is required for all businesses operating within the port operational area.
Currently, over 900 businesses have regular access to the Port of Auckland.
This new ATW access permit is designed to enhance safety by providing better visibility of shared hazards and risks across the port, strengthening compliance with joint PCBU responsibilities as required by the Health & Safety at Work Act.
Since taking on the CEO role in early 2022, against the backdrop of tragic accidents at the port, Mr Gray has consistently emphasized the paramount importance of safety within the port.
The container shipping giant Maersk is expressing dissatisfaction, as they are observing continual cost increases within the port industry, with no significant enhancements in port productivity, which ultimately raises the overall cost of servicing New Zealand.
While Maersk welcomed some of the port’s new initiatives, it continued to experience disruptions in the supply chain, including delays and restrictions on the number of container movements per call at Auckland.
According to My Therese Blank, the head of the Oceania region, to achieve its goal of becoming New Zealand’s “premium” import port, Auckland must acknowledge that productivity improvement and operational stability are crucial. They require their vessels to arrive and depart on time within the contracted berthing window.
Improved productivity would reduce the time spent at the port, create a buffer for external delays, and enhance lead times for New Zealand importers and exporters.
To position the Port of Auckland as the premium import port, Blank suggested a review of efficiency and connectivity between the terminal and the rail.
In Australia, containers can be discharged directly onto the rail, reducing handling costs, improving efficiency, and shortening supply chain lead times.
CBAFF, which represents New Zealand’s freight forwarders responsible for overseeing the transportation of customers’ goods in and out of the country, acknowledged that the price increases would affect importers, according to the organization’s CEO, Sherelle Kennelly.
However, based on CBAFF’s discussions with the port, it was apparent that “pricing adjustments” were deemed essential for the port to attain a justifiable return on its assets, and the council shared this perspective.
Kennelly mentioned that the port did not anticipate maintaining these price increases at the current level. Advice received indicated that the increases would start to level off in the coming years.
The port planned to disclose its long-term pricing changes for the next five years so customers could make informed plans.
Kennelly pointed out to the NZ Herald that the port had introduced new charges last year to encourage user bookings during off-peak times, resulting in approximately a 5% shift toward off-peak demand. The industry needed to support this shift to off-peak periods when conditions allowed.
Source: The New Zealand Shipping Gazette and NZ Herald Premium
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3-minute read
Recently, Auckland-based importers of food products were fined a total of NZ$28,000 for their failure to translate food allergen declarations into English.
New Zealand Food Safety introduced stronger requirements for all food importers in the country. These changes clarify the responsibilities of food importers when bringing products into New Zealand to guarantee the safety and suitability of food for local consumers.
Ministry for Primary Industries developed “A Guide to Retail Food Labelling”.
This guide explains the labelling information that must be provided to customers about retail food and drinks.
What is a food label?Food labels tell consumers important information about the food or drink they are consuming – to help them know which food and drink is right for them and if it is safe for them to eat/drink. There are rules for what information must go on these labels.
Purpose of this guideThis guide will help get food labelling right.
Food labelling must meet the rules of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Products could be recalled, or importers could be fined if they get this wrong.
Who is this guide for?Importers who bring packaged food into New Zealand intended for sale to consumers
Manufacturers who make and sell packaged food intended for consumers
Packers who pack or re-pack food for retail sale
Caterers/ food service businesses that serve food to consumers
Retailers who sell pre-packaged food to consumers
Brand owners who are responsible for the food but don’t manufacture it
New Zealand Food Safety encourages all registered food importers to visit the Ministry for Primary Industries website to verify their compliance with the updated rules.
New rules for labelling allergensThere are new rules about labelling and identifying allergens.
Businesses have until 25 February 2024 to implement these new rules.
During the transition period, food businesses can meet either the existing allergen declaration rules or the new rules.
On 25 February 2021, new rules about labelling and identifying allergens were introduced by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).
The new Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL) rules will make it easier for consumers to identify what allergens are in food and help them make safe choices.
Here’s a summary of what to do under the new rules:
When do the new rules start?25 Feb 2021: New rules were made
Businesses can choose to either comply with the existing allergen labelling rules or the new rules.
25 Feb 2024: Labels must be updated
Labels must be updated to meet new rules, and businesses must have trained their staff so the information they give customers meets the new rules.
Any food packaged and labelled before this date, under the existing rules, may be sold for a further 2 years.
25 Feb 2026: End of transition
End of transition so all food and drink sold in New Zealand must comply with the PEAL rules.
Check out ‘A Guide to Retail Food Labelling‘ and ‘Allergen labelling – Knowing what’s in your food and how to label it’ guides developed by MPI to find out more information.
The above information is intended as a guide only. Regulations can change without notice, and for more information, specific guidance, and questions about food labelling, rules and safety, please visit www.mpi.govt.nz/food-business, email info@mpi.govt.nz or call MPI on 0800 00 83 33.
Source: Ministry for Primary Industries
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2-minute read
From 1 January 2024, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) will be extended to cover CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from all large ships (of 5000 gross tonnage and above) entering EU ports, regardless of the flag those ships fly.
This means that shipping operators will be obligated to cover the costs of their carbon emissions.
White it may be European, it will impact anyone who sends cargo to, or sources it from, any country in the European Union.
The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Maritime Emissions, Jörgen Warborn, has welcomed the legislation as “the world’s most ambitious path to maritime decarbonisation”, adding that the new rules will encourage others to move too.
The global shipping industry is critical to international trade and accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The EU’s new rules will impact the global shipping industry, bringing both challenges and opportunities on the path to net zero.
Which emissions fall within the scope of the EU ETS?* 50% of emissions from voyages which start or end at EU ports (e.g. Tauranga to Zeebrugge); and * 100% of emissions that occur between two EU ports and when ships are within the EU and adjacent areas (e.g. Antwerp to Ireland).
Initially, the EU ETS will only cover CO2 emissions. From 2026, it will also include CH4 (methane) and N2O (nitrous oxide).
In practice, once the new rules are fully implemented, shipping companies will have to purchase and surrender (use) EU ETS emission allowances for each tonne of applicable reported CO2 (or CO2 equivalent) emissions.
Shipping companies must surrender their first ETS allowances by 30 September 2025 for emissions reported in 2024.
Timeline: phased surrender of allowancesTo ensure a smooth transition, shipping companies will only have to purchase and surrender allowances for a portion of their emissions during an initial phase-in period:
- 2025: for 40% of their applicable emissions reported in 2024;
- 2026: for 70% of their applicable emissions reported in 2025; and
- 2027 onwards: for 100% of their applicable reported emissions.
The introduction of an incremental phase-in is intended to allow the maritime sector to adjust to its obligations and incorporate these into future operations more smoothly.
Who will be ensuring compliance?EU Member State administering authorities will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance.
For non-EU shipping companies, administration of the scheme will be the responsibility of the Member State that the company visits most frequently in a two-year period or the first port that the company visits if it has not made any voyages within the EU in the previous two years.
2028: 50% of emissions rule due for reviewSubject to the work led by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on maritime emissions reductions, the new rules say that the EU will review whether the EU ETS should cover more than 50% of international emissions from voyages between the EU and third countries after 2028.
Source: New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade, A greener voyage: EU tackles maritime emissions. Market Intelligence Report, September 2023
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The post How EU Emissions Trading Scheme Affects NZ Importers and Exporters appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read
The recent announcement of price increases by the Port of Auckland (POAL) is part of an ongoing series of hikes that are affecting the road transport industry, according to the National Road Carriers (NRC).
The NRC highlights that the industry is facing substantial increases in various cost factors, which is putting the sustainability of many carriers at risk. Justin Tighe-Umbers, the CEO of NRC, emphasizes that domestic freight charges are inevitably rising due to these escalating costs.
Over the past twelve months alone, typical New Zealand carriers have experienced a notable 23% increase in costs.
While international freight costs are gradually returning to pre-COVID levels with improved capacity and stability, importers and exporters in New Zealand can anticipate higher domestic transport costs.
POAL plans to implement a 59% increase in Vehicle Booking System (VBS) prices starting from January 1, 2024.
This follows a series of substantial increases that have seen POAL transition from a flat vehicle booking rate of $8 to new Peak and Off-peak rates, which are now up to 10 times higher than what operators were paying two years ago.
Mr. Tighe-Umbers notes that while VBS charges are ultimately borne by cargo importers and exporters, transport operators must absorb these costs temporarily as contracts are renegotiated, often out of their usual cycle, to secure appropriate reimbursement.
He acknowledges that POAL is under pressure to enhance profitability, driven by the expectations of both the mayor and the Council for a better commercial return for Auckland ratepayers.
However, he commends POAL for providing a four-month notice to transport operators, advising them to use this time wisely by informing their customers to minimize the impact of price shocks.
The impact of these VBS increases on transport operators servicing the port is expected to be significant.
In the meantime, crude oil prices reached historic highs last week due to the joint commitment of Saudi Arabia and Russia to maintain production cuts through the end of the year.
Oil prices have surged by approximately 2%, reaching a 10-month peak, with Brent crude surpassing the $92 per barrel threshold last week.
According to Jason Wong at BNZ Markets, the oil market is currently facing tight conditions due to record demand and ongoing production restrictions.
OPEC data indicates that in the fourth quarter, there could be a supply deficit of over three million barrels per day compared to demand, potentially marking the largest shortage in more than a decade.
Crude oil stockpiles are already significantly below average, and inventories are expected to decrease further in the coming quarter.
Liam Dan, NZ Herald business editor, in an interview on Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive, points out that over the last three months, crude oil prices have increased by approximately 25%. However, the rise in prices at the gas pump has been much more modest, only around 3.5%.
According to Liam, there is typically a delay in the transmission of changes in crude oil prices to consumer gasoline prices. The effects of rising oil prices take time to propagate throughout the entire supply chain.
He also notes that back in March 2022, when crude oil prices were around $118 per barrel, the government implemented tax cuts and subsidies to mitigate the impact on consumers.
This support extended until June this year, coinciding with a period of lower oil prices. Since then, oil prices have been steadily increasing, but there are no similar measures in place this time.
Therefore, while crude oil prices have flirted with the $90 per barrel mark over the past year and a half, consumers have not yet experienced the full consequences due to previous government intervention.
Rising petrol prices have a ripple effect across the economy, affecting transportation costs, airfares, and the prices of goods nationwide.
Source: The New Zealand Shipping Gazette and Heather Du-Plessis Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB
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4-minute read (4-minute watch)
Ever wondered where your package goes on its journey to you?
Well, it’s quite a team effort involving several companies. If you want to track down your parcel, you’ll need to connect with either New Zealand Post, the courier, fast freight or the shipping company responsible for sending it.
They’re the ones handling the entire process, from receiving and storing the package to keeping tabs on its movement and delivering it to you.
While NZ Customs play a crucial role in checking items entering the country, they don’t handle package tracking and can’t trace your parcel for you.
When international parcels arrive in New Zealand, they go through checks carried out by both NZ Customs and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
After the inspection, the baton is passed to New Zealand Post, and they take charge of delivering your parcel to your doorstep.
However, if more details are needed or if there are charges to be paid, New Zealand Post will get in touch with you through a letter.
If your package is addressed to a person at a private address, and there are charges to settle, NZ Post will tell you that your package is awaiting Customs clearance and enclose a Customs invoice. Once the bill is settled, your package will be released for delivery.
But if your package isn’t addressed to a person at a private address, the letter will guide you to seek assistance from someone who knows the ins and outs of Customs rules and can arrange clearance, such as a customs broker or freight forwarder or you can get help from New Zealand Post directly.
Contact the Easy Freight team now for your Customs clearance services.
A common bugbear for senders can be delays. If you’re ever wondering why your parcel is held up, it could be as simple as understanding the NZ customs duty rates or NZ-prohibited items.
The accurate manifesting of parcel data to New Zealand Customs is a legal requirement and is important to ensure goods are not mis-declared, which can often result in a parcel being unnecessarily held.
It is also essential to know that NZ maintains comprehensive and strict security procedures. If you fail to declare international goods, especially ones considered risky or NZ-prohibited items, you may be fined or arrested, even if it was accidental.
Some items can’t be imported to New Zealand for health and safety reasons. These are called restricted goods.
Restricted items fall into two categories: prohibited goods you can’t send and some you can, so long as you have a permit.
If you are unsure which category an item falls into, contact the New Zealand Customs Service before shipping.
The following items are considered either prohibited or restricted for importation into New Zealand.
Note this is not a comprehensive list, but these items are ones that are commonly attempted to be sent according to NZ Post but are prohibited.
Restricted Items
1. Electronic/electric appliances, devices and toys containing Lithium (including Lithium-ion & Lithium-ion polymer) batteries.
Prohibited General Category
2. Ammunition & Weapons
-
Batteries & Corrosives
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Explosives & Fireworks
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Flammable Liquids
For detailed information, please refer to this link.
As with New Zealand Customs, the accurate manifesting of parcel data to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is important.
The increasing volume of trade and travel is placing pressure on New Zealand’s biosecurity system.
New pests and diseases not only have an impact on human health but can also damage agricultural and horticultural production, forestry and tourism, and trade in international markets.
The following are restricted:
- Food of any kind
- Plants or parts of plants (alive or dead)
- Animals (alive or dead) or their products
- Equipment used with animals*
- Equipment such as camping gear, golf clubs, and used bicycles*
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Biological specimens
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Used or second-hand equipment is of concern to MPI, brand new equipment does not concern them.
For additional information, please refer to this link.
Illegally or incorrectly shipping restricted items could result in legal consequences, including jail time, so do be careful!
If you’re importing goods into New Zealand that cost less than NZ$1,000, you won’t have to pay anything to customs since GST is collected when you buy your items.
Regardless of the value, there will be NZ customs duty charges and GST on alcohol and tobacco products.
Use NZ Customs’ duty estimator to determine what charges there may be: What’s my duty estimator
For all shipments (either commercial or private) over NZ$1000, you will need a Customs Number, and you’ll have to pay duty and GST when the goods arrive in NZ.
If you’re curious about why some packages require extra checks at the International Mail Centre, watch this video by the New Zealand Customs Service that explains the reasoning behind it and offers tips to make the process smoother.
https://easyfreight.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Wheres-My-Parcel.mp4So, remember that a bunch of different players work together to ensure your package reaches you.
Source: New Zealand Customs Service, NZ Couriers and NZ Post International guide to sending
P.S. Easy Freight Ltd helps New Zealand importers & exporters to save money on international freight and reduce mistakes by guiding how to comply with Customs and biosecurity rules.
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The post The Journey of Your Package: Behind the Scenes with NZ Customs and Biosecurity appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read Te Manatū Waka (Ministry of Transport) has introduced its first-ever national strategy for freight and supply chain management, with the intention of boosting the efficiency and robustness of New Zealand’s ports, shipping, and freight sectors. David Parker, the Minister of Transport, unveiled this strategy on August 18 at the Ruakura Inland Port, a […]
The post What’s on the Horizon for NZ Freight and Supply Chain Sector appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Anticipated in the coming 12 months, the “Mid-Year 2023 New Zealand Supply Chain and Logistics Risks Outlook” reveals an increasing likelihood of encountering issues related to cyber-attacks and financial vulnerabilities. The report, crafted by the Supply Chain Risk Analytics Network (SCRAN) at Massey University, highlights the following top five concerns on the rise: […]
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3-minute read Trading with China is set to become easier for New Zealand exporters with the addition of a self-certification option with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (China Customs). Exporters and customs brokers will now be able to complete and send Certificates of Origin directly to China Customs through […]
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As a small business owner, it’s important to understand different shipping options available to efficiently move your products internationally. Sometimes, the challenge of international logistics can be discouraging for small businesses that lack sufficient cargo to fill an entire container. This obstacle can hinder the expansion of small and medium-sized businesses, preventing them from broadening […]
The post LCL: Understanding Less than Container Load Shipping appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Another car carrier disaster has occurred, with electric vehicle batteries being identified as the possible cause of the fire. This tragic incident resulted in the loss of a seafarer’s life and caused injuries to others. As a result, safety concerns are being heightened not only due to the fire itself but also due […]
The post The Explosive Risks of the Lithium Battery Trade appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Travellers arriving into Wellington or Christchurch airports now have the option to complete a digital arrival declaration instead of a paper passenger arrival card. NZ Customs is leading the new digital declaration, along with Immigration New Zealand, Biosecurity New Zealand, and the Ministry of Health. New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) Senior Responsible Owner […]
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3-minute read You import and sell products online, and you find that your small e-commerce business has experienced significant growth to the point where you struggle to keep up with customer orders and manage inventory. It may be time to consider a solution that allows you to focus on networking and expanding your business while […]
The post When to Consider a 3PL for Your Business appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced an expected strengthening of airline industry profitability in an upgrade of its outlook for 2023. Highlights include: • Airline industry net profits are expected to reach US$9.8 billion in 2023 (1.2% net profit margin), which is more than double the previous forecast of US$4.7 billion (December […]
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5-minute read
If you are someone importing light vehicles into New Zealand on a Clean Car Standard Pay As You Go scheme, read this article to understand what you need to do to make payments and use credits from the 1st of June, 2023.
If you import a light vehicle into New Zealand, you need to meet Clean Car Standard requirements.
These requirements are there to increase the number of low and zero-emission vehicles imported into New Zealand.
Charges are applied to vehicles with emissions above a target, and credits are given for vehicles below a target.
The Clean Car Standard requires importers to have a CO2 account.
Your account holds details of vehicles you import – such as emissions levels, whether those emissions are above or below the target, and any charges or credits that may apply.
Separate CO2 accounts are needed for new and used vehicles.
There are two schemes within the Clean Car Standard: Pay As You Go (PAYG) and Fleet Average.
Clean Car Standard vs Clean Car DiscountThe Clean Car Standard is different from the Clean Car Discount. The Clean Car Standard is for importers and aims to increase the supply of low or zero-emission vehicles – while the Clean Car Discount is for car buyers and aims to increase demand for low or zero-emission vehicles.
What You Need to Know if You’re a Pay As You Go ImporterYou need to start paying charges.
From 1 June, as a PAYG importer, you will need to start paying charges on vehicles as they’re accepted in your CO2 account.
If you choose not to or don’t pay, you won’t be able to register your vehicles or obtain a WOF/COF until the charges are paid.
You’ll also be able to use credits to offset charges if you have them. You’ll be given the option to offset charges at the point of payment.
Payment will be through your CO2 account, using your credit/debit card or through POLi.
You Need to Make a One-Off Payment for Charges Incurred Between 1 January and 31 MayFrom 1 June, payment is due for charges incurred between 1 January and 31 May 2023 for PAYG importers. This is a one-off payment.
You can make payment in the ‘Pending Charges’ tab in the CCS system using your credit/debit card or POLi.
Waka Kotahi advises that if you haven’t settled your balance by 21 June 2023 and you have credits available, they will be used to offset the charges on your account. Any remaining charges will be payable at that point.
Credit offsetting and transferringFrom 1 June, credits can be used for offsetting and transferring to other importers.
Credit OffsettingIf you have credits in your account, you can use these to offset charges. You can do this once you are on the payment screen in your CCS CO2 account.
Credit TransferringFrom 1 June, you can transfer credits between other CO2 accounts.
Credit transfers from one account to another take place within the CCS system.
Credits can only be transferred between accounts of the same type – that is, new-to-new and used-to-used.
They can also be transferred between PAYG and Fleet Average accounts (as long as the accounts are of the same type).
Note that vehicles accepted in Fleet Average accounts do not produce any tradeable credits until the end of the obligation year if the net position is positive.
However, Fleet Average accounts can still accept credits from PAYG accounts in the interim and transfer those credits.
While credit transfers take place within the CCS system, any payment for credits and terms of the trade will be managed between the two trading parties – Waka Kotahi advises that they will not have visibility of or responsibility for the financial agreement or monetary transactions.
You will need to meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements before you are able to transfer or receive credits.
You can also choose to go onto the CCS Account Register, which includes contact details for CO2 account holders wishing to trade credits.
Anti-Money Laundering RequirementsImporters wishing to transfer or receive credits must undergo Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks first.
This is a requirement under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 to help tackle money laundering in New Zealand.
In line with this legislation, Waka Kotahi is required to conduct customer due diligence on importers wishing to trade credits under the CCS.
This includes understanding importers’ ownership structures and verifying the identity of associated individuals.
Waka Kotahi also recommends that importers seek their own legal advice in relation to AML prior to transferring credits with other account holders.
To find out how to get verified, you can contact the Clean Car Standard team online through your CO2 account, call Waka Kotahi on 0800 141 801 or email CCSImporter@nzta.govt.nz.
Clean Car Standard Account RegisterWaka Kotahi is publishing a list of CO2 account holders and their contact details. This register is temporary to help importers to get in touch with each other if they are interested in trading CO2 credits to offset charges incurred between 1 January and 31 May.
It will be updated weekly and be available until 30 June 2023.
CCS Account Register can be found on the NZTA website.
CO2 account holders can choose whether to be included in this register. If you’d like to be added to or removed from the register, or you would like to update any of the information, get in touch with the CCS team at CCSImporter@nzta.govt.nz.
Waka Kotahi has developed this helpful video, which gives an overview of how payments and credits work and the different ways you can pay.
https://easyfreight.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Clean-Car-Standard-–-payments-overview.mp4The above information is intended as a guide only. Regulations can change without notice, and more information, detailed guidance, and questions about the Clean Car Standard can be found on the NZTA website.
Information and video source: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
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2-minute read
Did you know that if you’re planning on bringing items into NZ (importing) or sending items overseas (exporting) that are worth over NZ$1000, you need to apply for a Customs Number or a Client Code with New Zealand Customs Service?
If you are a private individual importing or exporting for your own use, you will need to apply for a Customs Number.
If you have brought in or sent items overseas worth over NZ$1000 previously, you do not need to apply for a Customs Number – you would have received notification of this via email from Customs or your Broker.
If you have never brought in or sent items overseas worth over NZ$1000, you will need to apply for a Customs Number.
You will need to complete Customs Number Application for An Individual Person form which can be found on the NZ Customs website.
Email the completed form and a copy of your photo ID to Customs via the email address provided on the form.
You will receive your Customs Number by email.
You can also contact a Customs broker to liaise with NZ Customs on your behalf.
Importing Items for Commercial Purposes
If you’re planning to import items for commercial purposes (to sell or to use in a business) or are a Sole Trader, you will need to apply for a Client Code.
Client Code for commercial use is a unique number that identifies commercial importers and exporters.
Client codes are only issued to New Zealand entities (such as registered New Zealand companies).
A client code is required as part of the import and export entry preparation and Customs clearance for shipments valued at NZ$1000 or more.
If you don’t have a client code, you can apply for a client code yourself. To do this:
- complete a Client Code Application form which can be found on the NZ Customs website
- include the required identity documents
- email to Customs via the email address provided on the form.
Alternatively, a Customs broker can apply for this on your behalf.
Customs clearanceBefore imported goods can be released by NZ Customs, importers need to submit electronic declarations (import entries) covering the details of their import.
NZ Customs don’t provide electronic lodgement services directly. However, a Customs broker or a freight forwarder can send an electronic lodgement on your behalf to clear goods with NZ Customs.
Source: New Zealand Customs Service
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6-minute read
Importers of frozen food and their agents are reminded that the Origin of Food Regulations that apply to certain frozen food came into effect on 12 May 2023.
The Consumer Information Standards (Origin of Food) Regulations 2021 were passed by Parliament on 10 May 2021. The Regulations introduced mandatory origin disclosure for certain foods.
The purpose of the Regulations is to ensure New Zealand consumers have information about the origin of certain foods so that they can make informed purchasing decisions.
From 12 February 2022, businesses must disclose where certain fresh and thawed food comes from that they supply, offer, or advertise for supply to consumers in New Zealand.
From 12 May 2023, the Regulations also apply to frozen food in the below categories.
The requirement to disclose applies to cured pork products and single-ingredient fruit, vegetable, fish, seafood, and meat that is no more than minimally processed.
It does not apply to food sold for fundraising or food that is intended for immediate consumption (for example, at restaurants, takeaway shops etc).
These regulations apply to food supplied, offered or advertised for supply at retail (including on an internet site or by mail-out).
Origin of product labelling (or other means of disclosure) can occur after importation.
Q: What are the Regulations about?
A: The Consumer Information Standards (Origin of Food) Regulations 2021 (Regulations) require the disclosure of certain information for some fresh, thawed, and frozen food, as well as cured pork. The information must clearly identify the country or ocean in which the food was grown, raised, caught, or harvested.
Q: When do the Regulations come into effect?
A: The Regulations apply to fresh and thawed food from 12 February 2022 and to frozen food from 12 May 2023.
Q: What are the consequences of not complying with the Regulations?
A: Failure to comply with the Regulations is against the law because it breaches the Fair Trading Act 1986.
The Commerce Commission may issue an infringement notice to a trader requiring payment of a $1,000 infringement fee per offence.
For serious non-compliance, the Commission may choose to prosecute, and companies may be fined up to $30,000 for each offence. Individuals can be fined up to $10,000 for each offence.
Businesses are also reminded that it is an offence under section 13(j) of the Fair Trading Act to make a false or misleading representation concerning the place of origin of goods or services. This offence carries a much higher maximum penalty of $600,000 per breach for companies and $200,000 for individuals.
Q: What food items are covered by the Regulations?
A: The Regulations apply to fruits, vegetables, meat, finfish, and shellfish that are:
- of a single type (e.g., they do not apply to packets of mixed peas and corn)
- fresh, thawed, or frozen, and
- no more than minimally processed.
The Regulations also apply to cured pork and list specific food items in the definition of “fruit or vegetable”.
Q: What is fresh food?
A: A food is considered fresh if it has not been processed for the purpose of preserving it or extending the period during which it may be eaten.
However, the Regulations set out that some processes, such as refrigeration, chilling, surface treatment, vacuum sealing or blanching before freezing, do not prevent food from being “fresh”.
Surface treatment means applying a substance to the food’s surface without changing the food’s essential character, taste, or nutritional content.
Q: What is not fresh food?
A: Examples of processing that mean a food is not considered fresh include drying, curing, fermentation, pickling, smoking, reconstitution, preservation (in salt, sugar, or oil), canning, and cooking (but not blanching before freezing).
Q: What does minimally processed mean?
A: Minimally processed includes, for example, cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing, mincing, grating, mashing, juicing, blending, puréeing, filleting, deboning, shucking, peeling, shelling, washing, sanitising or irradiation.
Foods covered by the Regulations that have been through these processes will require country of origin disclosures.
Cured pork will always require country-of-origin disclosures.
Q: What does cured pork include?
A: Cured pork is defined in the Regulations as covering two types of processed pork products:
- Products described as bacon or ham that contain at least 30% of the products’ weight as pork flesh.
- Processed pork products that contain at least 66% pork flesh (by weight) and salt as a preservative. It may also include either nitrite or nitrate (or both) as preservatives. Examples of these include prosciutto and pickled pork.
The full definition of cured pork is set out in Regulation 8 of the Regulations.
Origin information for cured pork products is the country where the animal was raised, NOT where it was cured. For example, disclosure on ham might say made in New Zealand from Canadian pork.
Requirements for what information must be disclosedQ: What origin information must be provided?
A: Any food items covered by the Regulations must disclose the following origin information:
- Fruit and vegetables – The country (or countries) where they were grown
- Meat and cured pork – The country (or countries) where the animals were raised
- Finfish and shellfish – The country (or countries) in whose national fisheries jurisdiction or oceans in whose high seas the items were caught or harvested
Q: Do I need to include the words grown, raised, caught, or harvested in my disclosure?
A: There are no prescribed phrases that must be included in the disclosure. The Regulations require that the disclosure must:
- Be in clear and legible text in English or Māori; and
- Enable a person to whom the item is supplied, offered or advertised to be informed of how the item relates to the country (or countries) or ocean (or oceans) disclosed.
The connection between the item and the country or ocean must be clear. Terms like grown, raised, caught, and harvested may assist in the description.
Q: Is it ok to only disclose the state or region the item is from?
A: No. The Regulations require the disclosure of the country or ocean – a region or state is not sufficient on its own.
Q: I am a New Zealand grower and my current packaging has my address, is this sufficient?
A: No. The disclosure must have the country name where the item was grown and make the connection between the item and the country clear.
Requirements for how information is disclosedQ: How should the origin information be disclosed?
A: The information must be disclosed as clear and legible text in either English or Māori. The disclosure must make it clear how the origin information is related to the food.
Q: Are there specific requirements about the disclosure, such as the font colour, font size or specific phrases that must be used?
A: No. The Regulations do not prescribe exactly how to disclose the information, except that it must be as clear and legible text in either English or Māori.
There are no prescribed phrases that must be included (like ‘product of’) either.
The Regulations require that the connection between the item and the country or ocean must be clear. Using phrases such as “grown in” or “raised in” is one way to make the connection between the item and the country clear.
Q: Does the origin disclosure need to be on the product packaging?
A: Not necessarily. The Regulations require that the connection between the country or ocean of origin and the food item is clear.
Traders must ensure that the origin information is clearly disclosed near the food item. Where the food item is sold in-store, the information might be on the item or its packaging or on signs located next to the item.
Q: Do I need to make origin disclosures in advertising circulars or online?
A: Yes. When the food item is offered for sale or advertised for supply (where the offer or advertisement is not in the same place as the food item, for example, in a brochure or online), the origin disclosure must be included as part of the offer or advertisement.
Q: If I make origin disclosures online, do I need to repeat the disclosure when the item is supplied?
A: Not necessarily. If the offer for the supply of the item is accepted where the item is not located (for example, on a website) and it is supplied in accordance with the accepted offer, then the disclosure information does not need to be repeated when the item is supplied.
If the item is advertised online but also available in-store, the country of origin should still be shown in-store.
Q: Where on the packaging should the disclosure be placed?
A: There are no rules about where on packaging the disclosure should be, and some items may not be packaged.
The disclosure can also be made in one of the following ways: on the item, on labels, on signs next to items, or in similar ways. The Regulations require that the connection between the disclosure and the item is clear.
Q: Can I use an abbreviation like NZ or USA instead of the full country name?
A: The Regulations are silent about the use of abbreviations. The key consideration for the Commission is whether the country of origin is clearly communicated to consumers.
Well-known and recognised abbreviations may be acceptable, but abbreviations that consumers may not understand should be avoided.
Q: Can I put a map of the country the item is from instead of the country name?
A: No. The Regulations require the disclosure to be in text in English or Māori.
Special circumstancesQ: Do the Regulations apply to cafes, restaurants, or school fairs?
A: No. The Regulations do not apply when food is supplied, offered or advertised for supply at a fundraising event or for immediate consumption by a restaurant, cafeteria, takeaway shop, canteen, or similar place.
Q: Do the Regulations apply to caterers?
A: No. The Regulations do not apply when food is supplied, offered or advertised for supply by a caterer for immediate consumption.
The above information is intended as a guide only. Regulations can change without notice, and more information, detailed guidance, and questions about the Origin of Food Regulation for businesses are available on the Commerce Commission website.
Source: Commerce Commission New Zealand
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The post Food Importers Must Know: Country of Origin of Food appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for March 2023 showing that global air cargo markets continue to decline against the previous year’s demand performance. This trend began in March 2022.
- Global air cargo demand decreased in March, with cargo tonne- kilometers (CTKs) falling by 7.7% year-on-year (YoY). This was a slight improvement over the previous February’s performance (-9.4%) and half the rate of annual decline seen in January and December (-16.8% and -15.6%, respectively).
- Air cargo capacity grew 9.9% YoY, primarily due to the increasing belly-hold capacity from passenger aircraft. As a result, cargo load factors fell to 46.2%, 8.8 percentage points (ppts) lower than last year’s load factors.
- The diminished strength of fundamental air cargo drivers, such as trade and manufacturing exports, continued to dampen potential gains in air cargo traffic as global new export orders remained weak for a full year.
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While China’s reopening has helped its economic outlook and cargo traffic on Asia Pacific trade lanes, its new export orders retreated in March after a slight improvement in February. Other major economies we track also saw contractions in their new export orders in March compared to February. At this point, it is unclear if this is a potentially modest start of an improvement trend or the upside of market volatility. Irrespective of this, March’s performance slipped back into negative territory compared to pre-COVID levels (-8.1%).
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Several factors in the operating environment should be noted:
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- Even with record-low unemployment rates, the global economy continues to decelerate due to a combination of factors such as tightening global financial conditions, high levels of global debt, and supply chain problems, including those linked to the war in Ukraine.
- In line with the weakening global trade, the Purchasing Manager Indices (PMIs) for new export orders at the global level remained below the 50-critical line for a full year as of March. China’s PMI retreated to below the 50-mark in March, following a slight improvement observed in February.
- The PMI for supplier delivery times indicates high inventory levels, which tends to have a negative impact on air cargo.
- Global goods trade decreased by 2.6% in February; this was a faster rate of decline than the previous month of -1.0%.
“Air cargo had a volatile first quarter. In March, overall demand slipped back below pre-COVID-19 levels and most of the indicators for the fundamental drivers of air cargo demand are weak or weakening. While the trading environment is tough, there is some good news. Airlines are getting help in managing through the volatility with yields that have remained high and fuel prices that have moderated from exceptionally high levels. Looking ahead, with inflation reducing in G7 countries policymakers are expected to ease economic cooling measures and that would stimulate demand,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
March Regional Performance for Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific airlines* saw their air cargo volumes decrease by 7.3% in March 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. This was a slight decrease in performance compared to February (-5.4%).
The drop in demand suggests that air cargo traffic in the region has not yet stabilized following China’s reopening in January. Available capacity in the region increased by 23.6% compared to March 2022 as more belly capacity came online from the passenger side of the business.
Meanwhile, IATA announced strong demand growth in air travel for March 2023.
“The calendar year first quarter ended on a strong note for air travel demand. Domestic markets have been near their pre-pandemic levels for months. And for international travel two key waypoints were topped. First, demand increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous month’s growth, to reach 81.6% of pre-COVID levels. This was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s re-opening took hold. And efficiency is improving as international load factors reached 81.3%. Even more importantly, ticket sales for both domestic and international travel give every indication that strong growth will continue into the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
- Global passenger traffic exhibited strong growth in March, with industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increasing by 52.4% year-on-year (YoY) and reaching 88.0% of March 2019 levels.
- Domestic RPKs were almost fully recovered, only 1.1% below pre-pandemic levels after growing 34.1% YoY.
- The annual growth in international RPKs was 68.9%, demonstrating resilient demand for air travel. International load factors also climbed to 80.7%, slightly higher than their pre-pandemic level.
- The reopening of China and the easing of travel restrictions has accelerated the recovery of domestic and international traffic. Asia Pacific carriers experienced the fastest annual growth in total RPKs at 158.9%, with a significant increase in international passengers between the region and the rest of the world.
“As traveller expectations build towards the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season, airlines are doing their best to meet the desire and need to fly. Unfortunately, a lack of capacity means that some of those travellers may be disappointed. Part of this capacity shortfall is attributable to the widely reported labor shortages impacting many parts of the aviation value chain, as well as supply chain issues affecting the aircraft manufacturing sector that is resulting in aircraft delivery delays. However, a significant share of recent flight cancellations, primarily in Europe, are owing to job actions by air traffic controllers and others. These irresponsible actions resulted in thousands of unnecessary cancellations in March. This is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by the authorities,” said Walsh.
Source: IATA
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8-minute read
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been monitoring global supply chain disruptions and developments since June 2020.
In this article, we bring you global supply chain trends, including improvements in sea freight and recovering air connectivity, according to MFAT’s latest market intelligence report.
Sea FreightThe reliability of global sea freight has continued to improve throughout the first quarter of 2023.
Shipping giant Maersk noted in a recent industry newsletter that supply chains are “finally beginning to stabilise and find equilibrium.”
While prices and delivery times have not returned to pre-COVID levels, some disruption has become widely accepted across the industry as ‘business as usual.’
S&P Global Market Intelligence attributes steadier supply chains to slower demand.
For example, US container import volumes have been falling for eight months, and March 2023 levels were 23% lower than March 2022. As the pressure on sea freight has reduced, supply chains have rebalanced.
It may take time for the benefits of falling global shipping prices to be fully realised in New Zealand due to factors such as our distance from major global supply lines, recent weather events, and inflation.
Maersk and MSC have announced that they will end their 10-year alliance in 2025.
With only a handful of major shipping companies operating on a global scale, alliances can enable the partners to offer their customers better coverage of trade routes than if they were operating individually.
The implications of the announcement are not yet clear. While it could lead to reduced coverage on certain routes, it could also help to boost competition and bring down prices.
Maersk has withdrawn its Coastal Connect service from New Zealand.
This was a dedicated coastal shipping service introduced last year that connected Auckland, Tauranga, Nelson, Timaru, and Lyttleton.
Maersk will now use the Port of Melbourne as a hub instead, which could improve shipping capacity on trans-Tasman routes.
Domestic coastal shipping services are still available in New Zealand through another carrier, Pacifica Shipping, which has been in the market for over 30 years.
International lines can also sell space on the domestic legs of their voyages for coastal shipping.
Air FreightAs with sea freight, capacity and reliability in the aviation industry continues to recover.
In its latest industry newsletter, the supply chain platform Flexport said that air freight capacity on the major global trading lane between North America and Europe is back to 2019 levels. However, prices remain elevated due to high fuel costs.
New Zealand’s growing air connectivity reflects this trend. As of January 2023, international passenger numbers had recovered to 69% into Auckland Airport and 57% into Christchurch Airport compared to January 2019 figures.
Queenstown Airport reached 126% of the pre-pandemic equivalent, reflecting a strong tourism recovery in that region, especially from Australian visitors.
Highlights from the 1st Quarter of 2023Delta Airlines has announced that it will enter the New Zealand market in October. It will operate daily flights between Auckland and Los Angeles, bringing additional capacity and competition to the popular route.
China placed New Zealand on a list of 20 approved destinations for group tourism and reopened its borders to tourists on 15 March.
The New Zealand Herald reports that there will be approximately 21 flights per week between New Zealand and China by May 2023 – about half of what was on offer in 2019.
Emirates has restarted daily services from Christchurch to Dubai.
Auckland Airport’s Chair, Peter Strange, projects that full recovery is still another two years away. The aviation industry faces ongoing challenges with a lack of available aircraft, labour shortages, and high fuel prices.
Regional updatesAustraliaDHL has upgraded its planes for air freight on its Auckland to Melbourne route. It plans to operate five overnight services per week using the new aircraft, which will double capacity.
DHL has also added a stop in Christchurch on its Auckland to Sydney express route. This will offer faster delivery options for exports from the South Island, including high-value perishable goods.
DP World, a supply chain solutions firm, has opened a specialised facility for refrigerated containers in Sydney called Reefer World. This has the ability to provide cleaning and repair services for over 100 reefers per day.
The new facility is one of the biggest in Australia, and DP World expects that reefer supply to Auckland and Tauranga will increase as a result.
Focus Container Line has gone into liquidation. The shipping company launched a route in November 2022 that connected Ningbo, China to Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Ships have now been withdrawn from the trans-Tasman route.
At the same time, ZIM International Shipping has added a new shipping route travelling between Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Lyttelton and Napier.
Australia National Line (ANL) has also added a stop in Napier to their trans-Tasman service.
AmericasDomestic supply chains are facing some disruption in the US because of delays with land transport.
Labour shortages across the industry mean containers are experiencing long wait times to be loaded onto trains or trucks from ports. Chicago is one of the cities most affected, with containers facing delays of up to 2-3 weeks.
Following the passage of the US Ocean Shipping Reform Act last year, a new bill called the Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act has been introduced to assist with its implementation.
If enacted, this would make foreign-owned ocean carriers subject to federal anti-trust laws and “address unfair practices that harm American businesses, producers, and consumers.”
For example, shipping companies would not be allowed to impose unjustified container rate increases or unfairly refuse cargo bookings for American exports.
The impacts of the new Ocean Shipping Antitrust Enforcement Act on global container supply are still to be determined.
However, if empty containers were required to wait in the US to be filled with the product before leaving, this could slow down international container movements.
EuropeRussia and Ukraine have agreed to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The United Nations notes that 25 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries during its first two terms, helping to bring down global food prices.
However, the length of the extension is unclear. Al Jazeera reports that Russia claims it has agreed to a 60-day extension, while Ukraine says that the deal has been extended for 120 days.
Maersk has resumed some operations in Ukraine, serving freshwater ports along the Danube estuary in the northern part of the country. This may facilitate further exports from Ukraine.
There have been a series of strikes in France over a government proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Over a million people have participated, with train and air traffic disruptions.
Freight Forwarder Think Global Logistics said these disruptions have led to delayed deliveries and increased costs for businesses, including foreign companies that rely on French suppliers for inputs.
Africa and the Middle EastTürkiye and Syria experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 6 February. Docks at Iskenderun Port in Turkey collapsed, and fires that affected hundreds of containers broke out.
While most airports in the region experienced damage, service was restored to all airports by 12 February.
Supply chain news platform The Loadstar reports that Maersk filed a lawsuit against container shipping company Evergreen Marine over the blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021.
An Evergreen Marine vessel obstructed the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021, causing a queue of over 350 ships that Maersk alleges caused more than US$40 million in economic damage.
Read our post “The Inside Story of Ever Given in the Suez Canal” for some interesting insights on the incident and the importance of the Suez Canal to global trade.
AsiaTech giant Amazon has launched a dedicated air cargo service, Amazon Air, in India. Amazon Air operates over 110 jets across its global network that exclusively carry packages for Amazon.
Indian operations will begin with two planes initially and possibly increase to six by the end of the year. Each aircraft can carry about 24 tonnes of cargo.
According to Flexport, parts of Beijing Airport will be closed for maintenance during April. Approximately a third of the facility’s air cargo volume will be temporarily unavailable during this time (roughly 2.6% of China’s overall air cargo volume).
China Market Update Following China’s ReopeningTravel between New Zealand and China is picking up again following the reopening of China’s borders, with capacity on the important Shanghai-Auckland route increasing.
Open borders are seeing many business people visiting China. Companies are inaugurating new offices in Shanghai and a number of companies have resumed bringing their Chinese partners and social media influencers to New Zealand.
Visa processing on both sides is ramping up to meet demand, although it is important to apply early.
China’s recognition of virtual APEC cards from 1 May 2023 and the availability of multi-entry visas will give business travellers more options.
Logistics-wise, China’s COVID restrictions along the supply chain have been lifted, with supply chains rapidly improving, and entry ports normalising. China’s removal of COVID inspections of the cold chain and cancellation of disinfection requirements have saved significant costs and reduced risk.
The reopened border has paved the way for increased travel between New Zealand and China. Booking enquiries from Chinese travellers have increased significantly since China removed the requirement for a pre-departure PCR test for passengers from New Zealand.
The increased frequency of flights has helped reduce the average price of flights between the two countries.
China Market Trends and Changes to Consumer BehaviourThe pandemic accelerated a number of trends over the last three years. China’s digital and e-commerce channels have grown enormously and diversified.
Consumers are shifting to ‘instant purchase’ live streaming influencer sales channels like Douyin (often citing the convenience of being able to ask live questions) and away from mainstream apps or web platforms like Tmall or JD.com, which also have a reputation as being more expensive for product sellers.
E-commerce has its drawbacks: companies must essentially pay for views of their products with traditional online vendors or pay large sums and stockpile inventory for popular live streamers. Margins from live stream sales are usually not particularly high.
There are shifts in the offline retail landscape too.
Big-box retailers, for example, Costco and Sam’s Club, are growing in popularity, and several Chinese supermarkets, such as Hema Fresh and RT Mart, are adopting this model.
Aldi is an example of a supermarket chain in China that is re-positioning itself from being low-cost towards the premium segment.
Smaller retailers were hit hard by the pandemic and China’s previous COVID policies, forcing many to close or migrate to exclusively e-commerce.
Chinese consumers are increasingly health conscious, often influenced by social media influencer claims.
Some New Zealand Food & Beverage (F&B) producers have successfully partnered with local food science institutions to co-create high-value products tailored to the needs and tastes of local consumers.
This responsiveness and innovation are likely to become even more necessary.
Environmental sustainability has started to grow in prominence for Chinese consumers, helped by the political prominence of the Chinese government’s carbon reduction goals.
But Chinese consumers continue to place greater importance on the premium quality of a product or how it benefits their health (‘why is this good for me?’) over a product’s environmental impact (‘why is this good for us?’).
Successful companies are adept at translating environmental benefits into consumer-specific benefits.
Chinese F&B brands are increasingly competitive, including at the top end. This is partly explained by the growing sense of ‘China pride’ among consumers favouring domestic brands over international ones.
But it is also because Chinese companies have improved product quality, are investing significantly in understanding local consumer behaviour, and are adept at quickly catering to changing demands.
Being able to respond quickly to fast-changing habits (at what some term ‘China speed’) is important for many, particularly to meet requirements from Chinese clients ‘to produce something new’ every few months.
Keeping up with the market trends, the speed of consumer change, and China’s volume requirements, including supplying when social media influencers spike sales and test inventory, remains challenging (but also provides opportunities) for companies.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Market Intelligence Report. Full report can be found here
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6-minute read
Sometimes you are importing goods that you’ll be exporting again. If they aren’t consumable and will be in NZ for less than a year, New Zealand Customs calls them “temporary imports”.
You may not have to pay Customs duties and GST on temporary imports.
Guide to Temporary Admission of GoodsGoods imported to New Zealand on a temporary basis may be able to be imported without paying duty, including Goods and Services Tax (GST).
New Zealand Customs developed a guide outlining the requirements for temporary imports, including the categories of goods and financial securities required.
Temporary imports generally only apply to goods that will be exported from New Zealand in the same condition as when they arrived.
If any substantial changes in the goods are intended (e.g. through manufacturing or repair), additional requirements must be met.
There are 2 options for declaring temporary imports:
- an ATA carnet
- submitting an electronic temporary lodgement through a Customs broker or freight forwarder (you may need to give NZ Customs security in the form of a cash deposit, financial bond or temporary import approval and undertaking). Customs Clearance of Goods Imported TemporarilyA temporary import entry (TIE) is a document which is used to gain Customs clearance for goods imported into New Zealand on a temporary basis.
It provides Customs information on the nature of the goods, the shipping information, who is importing the goods, who supplied the goods etc.
The exceptions are:
- goods imported under a carnet
- household goods that arrive in New Zealand with the visitor – where they qualify for temporary importation without financial security.
TIEs must be submitted electronically.
NZ Customs will help private importers submit a temporary import entry.
However, this service is not available for goods carried by travellers arriving at New Zealand’s international airports.
A TIE should be obtained before arrival in New Zealand. If not, the goods will be held until a TIE has been submitted and finalised.
Commercial importers are required to submit their own TIEs – this service is provided by Customs brokers and freight forwarders.
Classes of Goods that Can Qualify for Temporary EntryCommercial or privately owned goods that can be clearly identified and traced entering and leaving New Zealand may qualify for temporary entry.
To qualify, the goods must:
- be identifiable by their unique nature or a serial number or other unique identifying feature, and
- not be offered for gift, sale, exchange or distribution in New Zealand, and
- not be consumable items, e.g. paints, lubricants, food products, clothing, medicines etc., and
- be in New Zealand for no more than 12 months, with the exception of long-term restoration projects, which may take longer than 12 months, and yachts and small craft that may be here for up to 24 months.
Yachts and Small Craft Imported by VisitorsVisitors to New Zealand may import a yacht or small craft without paying duty and GST or financial security provided they meet all of the following criteria:
- they are a permanent resident of a country other than New Zealand
- the yacht or small craft will not be sold or offered for sale in New Zealand or destroyed or given away without permission from NZ Customs
- the yacht or small craft will not be used commercially for hire, transport of cargo or carrying passengers.
Yachts or small craft that meet the above criteria can be temporarily imported for up to two years.
If the requirements above are not met, NZ Customs will require financial security and the yacht or small craft must be exported within 12 months.
Goods Imported in Accordance with any Treaty, Agreement or ArrangementThe New Zealand government has entered into a number of agreements that allow specific goods to be temporarily imported.
These agreements include goods covered by Customs Conventions for:
- goods imported for educational, scientific, cultural or humanitarian purposes
- tourist publicity material
- goods imported for sports
- containers, pallets, packing and samples
- the temporary import of:
- animals
- professional equipment and goods for display or use at exhibitions, fairs, meetings or similar events
- road vehicles, private vessels and aircraft.
For further information about qualifying agreements, please contact feedback@customs.govt.nz.
CarnetsCarnets are international customs documents that simplify customs procedures for the temporary import and export of goods and incorporate an international guarantee.
They are issued in the country the goods are first exported from and are designed to enable Customs authorities in the exporting country to control the export and re-import of the goods.
Carnets also enable Customs authorities in other countries to grant temporary entry and record when the goods are finally exported.
They are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.
Carnets allow certain categories of goods to be imported temporarily free of duties and taxes. Where a carnet is accepted, there is no requirement to produce financial security to Customs.
A carnet cannot be accepted in New Zealand for:
- goods imported for processing and repair
- goods imported for use or consumption in the manufacturing, commercial, industrial or agricultural sectors
- television advertising videotape and film
- goods that do not have unique identifiers or cannot be suitably permanently marked for identification purposes.
Two organisations in New Zealand issue carnets for goods being temporarily exported:
- Chamber of Commerce for items other than cars
- Automobile Association (AA) for cars.
Customs does not issue carnets.
If you’re wanting to temporarily import goods into New Zealand on carnet, please contact your local Customs office/bureau, and they will be able to give you the correct issuing organisation(s) contact details.
Household Goods Imported Temporarily by Visitors, Including Motor VehiclesVisitors who intend to import their goods for up to 12 months may bring the following items into New Zealand without paying duty and GST:
- cameras (still, video, and motion picture), a supply of film, tapes, and accessories
- binoculars
- musical instruments
- sound and video devices (e.g. tape recorders, CD players, mini disc players, DVD players, and dictating machines )
- portable radio receivers
- cellular or mobile telephones
- portable personal computers (laptops) and accessories
- baby carriages and strollers
- wheelchairs
- sporting equipment. No TIE and financial security is required if NZ Customs is satisfied that goods are for personal use only.
Visitors may also import a motor vehicle (including an attached trailer or caravan) without the payment of duty and/or GST if they intend to export it within 12 months and they hold a carnet.
If no carnet is presented, the vehicle can be cleared through Customs on a TIE, and financial security will be required to cover the duty and/or GST that would otherwise have been payable when the motor vehicle was imported.
The security will be refunded when satisfactory evidence is presented that the goods have been exported within the stipulated timeframe, generally one year.
Visitors’ clothing, footwear, cosmetics, toiletries and jewellery can be imported free of duty and GST if they are for personal use.
Long-term Restoration ProjectsProjects that involve the restoration of imported items often import parts and/or accessories and take longer than 1 year to complete.
Customs will consider allowing the goods for such a project to be imported under a TIE with a temporary import agreement (TIA) as security.
NZ Customs consider many factors and will request documentation to determine whether a TIE, with a TIA, is appropriate. For example:
- the value of the goods, and parts/accessories, being imported
- the length of time the work is projected to take
- the contract terms between the owner of the goods and the restorer – is there an agreed work schedule, agreed milestones, scheduled instalment payments etc.
- does the New Zealand company doing the restoration work have a proven track record?
In making its decision, NZ Customs may approve the use of a TIE but with a different type of security.
If a TIE, regardless of security type, is approved for a long-term restoration project, the importer/restoration company will be required to provide progress reports at agreed intervals.
Other GoodsGoods that do not fall into one of the above categories may still be accepted for temporary admission of up to 12 months with financial security. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis in discussion with NZ Customs.
Exporting Goods Temporarily EnteredFor yachts and small craft departing under their own power, the electronic export entry giving permission for the departure of private yachts and small craft will be completed by NZ Customs.
There are other border agency departure requirements for departing craft, and further information can be found on the NZ Customs website.
CarnetThe carnet and shipping documentation is presented to NZ Customs when the goods are shipped from New Zealand.
A Customs officer will complete the re-exportation voucher of the carnet and generate an export delivery order or message which permits the goods to be loaded for export.
This should be done at least 48 hours prior to the proposed departure of the goods. Evidence of shipment is required once the goods have departed.
Where goods are being carried with a passenger, a Customs officer will complete the carnet at the airport check-in counter.
As 2-3 days prior notice is required, you will need to contact NZ Customs with flight departure information as soon as you can.
Other goodsThe importer is required to submit an electronic export entry 48 hours before the goods are exported. Evidence of shipment must be provided once the goods have departed New Zealand.
If confirmation of the export of goods being carried through an international airport is required, arrangements to meet with Customs at check-in will need to be made.
Once evidence of shipment is received or a Customs officer has confirmed the goods departed with the traveller, any financial security can be released. This may take a few days.
For further information, commercial clients are encouraged to contact their Customs broker or freight forwarder.
Private importers may contact NZ Customs at feedback@customs.govt.nz .
The above information is intended as a guide only. Regulations can change without notice, and for more information, specific guidance, and questions about Customs duties and GST on temporary imports, please visit the NZ Customs website.
Source: New Zealand Customs Guide to Temporary Admission of Goods. The full guide can be found here.
P.S. Easy Freight Ltd helps New Zealand importers & exporters to save money on international freight and reduce mistakes by guiding how to comply with Customs and biosecurity rules.
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The post Do You Need to Pay Customs Duties and GST on Temporary Imports? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read
To import food into New Zealand for sale, individuals need to understand and comply with the requirements under the Food Act 2014. Ministry for Primary Industries has developed guides to help you comply with the process.
Here we look at the steps you will need to complete to successfully register and import food into New Zealand.
Who should read it?Any person or business wanting to bring food into New Zealand for sale.
Examples:
- A New Zealand resident wanting to import food into NZ.
- A person or business based in another country wanting to import food into NZ.
- An import broker or agent importing food into NZ.
Why should you read it?* So you understand how to ensure food imported for sale in New Zealand is safe for people to eat. You could be fined or even jailed if you sell food that is not safe and suitable. * To make sure you do not have to recall products which can be costly. * To make sure you can continue to import.
What do you need to do?An overview of steps needed to become and be an importer
- RegisterWhenIf you are importing food into New Zealand for sale or export, you must be registered as an MPI food importer or use a registered agent. The registered importer must be a New Zealand resident.
Why* So MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) knows who is importing food and how to contact them. * So the public knows who is importing (The list of registered importers is on the MPI website).
HowComplete an NZ Customs 224 — TSW Client Registration Application/Update form and tick that you want to be a food importer under the Food Act. Forms and documents can be found on the NZ Customs website.
You will need to renew annually. MPI will send a reminder. Keep your contact details up to date to ensure you receive them.
CostThis is listed on the NZ Customs 224 form.
- Check you can import and sell the foodWhySome foods can not be bought into New Zealand. You will not be able to bring in endangered plants or animals, and some food considered of too great of a risk to the NZ environment, plants and animals or people.
If you ship such food to New Zealand, you may need to ship it back out of NZ, or it may be destroyed.
Check* The information on the NZ Customs website on Prohibited imports. This lists things that cannot be imported. E.g. endangered species. * That there is a Biosecurity Import Health Standard (IHS) for the Food (MPI website). This outlines controls to protect the NZ environment, plants and animals. If there is no IHS, then you will not be able to import it. * Prohibited and restricted plants and fungi listed in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. 3. Check if additional rules or proof is requiredWhySome foods pose a higher risk to people’s health or the New Zealand environment, plants and animals. There are additional rules for these foods, and you may need to get permission from MPI to import them.
This permission is called ‘clearance’.
- You will need biosecurity clearance (for plants and animals)
- You may need food safety clearance (for people’s health)
If you cannot provide the correct proof, or the food does not meet the requirements, you may need to ship it back out of New Zealand, or it may be destroyed. This will be at a cost to the importer.
Check this information on the MPI website:
• The rules and checks listed in the Import Health Standards
Rules and checks for food that needs food safety clearance (these are called ‘high regulatory interest foods’, or ‘increased regulatory interest foods’)
- Source Safe and Suitable Food You mustCheck and make sure that the food you are planning to import is safe and suitable.
WhyFood is not always safe. It needs to be handled in ways that make sure it is safe. It is your job to make sure that it is and prove that you have done so.
HowLook at the food business and the details of the food. You could ask for:
- A certificate that shows the business complies with a food safety programme in their country.
- Proof that the food business is registered with a food safety authority.
- The product details – chemical, physical and microbiological quality.
-
Proof that the food will comply with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. This includes rules that product labels are printed in English and list all ingredients.
-
Keep Food Safe and SuitableYou need to keep the food safe from start to finish. This includes making sure it is stored and transported correctly.
You mustDo your best to make sure that the food is:
- Kept at the correct temperature, and that temperature is controlled correctly. For example, frozen meat should remain frozen.
- Protected from pests such as rats and mice.
- Kept separate from other products that may contaminate the food.
Do your best to make sure:
- The packaging is clean and safe.
- Damage to packaging is prevented.
- Where bulk containers are used that they are cleaned before use.
WhyFood can become dangerous if it is not looked after properly. It is your job to prove that you have done your best to make sure the food is safe to eat.
HowA contract with a transport and storage company could cover the requirements above, or you could:
- Ask for other written information about these things
- Visit the company and check these things
-
Keep or have access to recordsYou mustKeep, or have easy access to records that show:
-
You have done your best to source, transport and store food correctly so that it is safe and suitable.
- You know what was imported, where it came from, and where it was sold.
Why* To prove that you have met your requirements and ensure you can continue to import. * To make sure you can recall (i.e. find and remove from sale) any food that is not safe and suitable
HowYou can either put in place a system to keep all the records yourself or contract someone else to do this.
If you contract it out, you should review the systems in place or obtain written assurances from the contracted party that they will keep all records needed.
You should run tests to make sure you can provide information quickly.
The above information is intended as a guide only. Regulations can change without notice, and for more information, specific guidance, and questions about importing food, please visit the NZ Customs and MPI websites.
Source: Before Importing into New Zealand Guide, New Zealand Food Safety by Ministry for Primary Industries
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5-minute read
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way businesses operate, most notably in online trading.
NZ Couriers published Ecommerce Insights: Merchant 2023 Report that provides insight into what e-commerce means for customers as the modern-day business has transformed over the past decade, and nearly half of all Kiwi businesses reporting an increase in online trading since the start of the pandemic.
More customers are there too, with 88% of New Zealanders now shopping online.
“While some merchants expected the online shift to be temporary – a necessity in a world of lockdown and social distancing – the shift was well underway before the start of the pandemic. What we’ve witnessed is an acceleration of an existing trend, and one that is unlikely to turn back in other direction,” says Robyn Levy, NZ Couriers Head of Marketing.
“It’s critical that Kiwi Businesses adapt and change with the times, and they need to know where to focus their investment for growth. This includes adapting to the latest trends, but also being agile, ready to accommodate customer needs and open to new ideas in a post-pandemic world.”
According to the report, for online shoppers, the delivery experience is a direct reflection on the retailer, so choosing trusted logistics and delivery partners is vitally important to attracting and retaining customers.
Online Trading is Here to StayThe survey found that half of all Kiwi businesses have increased online trading since the onset of COVID-19, driving a massive surge in the number of parcels sent.
However, Retail NZ reported that non-store trading had grown 133% from 2010-2019, showing that online shopping was important to Kiwi consumers even before the pandemic. This isn’t a passing trend.
The increase in online trading has seen merchants in New Zealand adopt new digital strategies to attract new business.
However, despite more businesses moving into the online world, the most common business priority is the same as it’s always been – investing in a good customer experience.
While the online customer experience is very different to face-to-face commerce that many Kiwi merchants are used to, online platforms offer a huge opportunity to interact with customers and attract new ones.
Delivery ExperienceBusinesses see the delivery experience as a key part of their overall customer experience, and customers agree.
The things merchants value most in a delivery company reflect what New Zealand consumers want: to have parcels delivered as expected, on time and undamaged.
For small businesses, pricing and on-time delivery are especially crucial.
Having a range of premium delivery options is important because businesses know customers are willing to pay for them. In particular, customers want to be able to get same-day delivery, secure delivery of high-value goods and oversized/heavy freight delivery.
“Customer experience is very important to new entry businesses because to maintain customers and continue to grow is very hard…If I know the parcel is going to arrive, it’s less stress from the customer perspective”, says Stella Wang, KMart Online Marketing Manager.
Merchants across New Zealand outsource delivery, but the delivery experience can make or break a business’s reputation.
Consumers have been understanding of delivery delays throughout the pandemic, but as we move beyond lockdowns and restrictions, they’re much less forgiving.
“Unless an eCommerce business enjoys a virtual monopoly, to remain competitive, it is essential they can trust their freight partners to meet customer delivery expectation”, says Rob Levy, NZ Couriers Head of Marketing.
Social MediaThe online shift has seen many New Zealand businesses turn to social media to increase brand awareness and sell products directly through social platforms.
Globally, 34% of businesses said the increased competition was their biggest external challenge to social media advertising. With more and more brands moving to social platforms, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out.
“Ideally, businesses can find a way to combine data and human creativity to generate interesting ads. This is the future of social media marketing, and it will give businesses the competitive advantage they need to be heard in a noisy market,” says Zane Lomas, NZ Couriers Digital & Product Marketing Manager.
Businesses are investing more in digital advertising and social media, this is where the eCommerce customers are.
The Recent Boom
“E-commerce is showing no signs of slowing down and Kiwi merchants are increasingly investing in ways to attract and retain customers online. Competition for the online customer is heating up, and the cutomer experience is a critical factor in winning new customers and enticing existing customers to return.
“For Kiwi customers, the delivery experience is part of the overall shopping experience. A bad delivery experience can sour their view of your brand, so it’s vital that expectations around delivery are met.
“Communications, security, price, returns policies and delivery options are all important factod in the delivery experience. But most of all, customers want their packages to arrive when they say they will, in the condition they expect them to be in. Reliability is the key.
“Knowing this, merchants that sell online not only need to invest in a semless shopping experience for customers, but they need to have a delivery partner they can rely on. Their own reputation is entrusted to the company they use to deliver their items, which represents a significant risk, but also a significant opportunity to stand out for all the right reasons,” says Mr Levy.
SustainabilityOnly 23% of Kiwi merchants believe customers will pay more for CO2 emissions offsets and only 35% believe they’ll pay more for environmentally friendly packaging.
With these numbers, it’s not surprising that most businesses don’t consider sustainability to be an important factor when choosing a delivery partner.
According to data from the Shopify 2021 report on The Future of eCommerce, 72% of consumers want brands to use sustainable packaging, but consumers don’t want to pay for it. Only 18% say they’re willing to pay extra for sustainable service offerings.
While Kiwi businesses clearly understand what their customers are willing to pay more for, incorporating sustainable practices as a standard requirement, without directly charging a premium, can be beneficial for encouraging customer loyalty.
Sustainability is gaining traction around the world and may be more important to Kiwi consumers than merchants realise.
Predictions for the Next 12 MonthsGreg Harford, CEO of Retail NZ, says that businesses of all sizes need to be prepared as we are in a significant inflationary period. The costs of running a business and obtaining stock are going up, and there is no end in sight.
The impact of inflation will be felt across the economy, with businesses and consumers feeling the squeeze. Retail NZ predicts inflation will remain a key concern for businesses in the next 12 months as they try to cope with rising costs.
Small businesses will continue to face difficulties competing with their larger counterparts with more resources. Small businesses must establish solid brand experiences and create loyalty that allows them to stand out from the competition.
The businesses that adapt quickly and change are the ones that will thrive in the coming year.
Retail NZ predicts that the next 12 months will be a pivotal time for kiwi businesses to invest in e-commerce and digital marketing as the data is indisputable: businesses prioritising the customer experience have thrived.
Source: Ecommerce Insights: Merchant 2023 Report by New Zealand Couriers. The full report can be found here.
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4-minute read
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued an update on the ongoing and exciting developments across the air transport industry on the journey to Fly Net Zero.
Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)In Japan, Nippon Paper Industries Co. Ltd., Sumitomo Corp. and Green Earth Institute Co. Ltd. announced that they will be looking into producing wood-based cellulosic bioethanol for SAF by 2027.
Honda Motor Co. expects to start producing sustainable aviation fuel. Honda will expand its algae-cultivating business at plants in Japan and overseas, with an eye on the production of SAF around 2030.
In the US, United teamed up with Tallgrass and Green Plains Inc. and announced a new joint venture – Blue Blade Energy – to develop and then commercialize a SAF technology using ethanol as its feedstock.
United Airlines has also created a dedicated investment vehicle to support start-up businesses focused on SAF.
The United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund is designed to help accelerate research, production and technologies linked to SAF.
The fund has been launched with more than $100 million in investments from Boeing, GE Aerospace, Honeywell and JP Morgan Chase, as well as Air Canada.
United has also refined its booking website and app to show customers the estimated carbon footprint of flights they are considering and provide options for them to contribute to the new fund.
KBR announced that it has launched SAF technology in alliance with Swedish Biofuels AB, a technology developer and pioneer in cutting-edge research on biofuels.
In South Africa, Sasol and Topsoe, a global leader in carbon emission reduction technologies, have signed an MoU with the intent to establish a 50/50 in 2023 to produce SAF.
In Europe, The Lufthansa Group and the energy company VARO are expanding their long-standing partnership and have signed an MoU on the production and supply of SAF, where VARO could supply the Lufthansa Group with large volumes of SAF from as early as 2026, for example to the Munich airport hub.
Neste and Wizz Air have agreed on the supply of SAF from 2025 onwards. The agreement gives Wizz Air the opportunity to purchase 36,000 tons of SAF per annum over a period of three years for the airline to use across its route network in Europe and the UK.
On the airport side, London’s Heathrow Airport is making available a £38 million fund to encourage airlines using the airport to power their aircraft in part by SAF, with the incentive aimed at covering up to 50% of the extra cost of SAF compared to conventional jet fuel.
The oversubscribed incentive scheme started in 2022 with six airlines participating, and Heathrow is now aiming to triple the percentage of SAF used this year to 1.5% and become one of the world’s leading airport users of SAF.
In the world of shipping, DHL has launched GoGreen, the first global express courier, to give customers the opportunity to use SAF to reduce emissions.
It will initially launch in the UK, shortly followed by Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and the UAE.
Bell Textron has completed its first helicopter flight fueled solely by 100% SAF, with its Bell 505 becoming the first-ever single-engine helicopter to fly using 100% SAF.
Close cooperation between Bell, Safran Helicopter Engines, GKN Aerospace, Neste and Virent achieved this milestone flight.
New technologiesSix aviation and energy businesses have formed a sustainable propulsion partnership in New Zealand to assess and drive the introduction of flights powered by green hydrogen.
The Hydrogen Consortium has been established by Airbus, Air New Zealand, Christchurch Airport, Fortescue Future Industries, Hiringa Energy and Fabrum.
Also in New Zealand, Universal Hydrogen, Embraer and Heart Aerospace join Airbus and ATR as the long-term partners Air New Zealand is currently working with on its mission to replace its Q300 domestic fleet with a more sustainable option from 2030.
In Europe, a consortium led by Honeywell will launch a European Clean Aviation project that will develop a new generation of hydrogen fuel cells for the aviation industry.
Project NEWBORN will involve multidisciplinary collaboration between 18 partners from 10 European countries to develop an aerospace-qualified megawatt-class fuel cell propulsion system powered by hydrogen.
ZeroAvia and Birmingham Airport (BHX) have entered into a long-term partnership to make on-airfield hydrogen refuelling and regular domestic passenger flights of zero-emission aircraft a reality in the coming years.
Airports & intermodalityRiga airport has set targets for achieving zero CO2 emissions with a Net Zero Roadmap.
Lufthansa Group signed a joint MoU with the Italian state railroad company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. to cooperate on feeder traffic within Italy in order to link the various modes of transport in a better and more customer-friendly way.
The aim of the planned cooperation is, in particular, to bring passengers with FS rail connections to and from their respective flight connections at various Italian airports.
In Australia, Newcastle Airport has signed a new energy purchase agreement with Flow Power, a leading Australian renewable energy retailer, to achieve its target of 100% renewable energy seven years ahead of schedule, significantly reducing its carbon footprint and supporting the airport’s sustainability efforts.
Sustainable CabinEmirates has recycled more than 500,000 kilograms of plastic and glass over the course of 2022 by collecting discarded bottles onboard for repurposing.
500,000 kilograms is almost the same weight as a fully loaded A380 aircraft.
Source: IATA
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3-minute read
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for January 2023 on global air cargo markets showing that air cargo demand declined as economic headwinds persist.
- Industry-wide cargo global demand, measured in tonne-kilometers (CTKs) continued to decline in January, falling 14.9% year-on-year (YoY) and marking the 11th month of consecutive annual declines. Compared with pre-pandemic levels, air cargo demand was also down 11%.
- Cargo capacity – measured by available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs) – picked up 3.9% YoY in January, reflecting the strong recovery of belly cargo capacity in passenger airline markets. Cargo load factors stood at 44.8%, after falling 9.9 percentage points below load factors in January 2022.
- The economic outlook for the air cargo industry in 2023 is expected to be a challenging one. Multiple macroeconomic headwinds stemming from the global pandemic persist and the ongoing war in Ukraine has disrupted important trade flows and economic activity across various regions. Factors in the operating environment affecting air cargo demand* The global new export orders component of the manufacturing PMI, a leading indicator of cargo demand, increased in January for the first time since October 2022. For major economies, new export orders are growing, and in China and the US, PMI levels are close to the critical 50-mark indicating that demand for manufactured goods from the world’s two largest economies is stabilizing.
- Global goods trade decreased by 3.0% in December, this was the second monthly decline in a row.
- The Consumer Price Index for G7 countries decreased from 7.4% in November to 6.7% in January. Inflation in producer (input) prices reduced by 2.2 percentage points to 9.6% in December.
”With January cargo demand down 14.9% and capacity up 3.9%, 2023 began under some challenging business conditions. That was accompanied by persistent uncertainties, including war in Ukraine, inflation, and labor shortages. But there is solid ground for some cautious optimism about air cargo. Yields remain higher than pre-pandemic. And China’s much faster than expected shift from its zero COVID policy is stabilizing production conditions in air cargo’s largest source market. That will give a much-needed demand boost as companies increase their engagement with China,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
January Regional Performance for Asia-PacificAsia-Pacific airlines saw their air cargo volumes decrease by 19% in January 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. This was an improvement in performance compared to December (-21.2%).
Airlines in the region continue to be impacted by lower levels of trade and manufacturing activity and disruptions in supply chains due to the residual effects of COVID restrictions that were imposed by China.
Additionally, the positioning of the Lunar New Year would have impacted cargo volumes in January. Available capacity in the region increased by 8.8% compared to January 2022.
Passenger Demand Stays Strong in JanuaryThe IATA also announced that the recovery in air travel demand is continuing in 2023, based on January traffic results.
- Total traffic in January 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 67.0% compared to January 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 84.2% of January 2019 levels.
- Domestic traffic for January 2023 rose 32.7% compared to the year-ago period, helped by the lifting of the zero-COVID policy in China. Total January 2023 domestic traffic was at 97.4% of the January 2019 level.
- International traffic climbed 104.0% versus January 2022 with all markets recording strong growth, led by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International RPKs reached 77.0% of January 2019 levels.
“Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023. The rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong industry recovery from the pandemic throughout the year. And, importantly, we have not seen the many economic and geopolitical uncertainties of the day dampening demand for travel,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Source: IATA
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3-minute read
Customs clearance of cargo is a significant activity in facilitating and holding up trade at the border.
The New Zealand Customs Service has published its latest Time Release Study (TRS), which looks at how quickly imports and exports are cleared in New Zealand.
A time release study (TRS) is a method endorsed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) to measure customs administration performance in clearing cargo via a standardised process.
Performance is measured based on the time it takes Customs to release cargo at the time of the arrival of the means of transport conveying that cargo.
A TRS measures Customs’ contribution and commitment to trade facilitation – which benefits and grows the economy.
It has been over 10 years since the last TRS, so this study provides updated baseline measures.
The first two studies were carried out in 2009 with one TRS involving a joint study with the Australian Customs Service. The third TRS was carried out in 2010.
This study targeted all international cargo vessels and flights for the week of Thursday 22 September to Wednesday 28 September 2022 (7 days).
The scope of the study looked at air and sea cargo that required a declaration to Customs in the form of a standard import or export entry type, and that was discharged or loaded at New Zealand sea ports and international airports.
Air cargo data on all international flights that arrived or departed during the week and carried cargo was collected and used in this study. The data was sourced from air cargo operators.
Sea cargo data on containerised cargo (FCL and LCL) was sourced from port companies where a container vessel called at that port during the week to unload or load containers. Other cargo types – breakbulk, and bulk – were excluded from the study.
- During this week, a total of 12,112 import entries and 5,267 export entries were reported for all air and sea cargo.
- A high percentage, 91.5% of import entries for full containers (FCLs) were lodged and released by Customs before arrival for sea cargo.
- A lower percentage at 67% of import entries for air cargo were released before arrival, and on average, 8.5 hours after the arrival of the aircraft, reflecting the much shorter flight times from overseas departure to the aircraft landing.
- 91.3% of export entries for FCLs were lodged 48 hours before loading.
- 99.1% of export entries for air cargo were cleared before departure.
NZ Customs Group Manager Revenue and Assurance, Craig Chitty, says the key finding shows Customs has efficient processes and systems to support getting goods through our border. This includes electronic reporting of shipment details, a risk management and alerts system to flag high-risk shipments, post-clearance auditing and ongoing engagement with the industry.
“The time taken for getting imports and exports released at major ports is crucial for our businesses and New Zealand’s economy. If goods are reported to Customs correctly, they are cleared within seconds – most imports cleared for release before they even arrive into New Zealand and most exports cleared before departure.
“Our airports and seaports also have automated facilities utilising top technologies to get their goods to market as quickly as possible, while still allowing vital security and risk checks.
“Customs is mindful that any delays at the border increase costs for businesses, so this study is important in pinpointing any bottlenecks to improve performance in the supply chain. We are committed to creating an enabling environment for businesses, ensuring that trade is quicker and security compliance is easier to do.”
“We also provide exporters the ability to fast-track their goods by partnering in our Secure Exports Scheme. By meeting our safety, security and integrity measures they receive priority at the border, with less inspections and even quicker goods clearance,” Mr Chitty says.
In summary, based on the study’s findings NZ Customs show that they have good processes in place to facilitate the clearance of cargo and do not unnecessarily impede the delivery of cargo that is reported correctly.
Source: New Zealand Customs Service. The full study can be found on the NZ Customs website.
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9-minute read (18-minute listen)
While many Aucklanders would love to see the cars and containers go, the scale of moving the Ports of Auckland has made for a contentious debate.
So what would be involved in moving the port? Should it happen? And how long until Aucklanders get a waterfront with a view?
Listen to the Front Page podcast here or read the highlights below:
https://easyfreight.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Front-Page-Unpacking-the-debate-around-moving-Aucklands-port.mp3Damien Venuto: Today I’m joined by economist and advocate for moving the port, Shane Vuletich, to hear why he believes it’s time to change the look of Auckland.
Shane, explain why there is such a strong desire among some to move the port from the Auckland waterfront.
Shane Vuletich: It’s not a new issue. I’ve been involved in two recent reports on port relocation, which were the 20th and 22nd reports on this issue.
It’s an issue that’s been kicked around for probably 30 years now. There’s been a sense that we need to do something, and the reason we need to do something is two-fold.
The first is that there is a growing capacity issue at the port. The port is constrained on all sides.
On the oceanside, it doesn’t really have anywhere to go. And on the city side, it definitely doesn’t have anywhere to go.
It’s becoming increasingly landlocked and surrounded by lots of activity that is not consistent with the efficient movement of freight.
So there’s certainly a capacity and efficiency issue, but actually, the emerging issue and probably the most important one, is optimal land use.
Cities need to continually look at how they’re using their land and ensure that they’re using their land in the right way. The more valuable the land, the more often you have to look at it and ensure that you’re doing the best you can with that scarce land resource.
There are 77 hectares of prime waterfront land sitting under the port currently being used for a really low-value industrial use. That’s about twice the size of the Wynyard Quarter and about a fifth of the CBD area, so you get a sense of the scale of that land.
This is about ensuring that the port is in the right place to serve Auckland for the next 100 years. The port was in the right place for a long period of time. It is no longer in the right place to serve Auckland the way it needs to be served.
There’s a general consensus that the port needs to move. Lots of other cities have done this. The challenge is getting it done.
Damien Venuto: The main alternative often raised is for the port to be moved to Northland. Logistically, what would it take to move this operation from Auckland to Northland?
Shane Vuletich: It’s a good question. Northland was one of the options that had been put forward. It’s not the only option that’s being considered.
The other two main candidates are the Manukau Harbour and the Firth of Thames, down southeast of Auckland.
The Manukau Harbour, despite many people thinking it’s a great idea, in my view and in many experts’ views, is a terrible idea.
You’re fighting nature. It’s not insurmountable, but generally, you don’t want to be fighting nature when you put a long-lived piece of infrastructure somewhere.
It’s on the wrong side of the country in terms of shipping routes, which creates massive issues.
My biggest concern is that even if it was technically feasible and made sense, perpetuating the use of land in south Auckland for that sort of low productivity isn’t a good long-term decision for Auckland.
South Auckland has massive potential, and if we keep putting containers on it and low productivity stuff in that area, we don’t achieve this potential.
So, there are many reasons why Manukau is a silly idea.
The Firth of Thames is not a silly idea. Technically it’s very feasible, but it is a greenfield site that would require lots of work and lots of connection.
And most importantly, it’s south of Auckland, which is an issue because the Port of Tauranga is south of Auckland as well and that services a lot of Auckland’s freight.
Much of our freight goes through the Port of Tauranga, which is 160 kilometres away. Having both ports south of Auckland would create massive demand for the rail and road corridors to the south of Auckland, which commuters want to use.
Having all of our freight being dragged up through those already congested corridors doesn’t make sense.
What Northport has going for it is that it doesn’t have that south of Auckland problem where it’s going to be competing with those congested corridors. That’s north of Auckland which creates a degree of resilience because you can attack Auckland from the North and the South.
With the right infrastructure in place, you end up with a nice north and south port access model with a bunch of inland ports sitting between those two gateway ports connected by rail that allows freight to move efficiently.
Northport is an operating port that’s consented. It’s already built. It needs to be scaled out, but it’s got lots of landside capacity. It’s a natural deep-water port. It’s already being used, so Northport may not tick every box, but it will be better than any other port solution.
Damien Venuto: Shane, you have long been an advocate for moving the port, but there are also opponents to this plan.
Can you look at the other side of the table and explain why some people think the port shouldn’t be moved at all?
Shane Vuletich: The port likes being where it is even though it acknowledges and accepts all of the studies that say it needs to move, and it needs to move relatively soon.
It’s employed many stalling tactics to acknowledge it wants to move but never actually doing anything about it, which means it will never move.
They do have resources at their disposal to make it difficult to move. You have politicians that are overwhelmed by the scale of the issue.
When you’re confronted with a really big issue that will take many years to resolve, that’s not a particularly attractive political proposition because you generally end up writing the checks but not cutting the ribbons.
That’s possibly being unkind of politicians, but that long-lived stuff is really challenging to get into. As a result, it’s generally easier to do nothing than it is to do something.
You have a freight industry that built its business models around the status quo.
The freight industry is generally economically rational, and when confronted with the status quo versus a change scenario, the status quo is always more comfortable and safer.
I don’t think you can have the freight industry crying out for radical change. They’ll generally want incremental change, which is just tweaking what we’ve got because that’s safe. I can completely understand that from a business perspective.
Damien Venuto: In an NZ Herald panel on this topic back in 2021, former Auckland mayor Phil Goff was quite critical of a report that you co-authored:
“Look, it may be that the Manukau doesn’t work. I don’t know, I’m not the expert in this, but I would have at least expected, before you talk about spending 10 or $12 billion, that you look at all of the options so that you make sure that the option that you finally land on is the right option. The supply chain study failed to look at that.”
He suggested that there wasn’t sufficient consideration given to other areas. He was a particular proponent of Manukau.
Do you think that since that panel discussion and since that initial report, the question of Manukau has been answered properly?
Shane Vuletich: I believe there’s a piece of work, probably the 24th study, looking more closely at the Manukau to assess whether it is actually remotely feasible to either leave it on the table or take it off the table.
It’s the piece of work that needs to be done to ideally put a stake in the heart of the Manukau because no one in the shipping industry believes this remotely feasible or remotely sensible.
I think if there’s a study to be done that rules it out once and for all, it’s probably a good use of resources.
I would like to see it ruled out so we don’t waste any more time on it.
Damien Venuto: One issue that does come up quite a lot is the issue of jobs. How would moving the port impact the hundreds of employees who currently work at the port site in Auckland?
Shane Vuletich: The impact would be quite significant, but not in the way you’d expect. The impact on port-related jobs would be minimal because there are only a few hundred jobs on the port itself.
I would say there are probably between 300 to 400 jobs on the 77 hectares of prime waterfront land.
The reason for this is that there’s very little economic value in the port itself as a business. Many think port as a business is valuable and creates lots of employment and value directly.
That value is created in the freight that goes through the port. The value isn’t embedded in the port itself. The port is just a gateway for things to come and go.
As long as imports and exports continue to move efficiently and as long as there is a port somewhere and that freight continues to move efficiently, almost all of the employment except for the direct jobs on the port itself will continue to exist.
The net impact of moving the port would actually be significantly positive.
Because if you take 77 hectares of prime waterfront land that currently supports a few hundred jobs and turn it into an area that supports tens of thousands of jobs, housing for people, green spaces, and schools, as well as social amenities.
We only have to look across the harbour to Wynyard Quarter, which was port land and an industrial wasteland employing very few people.
In 10 years, it’s supporting billions of dollars worth of businesses, thousands of employees, and thousands of residents. It creates great social value for the people of Auckland because it’s a public space, and you can walk around.
That transition is really easy to see. What we’re proposing for the port is a very similar process of turning it from a place that people can’t be and can’t go and has low productivity and turning into a place that people can be. It’s highly socially and economically productive.
Damien Venuto: Last year North Shore councillor Chris Darby was on the Front Page, and he ran us through the complexities of big infrastructure projects and why they often take so long to get across the line:
“We have taken our eye off the future, not just of Auckland, but the nation, particularly in infrastructure. And we’re always looking at what we should have been doing years ago, and the city rail link is a classic example of that. It was first suggested in 1924, and it’s going to be 100 years between first thinking about it to actually opening it and riding it.”
How confident are you that this project will ever get off the ground?
Shane Vuletich: It will at some point because it has to. The port will get less and less efficient as urban encroachment grows.
Those corridors that it is dependent on are not going to get less congested over time.
People don’t realise that with the existing port and where it currently is, there will have to be significant amounts of investment in just keeping it at the current level of efficiency.
On the port site itself, there is already a lot of capital investment earmarked by the Ports of Auckland for the existing site to build new buildings and infrastructure. We’re not talking tens of millions here. We’re talking hundreds of millions, probably over 10 or 20 years, being invested in a site that we all know doesn’t have a long-term future.
That’s ratepayer money being invested in an asset that we all know is going to be shut down at some point in the medium term at the latest.
That’s economic madness in itself.
What we’ve also got is the port and the freight industry asking for major upgrades to rail and road into the existing port up Grafton gully to decongest those corridors.
That comes at the cost of billions of dollars, once again, into an existing site that we know is not the long-term solution.
The opponents to relocation have been successfully blocking relocation for at least 30 years, so I wouldn’t bet against them continuing to do that.
I think we’re in a position where there will still be resistance to change and challenges. We have an owner of the port, the council, that is, for the first time, supportive of relocation, largely thanks to Chris Darby, who has done great work in that space.
Wayne Brown has really tipped the balance there. And the government is now at the table, so we’re in the best position we’ve ever been in, and we have the highest chance of getting urgency around this.
Now is the time that, hopefully, the stars are aligned, and we can create urgency and a level of commitment to relocation that can’t be undone in future political cycles.
Source: iHeartRADIO, The Front Page Podcast. The podcast transcript was edited for clarity.
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6-minute read
Today we look at the most important business concerns for companies worldwide for 2023.
Inflationary pressures, energy prices, climate change, digitalization, and geopolitical uncertainty test already strained business models and supply chains, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer, which complied responses from 2,712 risk management experts from a record 94 countries.
Despite positive moves to diversify business models and supply chains since Covid-19, businesses continue to experience significant disruption around the world.
The pandemic came as a massive shock to business models, creating global shortages, delays and higher prices. While the war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis, particularly in Europe, turbocharging inflation.
Unsurprisingly, given the current ‘permacrisis’, business interruption and supply chain disruption rank as the second top risk in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer at 34%.
It is second only to cyber incidents (by just a few votes, also on 34%), whose top position reflects the importance of today’s digital economy, the evolving threat from ransomware and extortion, as well as geopolitical rivalries and conflicts increasingly being played out in cyberspace.
Indeed, the results show that a number of business interruption-related risks have climbed this year’s rankings as the world’s new economic and political consequences in the aftermath of Covid-19 and the Ukraine war take hold.
These include the impact of the energy crisis, a new entry in the 2023 survey at #4, while macroeconomic developments, such as inflation and a potential recession, peak at #3 – its highest position since the first Allianz Risk Barometer in 2012.
Political risks and violence is another new entry in the top 10 global risks at #10, and the shortage of skilled workforce rises to #8.
Conversely, the pandemic outbreak plummets the list of concerns (#4 in 2022 to #13 in 2023) as vaccines have ended lockdowns and restrictions in most major markets.
The exception? China sees pandemic risk rise year-on-year (from #9 to #3) – the only country in the survey to do so – following its recent easing of long-in-place restrictions.
Global risks in focusRank 1: Cyber incidentsCyber risks, such as IT outages, ransomware attacks or data breaches, rank as the most important risk globally (34% of responses) for the second year in succession – the first time this has occurred.
Given that cybercrime incidents are now estimated to cost the world economy in excess of US$1trn a year – around 1% of global GDP – it perhaps should come as no surprise that cyber risk is the top customer concern in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer, selected by more than a third of all respondents.
In addition to being voted the top risk globally, cyber incidents also rank as the top peril in 19 different countries. It is the risk small companies are most concerned about and is the cause of business interruption companies fear most, while cyber security resilience ranks as the most concerning environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk trend.
“For many companies, the threat in cyberspace is still higher than ever,” says Scott Sayce, Global Head of Cyber at AGCS and Group Head of the Cyber Center of Competence.
“The conflict in Ukraine and wider geopolitical tensions are reshaping the cyber risk landscape, heightening the risk of a large-scale cyber-attack, according to respondents. The frequency of ransomware attacks remains high, with losses increasing as criminals hone their tactics to extort more money, while the average cost of a data-breach is at an all-time high. At the same time, attacks are not just restricted to large companies, increasingly we see more small and mid-size businesses impacted. Then, there is also a growing shortage of cyber security professionals, which bring challenges when it comes to improving security.”
Rank 2: Business interruptionIt comes as little surprise that business interruption and supply chain risks dominate this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer.
Following another year of global supply chain disruption, business interruption ranks as the second most concerning risk for companies worldwide.
“Business interruption will always be a foremost concern given it is closely linked to profits and revenues and because business models are vulnerable to the geopolitical landscape. Lean supply chains are not always as good value as they appear and there can be a very high dependence on single geopolitical regions such as China, for example, for active pharmaceutical ingredients to processed lithium used in batteries, or Russia for energy.
Rank 3: Macroeconomic developments2022 started with high hopes for a continued global economic recovery after the Covid-19 crisis.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine abruptly dashed these.
According to Allianz Research, expectations for 2023 are correspondingly pessimistic, ensuring a top-three risk ranking for the first time since 2012.
The current situation is characterized by one peculiarity: all three major economic areas – the US, China and Europe – are in crisis at the same time, albeit for different reasons, according to Allianz Research.
In Europe, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis are at the forefront: exploding energy prices are driving inflation to ever-new heights and “eating” into the entire price structure.
The result is falling real incomes and corporate profits, with corresponding consequences for consumption, production and investment. Restrictive monetary policy to contain inflation expectations is rather counterproductive in this situation, but without alternative.
On the other hand, China is much less affected by the war in Ukraine.
The issues here are domestic, with two particularly noteworthy points: easing the strict zero-covid policy will stress-test the Chinese economy, while the weakness of the (huge) real estate sector remains a drag on consumer sentiment.
The US is also struggling with a crisis primarily of its own making. The ill-timed and oversized fiscal packages during and shortly after the pandemic fueled inflation.
This somewhat belatedly brought the Federal Reserve onto the scene, which is now trying to put the genie back in the inflation bottle with hefty interest rate hikes.
The accompanying tightening of financing conditions is forcing companies and households to cut spending and leading the economy into recession.
Rank 4: Energy crisisThe energy crisis arrives in the top 10 global risks for the first time at #4, as the world grapples with spiralling fuel costs, supply disruptions, inflation, and the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Even before the invasion of Ukraine, energy prices had been rising.
The post-pandemic economy recovery in 2021 had seen a demand surge, while supply chain blockages and delayed maintenance work caused widespread disruptions.
The global energy market was destabilized further with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the world’s largest exporter of fossil fuels, in February 2022.
Rank 5: Changes in legislation and regulationThe energy crisis has made it clear: there is no way around decarbonizing the economy.
This requires billions in investments in new technologies and a comprehensive redesign of corporate reporting, helping to ensure compliance challenges remain a top five risk.
Rank 6: Natural catastrophesNatural catastrophes risk falls three positions, overshadowed by seemingly more pressing developments on the risk landscape. However, there is no room for complacency, as events in 2022 showed that single events continue to cause losses in the billions of dollars.
Rank 7: Climate changeThis critical risk has also declined in importance year-on-year as the war and economic crisis factors such as inflation and the energy crisis again take precedence. However, the Allianz Risk Barometer results also show that companies continue to take risk mitigation action.
Climate change and global warming threaten companies in a number of different ways. First and foremost, higher property damage and business interruption risks result from natural hazards and extreme weather events such as floods, storms, thunderstorms or droughts.
Then there is the threat of legal and liability risks due to the global comprehensive regulatory framework, increasing disclosure requirements, and the threat of greenwashing accusations or climate lawsuits.
Rank 8: Shortage of skilled workforceTalent and workforce issues climb one place year-on-year to #8.
Rank 9: Fire and explosionFire perils, excluding wildfires, rank #9 overall, falling from #7 in 2022.
Fire risks are often well understood and typically well-risk managed. However, fire remains a significant cause of the business interruption and supply chain disruption, especially where companies rely on third-party suppliers for critical components.
Claims analysis by Allianz shows that fire is the largest single cause of corporate insurance losses.
Rank 10: Political risks and violence2022 was another year of global turmoil, with conflict and civil unrest dominating the news, ensuring political risks and violence ranks as a new entry in the top 10 global risks. Activity is expected to continue in 2023.
Covid-19 and subsequent disruption have increased awareness around business interruption and supply chain risks, and companies need to understand the risks and take action to build resilience and de-risk.
Source: Allianz Risk Barometer 2023 by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).
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10-minute read
Today we’re looking at that strange time of shipping and logistics year when traditionally, ahead of factory closures for the Chinese New Year holidays, we see a spike in air and ocean demand and freight rates.
But will tradition mean a thing in 2023? How long will factories stay closed?
And what does the unwinding of China’s zero COVID policy mean for manufacturers, international travel, air cargo and shipping supply chains, both in the coming weeks and in the year ahead?
Mike King: Today, we’re looking at the Chinese New Year. The official holiday starts on the 22nd of January.
But how long factories will stay open is a matter of much debate.
What is clear is that the analytical waters couldn’t be muddier in 2023 as the lunar new year approaches.
I’m not just talking about recessions in key import markets in Europe, the US and elsewhere.
We are already hearing reports of rising consumer spending.
Many international and regional border controls have been swept away.
Prices for inputs into manufacturing processes, such as copper and oil, have also risen on projections of greater demand from China.
On the flip side of this, a healthcare crisis looms as the pandemic is allowed to let rip.
How serious this is, is hard to confirm because reliable numbers are scarce, but we know that vaccination rates among the elderly are low.
The healthcare system was not prepared for this quick policy change, which means how all this might play out and how disruptive it might be to labour availability, supply chains and manufacturers is shrouded in doubt.
Could you please set the scene of what’s it like in China for everyone?
Steve Saxon (McKinsey & Co, Shenzhen): It’s been an absolute rollercoaster for a few weeks.
The announcement that China would move away from the zero COVID policy and live with it was a massive surprise.
Certainly, how quickly COVID has then spread and how quickly the restrictions have come down has been a huge surprise.
75% plus of the population in the major tier-one cities has had COVID, and it is spreading rapidly across the rest of the rural areas as well.
That’s causing a huge healthcare crisis as we speak, and that’s got to be foremost.
We hear stories of significant numbers of deaths and hospitalizations. China’s healthcare systems are not strong.
So as we talk about supply chains today, we need to recognize this in the context of a humanitarian challenge.
Mike King: Are you anticipating supply chain disruptions in the next few weeks ahead of factory shutdowns for the Chinese New Year from the 22nd of January because of this healthcare crisis as COVID spreads?
And if so, how long will this likely continue, as far as you can tell?
Steve Saxon: The short answer is no. It’s done. It’s history.
The COVID spike was at the end of December and the first week of January.
It spread at China’s speed. At that point in time, factories were having challenges.
Maybe 40-50% of workers in some weeks were out with COVID. They all caught it now, and they’re all back to work. So the factories we know of, the trucking, the ports, the supply chain are working normally here.
Mike King: As a result of this China’s opening and abandonment of zero COVID policy, has McKinsey changed its view of China’s economic outlook in 2023? What do you think this means for international trade in terms of demand?
Steve Saxon: It has to be positive for demand. First of all, it improves domestic confidence.
People are more comfortable going out and spending money, visiting malls and shopping.
So that should get the domestic economy moving again.
We saw the borders open, so international air travel is now possible again.
That’s going to invigorate trade as well.
People can visit their suppliers, and the suppliers can go out now. That will help as well.
Mike King: In terms of the supply chains, we’re already seeing signs of increasing prices for some import commodities on the perception that demand from China will increase.
Are you expecting exports to increase later on in the year?
Steve Saxon: Exports are mostly demand-driven rather than supply-driven.
China has the supply ready.
The question is going to be the global economy.
What happens with inflation? What happens with the share between consumer spending on goods versus services?
We saw a significant shift towards goods during the COVID, but then the pendulum swung back towards services in the last six months.
We shouldn’t be projecting a significant spike in exports but more of a moderate growth.
Mike King: Are China’s airports ready for a bounce back in demand now that quarantine regimes for international travellers have largely been dropped?
Is that still a concern for you?
Steve Saxon: The airports and the airlines here are ready to come back. The aviation regulation here required that all airlines retrain their pilots by the 6th of January this year.
More than 200 wide-body aircraft, essential for both passenger and cargo transport, are ready to go from the Chinese airlines.
Unlike airlines and airports in Europe and the US, there were no significant layoffs.
About 90% of those airport ground workers still have their jobs.
China is ready to come back quickly with air capacity.
The question is demand on the passenger side.
Demand will likely be slower to return than we saw when Hong Kong dropped its quarantine restrictions.
That’s causing much friction for Chinese people to travel internationally.
China stopped renewing passports for the last two years, so around 20% of the population doesn’t have a valid passport.
They’re now issuing those again, but that takes a few months.
Then visas, most Chinese people need visas to travel internationally, and again that takes a few months to follow through.
So, by this summer, we’ll see a significant ramp-up in air capacity. Before that, it will be gradual.
Mike King: Presumably, this has quite a significant impact on the global air cargo picture.
Steve Saxon: It does, of course. Historically, half of all global air cargo is carried in passenger aircraft bellies.
China is one of the few markets in the world where the volume of exports is so high that it demands greater aircraft.
Anyone who’s been able to fly freighters into China in the last few years has made very nice pockets.
The return of the bellies will naturally add capacity and, therefore, should push pricing back down, making it more affordable for shippers.
Mike King: We’ve heard many different analyses of what Chinese policy would be regarding COVID.
Are you saying no healthcare crisis could develop that would see a return to zero COVID policy? Is this done and dusted?
Steve Saxon: It’s impossible to put this back in the bottle now.
When Shanghai had 10s of thousands of cases, we lived through a lockdown of 2.5 months, when we couldn’t leave our homes. Through doing that, China managed to return to zero cases.
But there are now millions of cases every day. It’s impossible to clamp back down on that and get back to zero.
Mike King: When might we see that dreaded phrase of a return to normal?
Will China go back to a pre-COVID place in the world? Or have the world and geopolitics changed too much for that to happen?
Is China still as attractive now for investors or those sourcing products as it was a few years ago?
Or will we see that reshoring and nearshoring impact China’s place in the world, particularly as an exporter?
Steve Saxon: China is still by far the best manufacturing location for the vast majority of products.
The expertise in manufacturing is here.
There’s still labour availability.
There’s nowhere else which is close to being as competitive as China.
That said, back in 2019, everyone was talking about the diversification of supply chains because of risk issues at that time.
It was driven by tariffs and trade wars.
During COVID, we actually saw manufacturing move back to China.
China did a better job keeping supply chains moving during 2020-2021 than some other countries.
Ironically, we saw manufacturing ship back to China, but diversification is now on every agenda.
It’s not being driven by cost.
It’s not being driven by a lack of capability in China.
It’s purely driven by risk diversification.
So depending on the industry, people are looking at Southeast Asia, India, and South Asia, and in some cases, nearshoring, but that’s rarer.
Mike King: China is open for business. We’re going to see Chinese carriers backing international markets pretty soon.
Will we see a much more normal air freight market?
Neel Jones Shah (Air strategy and carrier development, Flexport): We are seeing softness in the market from a macro perspective.
We’re not seeing any huge surge in demand before CNY.
At the same time, we’ve seen some capacity come back into the market.
The usual holiday cancellations of freighters have been reinstated. So, overall a challenging airfreight environment.
Mike King: Is there any chance of a bounce back in demand just ahead of the 22nd of January cut-off?
Neel Jones Shah: I don’t see many signs of a meaningful bounce.
We may see an uptick as we head into the holiday, but to be honest, many shippers are already closed for the holiday.
Mike King: What’s the situation on the ground at the moment in China?
Are the airports ready for a lot more cargo and planes as that economy opens up?
Neel Jones Shah: It’s good to see China open up.
They’re dealing with a surge of COVID cases that the rest of us have spent the last three years dealing with.
We believe they will be ready as volumes and capacity come back.
The majority of the capacity that re-enters the market will be in the form of passenger airplanes.
Freighters have been there through the pandemic.
As passenger volumes ramp up, the airports are ready to handle that volume, certainly the large tier 1 airports.
We expect over the course of 2023 to see more and more passenger capacity added back into the schedules both for Chinese and international carriers.
Mike King: What does that extra belly capacity mean for the global supply-demand cargo balance?
Neel Jones Shah: Belly capacity has been critical for overall supply-demand.
Back to pre-pandemic, bellies, on a global basis, provided 50% of the total capacity, so they’re an extremely vital component.
As more belly capacity enters the market, it will give shippers and forwarders more options. It’s going to give more direct options and probably keep a lid on rates.
We anticipate that demand will increase, but trying and forecast beyond the next three to six months gets super difficult, given the market conditions we have right now.
I’m looking out three to six months, and it still looks like a buyers’ market right now.
Mike King: Air cargo rates are much lower than we saw during the COVID years, but they are still significantly above pre-COVID norms. Will the supply-demand balance push rates further down back to those pre-COVID levels?
Neel Jones Shah: No, I don’t think we’re going back to pre-COVID levels on rates.
Those pre-COVID rates are unsustainable in today’s cost environment. Jet fuel prices are significantly higher than pre-COVID. Even though crude has come back down, the refining spread has risen significantly, so jet fuel prices are considerably higher than pre-COVID.
That’s a cost that needs to be borne by the carriers and hence the forwarders and the shippers.
Also, inflation of other costs, pilot costs, landing costs, and everything consumable in the business has increased. Inflation has been the headline for the past two years, so I don’t think we’re returning to pre-COVID rates.
I think rates will settle between 35 and 50% higher than they were pre-COVID.
That’s the right level where the industry can enjoy long-term viability and overall consistent margin performance for asset owners, forwarders, and shippers.
Mike King: Air cargo during the COVID benefited to a degree because there was very little space available on ships, the prices went through the roof, and the reliability was woeful.
I don’t say the reliability is brilliant right now, but obviously, spot rates have fallen off a cliff more or less on the shipping side.
Have you seen a migration of cargo back to the ocean?
Neel Jones Shah: The ocean market has definitely fallen back to pre-COVID levels.
The spot market rates are now very low. Contract rates are starting to follow a very similar trend. Reliability has improved.
Transit times are down as well. The ocean is a good deal right now.
Any shipper that can utilize ocean services is doing so.
Why would you pay for air freight rates if you can get a reasonable transit time and it can meet the needs of your business on the ocean?
So I don’t anticipate a surge of air moving to the ocean.
Whatever should be on the water has been moved to the water.
Right now, we’re seeing traditional air freight stuff that was never on the water before, and it’s not going to be on the water in the future.
I have really high hopes for the fourth quarter of this year.
I think it could be really strong, particularly as inventory levels get worked down, and people start feeling better about their future.
I think we’re going to start to see some demand coming back, and the end of 2023 and 2024 could be quite robust.
Mike King: Traditionally, the Chinese New Year provided a mini peak for shipping.
ONE CEO, Jeremy Nixon, said that China’s factories might close for as long as four weeks for the CNY.
He predicted a soft Q1 quarter elsewhere.
We had all the carriers talking up the market.
Evergreen tried to hike up some rates on the Transpacific in late December.
There are also reports of congestion at some Chinese box hubs, possibly linked to rising COVID infections.
What’s going on? What are shipping lines up to?
More importantly, what should customers be expecting in the next few weeks?
Peter Sand (chief analyst, Xeneta): Carriers tried what they could but failed miserably as they pushed for general rate increases across the board.
We saw a little bit of uptake on some of the trades, but it faded.
Abolishment of the zero COVID policy in China is a game changer.
Things can still get worse in China, from a public health perspective and a manufacturing industry perspective, as we will see workers not being at the factories due to COVID infections.
We’re expecting that the export out of China will be hammered for a considerable time, and the COVID situation is likely to top the Chinese lunar new year traditional disruptions.
There is no massive rush for shippers worldwide to get more goods in.
The traditional peak season can be called off to some extent.
Mike King: Are you expecting more blank sailings beyond the Chinese New Year?
Peter Sand: That would be the first tool carriers would reach for in their toolbox. In satellite view, we will hit rock bottom before some sort of recovery.
Mike King: We’re already looking into the year’s second half, summer peak season and improvements from the big buying economies.
Peter Sand: This year will be where the capacity injection due to the easing of congestion and a low demand level will definitely favour global shippers.
Our expectations for volumes this year will likely be in the negative territory between 0 and minus 2.5 percent.
We are definitely in a year where carrier capacity management will be the prime tool to prevent them from losing a lot on the spot market.
Source: The Loadstar Podcast. The podcast transcript was edited for clarity.
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The post China’s Abandonment of Zero COVID Policy and What It Means for Importers and Exporters appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
9-minute read
If 2022 taught us anything, it was to expect the unexpected. It was the year that shocked us with the war in Ukraine, endless Chinese Covid lockdowns, soaring inflation and the devastation of tighter fiscal and monetary policies.
Extreme weather affected supply chains from India to the Mississippi and Australia to the Rhine. Freight rates collapsed, and the peak season was a non-event.
But, on the other side of the ledger, in most parts of the world, 2022 also saw the emergence of the spring shoots of a post-Covid world, with all the freedoms that entails.
In these highlights from the Loadstar podcast episode, Mike King examines what a post-Covid world means for shippers, forwarders and carriers.
Mike King: We were talking a year ago about shipping markets, and back then, we had all sorts of new entrants using very old ships that really shouldn’t have been competitive, but they were.
Spot contract rates were through the roof, slot space was hard to find, port congestion was tight, and no one could find containers, all of that has unravelled through 2022. How did all of that happen?
Mike Wackett (The Loadstar, editorial consultant): Good question. The container ball run started in the summer of 2020 from this massive e-commerce drive demand and effectively continued right the way through to this summer.
Carriers collectively made mega profits. About 200 billion last year, and despite the recent collapse of rates, are on for about 250 billion this year.
These huge revenues and the scarcity of supply encouraged a host of new entrants into the liner market who deployed small ships on long haul that were totally uneconomic to operate.
Then we saw demand fall off the cliff just at the time of the traditional peak season in July and August.
Everybody was predicting this new normal to take a while to come through, but it happened, and carriers started to blank or cancel sailings, and the chronic port and landside congestion, that propped up the rates eased around the world.
Xeneta’s short-term rates from Asia to North Europe went from a market average of over US$15,000 for 40ft in January this year to just over US$2,000 last week.
And likewise, on the Trans-Pacific, Xeneta’s short-term rate component for Asia to the US West Coast has nosedived to a market average of around US$1,500 for 40ft.
Mike King: We’re already seeing a bit of scrapping of smaller vessels, aren’t we?
Mike Wackett: Yes, there’s a batch of very old ships that should have been scrapped years ago, but obviously, they kept them going because there was unbelievable demand for anything that could float, as major retailers were chartering ships at huge costs, trying to protect their supply chains.
Mike King: What are your biggest winners and losers of 2022?
Alex Lennane (The Loadstar, publisher): Well, I would say the number one loser was the environment, and that was probably true the year before, and it will be every year until fuel providers, airlines and airline customers start to put sufficient investment into sustainable aviation fuel production and other methods for lowering emissions.
Other losers – the shippers have had a really tough couple of years. First was no capacity, and then capacity was really expensive.
Then all of a sudden, the ships sorted themselves out, and there was too much inventory, and they had to discount everything. I feel sorry for them. They’ve had a tawdry time.
It’s starting to ease up for them with rates going down. Any company that booked space at the highest market and now can’t fill it, I feel sorry for them.
Mike Wackett: The carriers with the mega profits they made and the results they could have never dreamt of are topping the list of winners.
And the ship owners that have seen ships destined for the scrap market bought up.
I’d say ports have also benefited from the good volumes and, of course, from the landside congestion, which has given them windfall profits from storage costs.
Container leases and manufacturers have also been pumping in more stocks amid all this equipment tied up in inventory.
And, obviously, shipyards for taking all those new orders that keep them in jobs for several years to come.
On the other side of the equation, the poor shippers have suffered very badly.
You think you have a contract, then you don’t have a contract. You think you have a rate, then you don’t have a rate. Then the carriers say they won’t deal with you because you’re not big enough, etc.
That’s all filtered through to retailers, shippers and consumers, dealing with inflation and paying for those mega-high rates that the carriers have obtained.
Mike King: What do you think are our industry’s biggest takeaways from the COVID era?
Is it tech uptake, is it working practices, is it how to make a lot of money in a pandemic, or the dangers of not having a resilient supply chain or relying on non-friends or countries with different values for key supplies?
Alex Lennane: It is to expect the unexpected and then wait for the bullwhip effect. We’ve hopefully learned something from that. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do about it, but very interesting to watch.
And then relationships. The companies that maintained or strengthened relationships across the supply chain will fare better next year.
Mike Wackett: This insufficient attention to relationships reached an all-time low this last year.
Relationships have to be repaired because one can’t live without the other as shipping is a people business.
People want to talk and do business and do not necessarily want to be told, well, you have to send an e-mail to somebody in Singapore or whatever to get that detail they need to know.
Also, when things go wrong, how do you sort that out? Certainly, when I was running the shipping line, I said to my guys, right, it’s not what’s gone wrong is how you communicate that information to the customer.
Get to the customer the Sunday before his commercial guys get to him so that the customer knows. Communication has been lacking, and whoever can bring that back has got it, in my estimation.
Mike King: Let’s have a look at 2023 now. The logistics business or landscape looks totally different compared to a year ago.
For example, instead of long lead times for parts and production and delays due to excess demand, we’ve now got these big inventories to clear and excess capacity everywhere.
I’m being told that carriers have been unable to push through December general rate increases.
Mike Wackett: I’m not surprised. The obvious thing is that everybody will be looking at and wondering what the carriers are going to be doing with 2.3 million TEU of new build capacity that’s about to hit the oceans next year.
Mike King: Are we back to seasonality? What happens in Q2 and Q3?
Mike Wackett: I can’t even tell what will happen in Q1 and Q2. What is this new normal?
Obviously, rates are down to pre-pandemic and even less, but we have higher operating costs and inflation, so something has to give, and the jury’s out even on Q1, let alone Q2 and Q3.
Mike King: There wasn’t much of a fourth-quarter peak. Are we looking at any improvements after the Chinese New Year?
Alex Lennane: I don’t think so. If you look at the 5-year track index, you can see that the major trade lanes rates are coming down pretty fast towards pre-COVID prices.
Then maybe there’ll be a slight uptick after the Chinese New Year, but I don’t think it’s going to have any major impacts on that general decline.
I suspect we’ll be back to the traditional peaks. There is a lot of belly capacity [aircargo] coming back as passengers come back.
I suspect the market will normalize. That’s barring, of course, major shocks like another war, environmental disasters, pandemics, or whatever.
Mike King: The forwarding industry has got a lot more competitive all of a sudden. What’s happened there?
Gavin van Marle (The Loadstar, managing editor): The decline in ocean freight rates and the steepness of those declines have reminded us of the days in the aftermath of the financial crisis and ruinous rate war in 2010 and 2011 that almost put some carriers out of business.
One of the features of that, from the freight forwarders’ perspective, was that because rates were crashing so fast and demand was so low with much spare capacity, it was a time when a lot of the larger freight forwarders did big large block space deals with the big carriers for very low rates.
They did it on a speculative basis with bookings, say up to 500 TEU a ship, bearing in mind that at the time, larger ships were around 11,000 TEU, to put that in the current context as well.
So the larger forwarders would then use a country basis to attack the smaller forwarders’ customer lists and offer them far better rates. History often has a habit of repeating itself.
I suspect that life in 2023 will be very difficult for the smaller freight forward because not only are they dealing with decreased demand from their clients, but those clients themselves will be getting a lot of love and attention from the larger competitors.
Mike King: Obviously, what happens in our industry is determined to a huge degree by what’s going on in the global economy.
We’ve got these forecasts for a recession in Europe and the US, although consumer demand is holding up a lot better. However, most forecasts suggest lower exports out of Asia in the first half of the year.
Are there any reasons for a market or economic upturn in 2023? Can you think of any opportunities in the current market or macroeconomic environment?
Mike Wackett: Can the world or most of the world come out of this recession relatively quickly?
And if we can, we know, as we’ve seen this before after the financial crisis, that there’s a pent-up demand that gives everybody a boost.
So the question is how deep and long this recession will last? But we do know that recessions do end as they do start, so at some stage, there will be that uptick, whether it’s next year or not, who knows?
Regarding opportunities, carriers now have a great opportunity to get back to best in class in terms of customer service communications and provide a proper line of services again.
When people have a choice, they want to deal with people they can relate to and get answers from.
We all know that problems happen, but it’s how you deal with those problems.
There will be great opportunities for carriers to up their game and hire some customer service and salespeople to get back to dealing with their customers.
Gavin van Marle: European Commission is due to publish its working documents on the consortium block exemption regulation on legislation about carrier alliances. German competition authority has already said that they want this legislation to be rewritten.
I think there’s considerably more momentum behind some adjustments to the legislation, whether it’s simply reducing the alliances’ market share threshold.
This would force a rejigging of the alliances, possibly decreasing them in size so that currently three alliances become four or MSC departing the 2M alliance and going as a standalone global operator.
There’s a legislative aspect to that service-level issue as well. And given the difficulties that European citizens are going through now, there’s pressure on these regulators to address competition concerns on behalf of the consumers.
Alex Lennane: I think there will always be people in this industry who find opportunities, whatever the weather or the crisis.
I think the thing we’ve learned is that we know nothing and can predict nothing, apart from somebody will take advantage of it somewhere.
The thing I’m interested in watching for next year is how the shipping lines use their cash.
Will their airlines be successful?
Will they manage to integrate all their new purchases successfully, especially in a difficult market?
Mike King: What are your biggest risks, upside or downside, for 2023?
Mike Wackett: The big risk is this massive amount of capacity being delivered next year of 2.3 million TEU.
There is a risk that there will be a long and deep recession.
There is a risk that carriers will abandon uneconomic routes, leaving shippers without service at all, which is how carriers now look at these economics.
There is a risk that some carriers that have taken on a vast number of chartered ships on a long-term basis will go bust, and that domino effect will take out more companies.
Source: The Loadstar Podcast. The podcast transcript was edited for clarity.
P.S. Easy Freight Ltd helps New Zealand importers & exporters to save money on international freight and reduce mistakes by guiding how to comply with Customs and biosecurity rules.
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The post The Challenges of a Post-Covid World for Global Supply Chains appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has developed industry standards which will bring the aim of having travellers arrive at airports ready-to-fly one step closer to reality.
The newly released Recommended Practice on Digitalization of Admissibility will enable travellers to digitally prove admissibility to an international destination, avoiding a stop at the check-in desk or boarding gate for document checks.
Under the One ID initiative, airlines are working with IATA to digitalize the passenger experience at airports with contactless biometric-enabled processes.
According to IATA, One ID introduces an opportunity for the passenger to further streamline their journey with advanced sharing of information and a contactless process at the airport based on biometric recognition.
Passengers will be able to prove their identity and prove they meet the requirements for travel prior to departure and then identify themselves at each airport touchpoint through simple biometric recognition.
IATA advises that One ID aims to offer a consistent, seamless experience for passengers across airlines, airports, and governments.
Programs are already in use in various airports enabling travellers to move through airport processes such as boarding without producing paper documentation because their boarding pass is linked to a biometric identifier.
But in many cases, travellers would still have to prove their admissibility at a check-in desk or boarding gate with physical checks of paper documentation (passports, visas and health credentials, for example).
The Digitalization of Admissibility standard will advance the realization of One ID with a mechanism for passengers to digitally obtain all necessary pre-travel authorizations directly from governments before their trip.
By sharing the “OK to Fly” status with their airline, travellers can avoid all on-airport document checks.
“Passengers want technology to make travel simpler. By enabling passengers to prove their admissibility to their airline before they get to the airport, we are taking a major step forward. The recent IATA Global Passenger survey found that 83% of travellers are willing to share immigration information for expedited processing. That is why we are confident this will be a popular option for travellers when it is implemented. And there is good incentive for airlines and governments as well with improved data quality, streamlined resourcing requirements and identification of admissibility issues before passengers get to the airport,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.
What travellers will be able to do in future:* Create a verified digital identity using their airline app on their smart phone; * Using their digital identity, they can send proof of all required documentation to destination authorities in advance of travel; * Receive a digital ‘approval of admissibility’ in their digital identity/passport app; * Share the verified credential (not all their data) with their airline; * Receive confirmation from their airline that all is in order and go to the airport.
Data SecurityIATA advises that the new standards have been developed to protect passengers’ data and ensure that travel remains accessible to all.
Passengers will remain in control of their data, and only credentials (verified approvals, not the data behind them) will be shared peer-to-peer (with no intermediating party).
This is interoperable with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards, including those for the Digital Travel Credential. Manual processing options will be retained so that travellers will have the ability to opt out of digital admissibility processing.
“Travelers can be confident that this process will be both convenient and secure. A key point is that information is shared on a need-to-know basis. While a government may request detailed personal information to issue a visa, the only information that will be shared with the airline is that the traveller has a visa and under which conditions. And by keeping the passenger in control of their own data, no large databases are being built that need protecting. By design, we are building simplicity, security and convenience,” said Louise Cole, IATA’s Head Customer Experience and Facilitation.
Source: The International Air Transport Association (IATA)
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6-minute read
The global economic outlook appears to be deteriorating further amid slowing growth and elevated inflation levels, comments Danish shipping and logistics group A.P. Moller-Maersk.
As a result, global container volumes continue to fall with negative growth in virtually all the main markets.
Headwinds are continuing to grow for the global economy as the conflict in Ukraine, high inflation levels and weakness in key manufacturing and property markets in China weigh on the macroeconomic outlook.
China continues to battle sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks, despite easing restrictions, and current and future demand headwinds remain significant.
Inflationary pressures in both the US and Europe remain elevated, with the consumer price index (CPI) holding steady over the summer at around 8.2%, while in Europe, inflation is at a record high, with the CPI climbing to 9.9% in September.
Producer price inflation in Europe – the price paid by manufacturers for raw materials and goods – is even higher at around 40%.
The fall in exports led to a further decline in global container trade volumes from June-August, and most regions are now seeing negative growth.
Ocean spot freight rates have also continued to see a dramatic fall and are now close to levels seen in the second half of 2020.
Supply chain disruption an evolving situationDespite sporadic outbreaks of Covid in China, current maritime trade dependent on imports from Chinese ports does not appear to be disrupted. Maersk reports that at the end of November, Asia’s main ports were in a healthy situation with a waiting time of around 0-2 days. China’s terminal operations and productivity are under control.
However, the Oceania market continues to be negatively impacted by supply chain disruption. “Both as a result from previous protected industrial action in Australia and congestion in the upper North Island supply chain in New Zealand.”
North America
North American ports’ situations have improved recently, but Maersk says they are still seeing some delays of vessels because of the downstream impact of previous congestion.
Overall, Asia Pacific to North America space is available. While port congestion has eased on the US West Coast and in China, it remains a problem on the US East Coast, although it is trending downwards.
Maersk adds, “US East Coast port congestion deviates from port to port, with overall waiting time slightly increased to 1-3 days, Baltimore increased to seven days and Houston congestion improved to five days.
Europe
Ports in North Europe are gradually recovering, following lower demand and, therefore, lower pressure on terminal operations.
Arrival waiting times are generally less than one day. Yard densities remain critical in many ports, most notably due to increased dwell times of import units.
“Over the past few months, we have seen strikes in numerous ports in North Europe, most recently in Liverpool and Felixstowe. Conversations between unions and terminals are now focused on 2023 salary revision, and no protest actions are expected for the rest of the year.”
CMA-CGM notes declining freight ratesDeclining demand since mid-year has prompted a return to more normal international trade flows and a significant reduction in freight rates, as observed by CMA-CGM chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé in the shipping line’s recent third-quarter financial results.
The CMA CGM Group once again recorded strong results in the third quarter.
“Over the past two years, we have significantly strengthened our financial structure and developed our business through the entire supply chain,” said Mr Saadé.
The third quarter of 2022 was shaped by persistent geopolitical tensions, which spurred higher inflation and dragged down consumer spending, which is increasingly shifting to services in the wake of COVID-19.
These factors dampened freight demand but also helped to ease a certain amount of port congestion.
The group expects energy costs to remain high, weighing directly on its operating expenses and, more generally, on consumer spending, particularly in Europe.
This inflationary environment, combined with monetary policies, is clouding the outlook for economic growth, despite measures to support consumer spending, again notably in Europe.
The group expects to see a faster return to more normal freight rates in the fourth quarter and lower margins.
Therefore, it closely monitors geopolitical developments and their potential impact on the economic outlook. Nevertheless, it remains confident in its financial strength and ability to adapt.
Excess capacity driving down freight ratesThe release of excess capacity by shipping carriers during mixed economic conditions has driven down freight rates for much of the year. A Drewry webinar recently concluded that it is difficult to predict how far freight rates would fall “and how far the super-profits will carry over”.
Simon Heaney, the principal author of Drewry’s popular weekly update on the container shipping sector, said FY23 could be the first time in a century that a health crisis results in a world slump.
“Global recession is very much a threat” with three key factors: an end to the Ukraine war being a long shot’, “incredible strength in the US dollar and slowing growth in China. 2022 has been a year of considerable disruption, with the ongoing Covid-Zero strategy in China (half relaxed only of this week), labour strikes in UK and European ports, slowed migration and labour pressures, port congestion, and all leading to turbo-charged inflation.”
Carriers have various levers that they can exercise to influence fleet capacity in a downturn.
Drewry forecasts an effective capacity increase of 11% in 2023 before any use of blank sailings. They consider it is impossible to predict the degree of blank sailings but expect these to be less frequently used to cover soft demand months.
They expect ~600,000 tonnes of vessels will be scrapped in 2023, the second highest level since 2016 when 660,000 tonnes were pulled from fleets.
Drewry has the end of 1H23 as the timeline for a return of port productivity to 2019 levels. As congestion fades, they see only 7% of capacity being removed by bottlenecks at ports. But they continue many risks prevailing to prevent a total end to congestion, notably that of labour disputes in a high inflationary environment.
Back in January 2022, according to Vespucci Maritime, 13.8% of global capacity was unavailable due to delays in bottlenecks. By the end of August, this had declined to 7.9% of the global fleet being unavailable. Meaning that 50% of the capacity which was removed from the market in January had been released back into the market.
“On a year-on-year basis, this means a global capacity growth of approximately 10% in August,” Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime, said back in October. “If this pace of improvement continues, it implies that the effect of capacity reduction due to bottlenecks will be fully eliminated in Q1 2023.”
He said that from a fundamental global supply/demand perspective, there is no longer a fleet capacity shortage.
“We are now entering the phase where the market in places is now beginning to go below pre-pandemic levels as the correction downwards from the historical high turns into a price war driving rates down.”
The collapse in demand can be seen in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.
Demand measured in TEU has declined -2.6%, and demand measured in TEU Miles is now -7.6% lower than the level in 2019, he says.
“This rapid decline in demand is caused by the onset of an inventory correction, mainly by North American and European importers. Inventory corrections always have a severe impact on container volumes.
“Following an inventory correction, there is always a subsequent surge in demand as importers then strive to return to normal operations.
“This is, for example, what we saw in the surge of demand in 2010 following the financial crisis or in the summer of 2002 following the inventory-driven recession in the US in 2001.
“Suppose the world only sees a mild recession presently, and inventory correction is the main driver behind the collapse. In this case, we should expect a cargo surge already in summer 2023 and spot rates will surge again.
“However, suppose the world economy enters a more profound and prolonged recession on the back of inflation and geopolitical turmoil. In this case, we might see a subdued 2023 where the cargo surge only materializes in the lead-up to Chinese New Year 2024.
“In either case, the current collapse will cause a large amount of operational turmoil in the next few months as carriers will continue to blank large amounts of sailings in an effort to halt the slide in spot rates.”
Source: The New Zealand Shipping Gazette
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The post 5 Projects for NZ Transport Minister that Will Impact You appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read There’s no way of sugar coating the pill regarding the current supply chain situation globally. It’s either severely stressed or broken, at almost every link in the chain. It’s a perfect storm, resulting from the global pandemic, combined with some existing and other factors. There’s no easy fix and challenges are expected to […]
The post What Should You Do During Sea Freight Peak Season appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Consumers and businesses will be facing shortages over Christmas after major shipping lines halted new bookings from Asia on record global demand and the impacts of ongoing disruption at trans-Tasman ports. With demand for shipping space at all-time highs in some cases, and as much as 25% up on the same period last […]
The post Global Container Shortage a Threat to Importers & Exporters appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read Importers could face retrospective tariffs for bringing frozen fries to New Zealand. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has announced it is investigating the dumping of potato fries from Europe after calls from the local potato industry. They say that trade data shows that frozen potato products exported from the EU to […]
The post NZ Importers to Pay Tariffs on Goods Being Sold Below Cost appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Traffic volumes returned to more normal volatility over October as activity settled down after alert levels eased and catch-up activity was evident. The Light Traffic Index lifted a further 0.6% in October, while the Heavy Traffic eased 3.0% as traffic settled following the second Auckland lockdown. Encouragingly, both indexes are solidly higher than […]
The post What Does The Latest NZ Freight Transport Index Tell You? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Bottlenecks related to logistics problems at Ports of Auckland, currently operating at an estimated third of its crane capacity, and an overloaded rail link from the inland Metroport hub to Tauranga, were seeing wholesalers and manufacturers now desperate for pre-Christmas goods and raw materials. Describing it as a perfect storm for importers, Katherine […]
The post Perfect Storm for NZ Importers Desperate to Get Goods appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Shippers around the world face huge supply chain challenges from port congestion and an acute shortage of containers. And one carrier source The Loadstar spoke to today said the problems “will get worse”. “There are so many pinch points building now and they will only get worse before the holiday season and may […]
The post NZ Importers Face Huge Port Gridlocks & Container Shortages appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Blockchain technology may be a way for NZ exporters to China overcoming the mountain of paperwork that slows deals, but it’s still some way from becoming commonplace. The first successful blockchain trade transaction between Fonterra and China-based Sichuan New Hope Trading slashed the processing time from more than 10 days to less than […]
The post NZ Exporter Achieved the First Blockchain Trade in China appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The global pandemic is boosting New Zealand’s trade balance and driving changes in the make-up of our exports and imports, latest StatsNZ data shows. Kiwis imported more laptops in the year as we tooled up to work from home. Latest figures also show we imported more than $200 million of face masks. And […]
The post Trade Surplus Despite COVID-19: What NZ Has Been Importing appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Freight passing through the Auckland port is suffering severe congestion in the lead-up to Christmas. A Ports of Auckland union executive says the port’s move to an automated system is the root cause of its failure to cope with increasing volumes after weeks of industrial action in Sydney disrupted supply lines. However, the […]
The post Why Auckland Port Suffering Congestion in Christmas Lead-Up appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The Chinese National Day is celebrated from October 1st to 8th. Similarly to the Lunar New Year, almost all companies, including factories, are closed for business during one week. This unparalleled event bears significant effects on sea & air freight services. Here you will learn everything you need to know about this unique […]
The post How the Chinese Golden Week Impacts You (October 1st – 8th) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Demand for container shipping services is starting to rebound as coronavirus lockdowns are eased, although the recovery is uneven and fresh outbreaks remain an ongoing risk. Space availability on services to northern Europe is tightening, while the scramble for space on the trans-Pacific trade is becoming dramatic. For the first time since 2010 […]
The post NZ Ocean Freight Rates Go Up as Container Shipping Recovers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read As mentioned in a recent article, my mailbag has been full with comments from readers about the future relocation of the Ports of Auckland, to such an extent that it is easily the most correspondence I’ve received on a single topic in years. If ever proof was needed that this is a hot […]
The post What NZ Readers Are Saying About Ports of Auckland Location appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industry has provisionally finalised an updated import health standard for sea containers from all countries, as part of the prevention of the threat from importation of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB). This will be replaced with a signed version prior to September 1. Importers planning to export sea […]
The post New Import Biosecurity Rules for Shipping Containers to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read It’s not often you get an important transport lobby group arguing against something which could be of great financial benefit to them, but that’s the situation here with the group strongly advocating against a port move from Auckland to Northport. National Road Carriers (NRC) found that such a move would provide a five-fold […]
The post 5 Reasons Why Truckers Oppose Ports of AKL Move to Northport appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Will lightning strike twice with an EY (Ernst & Young) report into “externalities” producing a boost for a particular mode of freight transportation? That’s what the coastal shipping industry will be hoping with the release by the Minister of Transport Phil Twyford of a report by EY entitled The Externality Value of Coastal […]
The post What is the Real Value of NZ Coastal Shipping (vs Road) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read Delays in shipments and freight coming into New Zealand coupled with high demand for certain products has left stock and shelves empty for some retailers. The NZ Herald takes a look at the retail categories that have been the most disrupted through the global pandemic – and which items could be hard to […]
The post COVID-19: You Are Likely to Face Shortage of These Goods appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read The Government unveiled its Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS 2021) outlining plans to invest $54 billion in a range of transport initiatives over the next 10 years. Making the announcement, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said: “Given how both rail and coastal shipping help take pressure off our roads and produce less […]
The post Is NZ-Flagged Coastal Shipping Back? What it Means For You appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The cargo capacity crunch continues even as New Zealand businesses return to a post-lockdown normal, according to the latest air freight numbers from Auckland Airport. International air cargo data for the first half of the year to June showed that while air freight demand has declined -16% year-on-year, available capacity has dropped away […]
The post Air Freight Stats – NZ Imports & Exports (Aug 2020 Release) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read As hopes for world trade gather momentum in the wake of countries loosening lockdown restrictions, the reality of the impact of COVID-19 on shipowners and operators is becoming apparent. All industry segments have suffered from the pandemic with the possible exception of tankers, where there has been demand for floating storage. Ferries, cruise […]
The post Why Shipping Lines Rack Up Losses & Need Urgent Recovery appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read New Zealand has recorded its fifth consecutive monthly trade surplus with the annual deficit falling to its lowest level in nearly six years. Official figures from Stats NZ show a trade surplus of $426 million for June, taking the annual deficit down to $1.2 billion, the lowest since late 2014. Imports were up […]
The post NZ Import & Export Stats (July 2020 Release) – Trade Surplus appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read When is a law not a law? When you work as a seafarer on a Panamanian Flagged vessel, apparently. That appears to be the consequence of the decision by the world’s largest flag state to authorise seafarers on ships flying its flag to serve for as long as 17 months onboard, due to […]
The post Seafarers to Stay on Ships for 17 Months Due to COVID-19 appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read The ‘new normal’ is a phrase we are now hearing a lot throughout the freight sector and the economy in general — but when will it arrive and what will it mean for your business? In terms of the regulatory space, things have settled down. If you look back four to six weeks, […]
The post NZ Freight Sector Reality & Cargo Transport Outlook 2020 appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read You may not be aware of all the risks of dangerous goods (DG) transport domestically. By “dangers” I am referring to miss declarations, errors in manifests or outright failure to declare DO. International shipping companies are starting to crack down on dishonest shippers by threatening significant financial penalties for misdeclared shipments. Evergreen has […]
The post Dangerous Goods: Calculating the Cost of Your Errors appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read COVID-19 is having far-reaching effects on the shipping industry, and on importers and exporters, in ways that could never have been foreseen before the pandemic struck. One such effect, which is worrying the international shipping and trading communities, is the strange decision by Peru to opt out of the Hague Rules and pass […]
The post Shipping Laws Changed – How it Affects New Zealand appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Let’s quickly recap what you have experienced! In December 2019, doctors in Wuhan, China, began to see patients with unusual and worrying symptoms. They suspected that the cases of respiratory problems and pneumonia appearing in their clinics were caused by a virus that hadn’t previously been seen in humans. On January 12, 2020, […]
The post 5 Ways to Minimise Freight Delays and Avoid Unhappy Clients appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read The coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is forcing stores to close across the globe. How should traditional retailers change in this new environment and with new consumer expectations and behavior? The allure of brick-and-mortar stores includes lively display windows, helpful staff and plenty of goods on shelves. But there are downsides: limited opening hours, seasonal […]
The post How Retailers Will Operate After COVID-19 (New Behaviours) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Four years after the introduction of VGM (verified gross mass) rules to deal with the dangerous problem of mis-declared containers, one could be forgiven for thinking the issue of overweight boxes had been eradicated. Not so, it appears, even though things have improved greatly. In January this year a container stack collapsed on […]
The post Who Will Pay Penalties for Misdeclaring Cargo Weight (VGM) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The current market circumstances dictate New Zealand companies are not able to receive the full advantage of shipper-owned containers (SOCs). Recently published by Hamburg-based Container xChange, the report determined that most freight-forwarders are failing to capitalise on the potential opportunities offered by SOCs. Customs Brokers and Forwarders Federation of NZ (CBAFF) executive director […]
The post Why Importers & Exporters Don’t Use Shipper Owned Containers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read The issues of container detention (empty hire) charges is an ongoing sore point which affects the relationship between shipping lines, importers, customs agents and freight forwarders, and it has raised its head again. An irate customs agent recently got in touch with the Shipping Gazette™ to say they received an invoice from one […]
The post Dispute in Container Hire (Detention) fees – Is It Fair? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (13-minute watch) Trucks transport 73% of the USA’s freight. However, in New Zealand they handle 92% of cargo, with 6% going by rail and 2% on coastal shipping. The Government’s National Freight Demands Study predicts that up to 2052 there will be very little change in modal share. The major areas of freight […]
The post Fascinating Facts about How Long-Haul Trucking Works appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read (3-minute watch) Ports of Auckland has installed the world’s largest soil-based vertical garden on its new car-handling building on Auckland’s waterfront. “This vertical garden is one of several design features of the new building that will improve the look of the port and better integrate it into the central city. As it grows, […]
The post World’s Largest Vertical Garden Goes up at Ports of Auckland appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read The industry has navigated the crisis with some skill, but pressure to cut prices is growing. For a container shipping industry whose fortunes depend on ever greater globalisation, the coronavirus pandemic appears an intimidating enemy. Evidence of the disruption to world trade is stark: sailors are stranded on ships thanks to Covid-19 travel […]
The post How COVID19 Affects Your Sea Freight Prices (Chart Supplied) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read The $1 trillion container shipping industry is in a slowdown. Literally. Some shipping lines, whose retail customers are being hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, are reducing sailing speeds and taking longer routes around Africa, avoiding Suez canal passage fees, according to the companies and ship-tracking specialists. Many are also cutting down the number […]
The post Ocean Shipping Delays as Pandemic Hits Importers & Exporters appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (2-minute watch) Shipping lines start sailing at reduced speed — a tactic that absorbs capacity since more vessels are required to provide the same frequency of service. How does it affect you? “Global shipping faces a slowdown, quite literally. Big container lines are reducing sailing speeds to save fuel. They’re also taking longer […]
The post Why Your Sea Freight is Getting Slower & Air Prices Going Up appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read New Zealand Post has apologised for the delivery delays many Kiwis have experienced amid Covid-19, explaining why so many packages have taken so long to reach their new homes. With courier drivers overloaded, orders that are usually delivered overnight are often taking at least two days, and in many cases sometimes even longer. […]
The post Why You Are Not Getting Your Goods via NZ Post appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Work on Auckland Airport’s runway has begun as part of a $26 million project to replace pavement in the main touchdown zone. Jet-blast fences were be transported onto the runway and 80 workers started work to shorten the airport’s runway by 1.1km in order to replace 280 concrete slabs at the eastern end. […]
The post What’s Happening with the Auckland Airport Runway appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Airfreight through Auckland Airport and around the world plunged in April but imports of some products to this country soared, including goggles, disinfectants and toilet cleaner. As air travel started grinding to a near-halt, equipment to combat Covid-19 took up limited air cargo space, as footwear, clothing and makeup imports plunged. Figures released […]
The post Auckland Airport Stats Show How Covid-19 Changed NZ Imports appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
9-minute read Almost every challenge in aviation requires a team effort to solve it. Today we face the biggest challenge in commercial aviation’s history: restarting an industry that largely has ceased to operate across borders, while ensuring that it is not a meaningful vector for the spread of COVID-19. Meeting this challenge will mean making […]
The post Biosecurity for Air Transport (Near-Term Future of Aviation) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What are the new rules for importing tobacco products, tobacco leaf and refuse? From 1 July 2020, tobacco products, tobacco leaf and refuse will become prohibited imports and you will be required to have a permit to import these products. Permits will be approved and issued by the New Zealand […]
The post New Rules for Importing Tobacco Products to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Imports in April 2020 had their biggest fall since October 2009, resulting in a monthly trade surplus of $1.3 billion, Stats NZ said today. “This is the largest monthly trade surplus on record and the annual goods trade deficit is the lowest since March 2015,” international statistics manager Darren Allan said. “A sharp […]
The post Imports in April 2020 Had the Biggest Fall Since 2009 appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The Government is freezing charges at the border to help export and import businesses and protect jobs from the impacts of COVID-19, said Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. A new fee regime for exporters and importers due to come in on 1 June has been put on hold for at least 12 months. […]
The post Government Freezes NZ Customs Fees for Exporter & Importers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read New Zealand Trade and Enterprise says interest in fresh New Zealand produce is surging in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The Chinese economy is beginning to recover after two months in lockdown due to the coronavirus – but the path to recovery is uneven. Interview with Fiona Acheson, an NZ Trade and Enterprise’s […]
The post Surge in NZ Exports of Food to China, Taiwan & Hong Kong appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released a new analysis showing that the damage to air travel from COVID-19 extends into the medium-term, with long-haul / international travel being the most severely impacted. *Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) is an airline industry metric that shows the number of kilometers traveled by paying passengers. IATA […]
The post Outlook for Int. Air Transport & Freight in the Next 5 Years appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
8-minute read (12-minute watch (feel free to increase play speed 2X)) Why are airplanes grounded when the world needs it most? How will airlines fly again? it employs millions and acts as the central nervous system of international business and leisure. YOU’LL LEARN: How Demand for International Travel Has Changed in the Pandemic Impact of […]
The post How Airlines Transport Your Goods During Coronavirus COVID19 appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The Government is freezing charges at the border to help export and import businesses and protect jobs from the impacts of COVID-19, said Minister of Customs Jenny Salesa. A new fee regime for exporters and importers due to come in on 1 June has been put on hold for at least 12 months. […]
The post Government Freezes NZ Customs Fees for Exporter & Importers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read With the outbreak of COVID-19, many governments implemented strict social distancing requirements to help limit the spread of the virus. Some governments have applied similar measures to air travel, including that airlines should leave empty seats between passengers in the aircraft. When such policies are pursued, the seat load factor of an aircraft […]
The post Impact of Social Distancing on Your Airfares As Borders Open appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
7-minute read Government support to help restore international air freight capacity has added 56 weekly cargo flights from New Zealand, with more to come, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. The International Air Freight Capacity scheme adds capacity for high-value export cargo and maintains trade links with key global markets. It also ensures there are […]
The post International Cargo Flights Ramp-Up to/from New Zealand appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Impact to date Domestic transport and logistic services are in heavy demand replenishing stores with food and other consumer goods which have come into demand following preparations for the potential domestic impact of the coronavirus. These goods include computer equipment, whiteware, medical supplies and other essential consumer products. Despite reports of vessels being […]
The post Short-Term and Long-Term Outlook on Logistics & Freighting appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
7-minute read Airline Business Confidence Index KEY POINTS • Our April 2020 survey of airline CFOs and Heads of Cargo confirmed the sharp weakening in the Q1 business environment amid the spread of COVID-19. The challenging business backdrop – including weakness in profitability – is expected to be maintained through the next twelve months. • […]
The post Survey of Airline Cargo Business Leaders (April 2020) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
7-minute read Air Cargo Plunges in March as Covid-19 Spreads Globally • Industry-wide cargo tonne kilometres (CTKs) contracted by 15.2% year-on-year in March, driven by sharply weaker demand across all regions as the COVID-19 outbreak extended to become a global pandemic. • Industry-wide cargo capacity declined by 22.7% annually due to the reduction in bellyhold […]
The post Air Cargo Supply & Demand Analysis (Released April 2020) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read There is a growing shortage of shipping containers. Cargo and freight being exported use the empty containers from goods that come into the country. With a drop in imports containers may become scarce. Will you be affected? Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said the port was keeping a close eye on […]
The post NZ is Facing Shortage of 20ft & 40ft Shipping Containers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read We know there are a lot of things on your mind right now, so we just wanted to reassure you that Easy Freight Ltd is deemed as an essential service and will remain in operation to support you with any request. We’re a digital-first team and have well-established systems in place to work […]
The post How Your Import & Export Goods Are Affected During COVID-19 Period appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read YOU WILL LEARN: New GST Rules On Low Value Imported Goods Tips On Online Shopping for Christmas Reporter: There is going to be a significant change for online shoppers in New Zealand, just in time for Christmas. Updates to GST for “low value imported goods” have been introduced. The new rules say […]
The post Guide to New Import GST Rules for Online Shopping appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read New Zealand Customs Service has issued a reminder to NZ importers to ensure they correctly declare the origin of inbound goods on import entries — particularly from Western Sahara. “In the case of imported goods originating from Western Sahara, the country code ‘EH’ should be input in the import entry’s origin field,” stated […]
The post NZ-bound Shipment Has been Intercepted (Could it Affect you?) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read You may have good insurance, pay the premiums on time but then have the insurance claim denied because your employees were not trained to meet the requirements. Let’s discuss how your business needs to operate to ensure that you are covered when disaster strikes. Introduction The Insurance and Finance Ombudsman website Case Study […]
The post NZ Freight Company Lost Insurance Claim Due to the Employee’s Fault appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (22-minute watch) Access to a wide investor audience, so it’s a quick and efficient way for you to raise funds. This week our guest speaker was Simeon Burnett is the CEO & Co-Founder – Snowball Effect. It is New Zealand’s leading online investment marketplace. They help NZ companies raise funds to increase the […]
The post What Are the Funding Options to Grow Your Import or Export Business appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
13-minute read (27-minute watch) If I had this info before I imported for the first time I’d saved lots of time & money 📚 YOU WILL LEARN: How NZ Customs or NZ MPI Biosecurity will charge you and some hidden costs that you may not be aware of What are the common mistakes in the […]
The post 3 Tips On Importing Goods Into New Zealand (Avoid These Hidden Costs) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Last week’s Commentary column explored the supply chain friction that is occurring with container detention charges one of the central issues. In recent times, where container depots around Auckland have been full, and the truckers working for importers and forwarders have been unable to de-hire empties, arguments have erupted when detention notices have […]
The post NZ Importers Fed Up With Container Hire / Detention Fees (Go to Court?) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
11-minute read (22-minute watch) Import rules change on a regular basis. Find out what can cause extra delays or fees. 📚YOU WILL LEARN: Ways that an overseas supplier can ruin your compliance with NZ authorities. Situations when you are paying too much or too soon. How NZ Customs or NZ MPI Biosecurity will charge you […]
The post 5 Little-Known Mistakes with NZ Customs Clearance (Instant $800 Fines) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read One of the biggest E-commerce firms Alibaba has announced plans to establish a local office. Alibaba Group Australia and New Zealand regional general manager Maggie Zhou confirmed that the business expects to achieve a stronger local presence. “The focus of this team is to help enable local brands, retailers and producers to successfully […]
The post Alibaba Auckland Expo: How NZ Businesses Should Trade with China appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Around 90% of the dry goods 20-foot containers (TEU) imported into New Zealand come in full with imported product. However, around 30% of 20-foot containers (TEU) leaving New Zealand do so empty. The shipper or shipping line that works out to close the imbalance gap would not only be making a significant contribution […]
The post Why Auckland Has Container Shortage (What Is Done Overseas to Fix It) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
Wednesday, 29 May 2019 at 1 pm (NZ Time) This is a FREE educational business webinar to help NZ importers & exporters. YOU WILL LEARN: Little-Known Ways to Reduce Your Costs What to Say to Get a $200 Instant Price Drop How to Avoid Hidden Fees and Nasty Surprises When Send Your Goods Q + […]
The post Money Saving Tips When You Pick an NZ Customs Broker (5 Methods) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Freight importers & exporters should be worried about the cost of containers abandoned overseas for which they may be liable and how to implement safeguards to prevent this situation occurring. BIFA (British International Freight Association) says that one of the most frequent questions it receives regarding problems on maritime shipments is about abandoned […]
The post Issues With Abandoned Shipping Containers – You May Be Liable! appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
13-minute read (19-minute watch) How do you deal with competitors that copy you? Ways to stay relevant to the market. This week our guest speaker was Shay Lawrence is the founder of CaliWoods, loves surfing and the ocean. Passion lies in using business as a force for good, developing her own business in the Social […]
The post Why Sustainable Business is Better (3 Tips to Make a Difference) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
11-minute read (20-minute watch) As an NZ importer or exporter, you’re no doubt always on the lookout for ways to save money. But there’s one place you shouldn’t be skimping on, and that’s cargo insurance. This is an educational business webinar to help NZ entrepreneurs understand how to get the best out of the cargo […]
The post How to Get The Best Cargo Insurance (4 Myths Busted) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (27-minute watch) Growing your business alone is challenging. If you apply the right system life will be easier. This week our guest speaker was Graeme Hogan is a CEO with 20+ years of experience in both small & large companies, covering most aspects of the business – from sales, marketing, as well as […]
The post Business Planning & Top 3 Tips to Increase the Value of Your Company appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (27-minute watch) Steps to increase your sales by 3 times and grow your business. This week our guest speaker was Logan Wedgwood is a sought-after management consultant specialising in business sales and marketing. 📚 YOU WILL LEARN: What You Must Do to Get New Clients How to Get a Better Return on Your […]
The post What You Must Do to Get New Clients (Grow Your Business 3X) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (23-minute watch) You can do these simple website changes and beat your competition. No huge budget required! This week our guest speaker was Richard Conway is the CEO and founder of Pure SEO Ltd. You Will Learn: Vital SEO Tips for Your Website How to Avoid Mistakes When Selecting the SEO Provider Is […]
The post How to Get to the Top of Google Search & Increase Your Sales Leads appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (17-minute watch) 1) How to navigate the new taxes – check which apply to you. 2) Round-up of 2019 law changes. This week our guest speaker was Kirk Hope is Chief Executive of BusinessNZ. You Will Learn: What are the new taxes and how will it affect New Zealand businesses How to minimise […]
The post How to Navigate New Taxes and Minimise Issues with Business Compliance appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (22-minute watch) Do you want to stand out among your competitors? How to do it using just your smartphone? This week our guest speaker was Jef Kay from Easy Social Media Ltd. You Will Learn: What you must do to get new clients How to get a better return on your marketing investment […]
The post How to Get New Clients via Social Media Marketing (3rd Rule is Vital!) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read From 1 April 2019, Customs officers issue Infringement Notices, with an instant fine of $400 for an individual or $800 for a business. Infringement Notices enable Customs to manage minor offending involving travel, goods and craft (aircraft or ship) by issuing fines for 70 offences. These are strict liability offences, which means you […]
The post Instant Fines by NZ Customs (70 Offences That Can Incur It) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
12-minute read Ports of Auckland CEO, Tony Gibson has announced the company’s half-year results: Our company is in the middle of a major investment programme which will increase capacity, efficiency and returns. This work will give us a solid foundation for a sustainable future, but while construction is underway there is a tangible effect on […]
The post Ports of Auckland Profit is Down $5 mil and 50% of Ships Arrived Late appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read (4-minute listen) Newscaster: The car shipping line, Scandinavia’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen, is telling the government that the biosecurity rules that are meant to keep the marmorated stink bug pest out of New Zealand are ineffective and inconsistent. Full Audio Interview (transcription below): It’s warning the government if the rules are not improved, the pests […]
The post More Vehicle Import Troubles with Ineffective NZ Biosecurity Rules appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Maersk and other carriers in the industry are working to improve safety and reliability in the Containerized Maritime Supply Chain, by verifying that cargo descriptions match actual contents of the container, and that the contents of the container are correctly stuffed, lashed and secured. As part of this work, we have recently implemented […]
The post New Container Inspections by the Shipping Line May Add Extra Costs appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
25-minute read (43-minute watch) You Will Learn: What marketing tactics you must use in 2019 and what to ignore. How to avoid common mistakes. And other practical tips you can implement today! Max: Today we will talk about proven online marketing tactics for 2019, and top mistakes businesses make. Our guest today is Todd Welling […]
The post Proven Online Marketing Tactic for 2019 & Top Mistakes Businesses Make appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
15-minute read (25-minute watch) You Will Learn: Why do most organisations collapse? How did the leaders of the popular companies make decisions that triggered the breakdown of their business? And other practical tips you can implement today! Max: Hello. Today we are going to talk about why New Zealand import businesses fail and tips on […]
The post Why New Zealand Import Businesses Fail and Tips on How You Can Avoid It appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read We looked at a document called “Brave new world? – Container transport in 2043” published by leading international freight transport insurer TT Club, in conjunction with global management consulting firm McKinsey. The report aims to set out what the future holds for the container industry over the next 25 years. We set the […]
The post 4 Outcomes for NZ Importers & Exporters During the Next 25 Years appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Myanmar-based Master Zay Yar Un has won the inaugural International Maritime Organization (IMO) Day of the Seafarer Photo Competition with what has been described as a “bold geometric composition, focusing on the deck of a ship and the blue ocean beneath”. The IMO invited men and women working at sea to submit photographs […]
The post Winner of the 2018 Day of the Seafarer Photo Contest (1700 Entries!) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read The fragility of New Zealand’s supply chain has been exposed several times in recent years, for example through the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes which hammered the ports of Lyttelton and CentrePort, and the 2012 Auckland industrial troubles which disrupted operations there and put huge pressure on the Port of Tauranga as a back […]
The post Reasons for the Import & Export Freight Hold Ups in Auckland appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read There is one thing that the freight industry needs to see come from the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy review which the Government is finally getting underway – a result. By that, I mean clear recommendations that oblige the Government to take action, in order to give us a way forward for […]
The post 3 Recommendations Where to Move the Ports of Auckland appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Importers will have to do more to ensure vehicles and machinery from overseas are free of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), according to the Ministry of Primary Industries. The new Import Health Standard for Vehicles, Machinery and equipment that came into force on September 1 have a focus on Japan given the issues […]
The post Cleaning Cert. & Other Things MPI Checks to Allow a Vehicle Import appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read An eight-year-old black rhino is settling into a new home in the Serengeti thanks to a complex logistics project managed by Intradco Global and Qatar Airways Cargo. After spending his entire life at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Eric was selected to move to Tanzania to play a starring role in a […]
The post What It’s Like to Air Transport a Live Rhino Across the World appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read National Road Carriers Association and the Ports of Auckland are combining forces to promote change in the supply chain to improve delivery times and prevent delays. This initiative has come about because of supply chain capacity issues which were highlighted following an accident at Ports of Auckland in August. Imported freight has taken […]
The post Why a Lot of Auckland Companies Will Have to Work 24/7 appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Advice to shippers, exporters and importers of new and used vehicles and machinery from China and Korea. At this stage, New Zealand does not have specific Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) measures in place for vehicles and machinery from China and Korea. However, MPI is currently monitoring vessels reporting detections of BMSB and […]
The post Risks of Importing Vehicles or Machinery from China & Korea appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Peter McRae is calling on authorities to promptly address “regulation, categorisation and commercial concerns” regarding the importation of E-scooters. In a publicly-released commentary, Mr McRae identified issues in three specific areas: Appropriate design and resulting classification of E-scooters as vehicles for transportation, not toys. Risk management for the expected increase in future motorised […]
The post E-scooter: NZ Import Safety Concerns and How it Affects You appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Importers of vehicles and machinery from Japan and “Schedule 3″ countries are being advised they will need to have acquired an approved Biosecurity Authority Clearance Certificate (BACC) at least 72 hours prior to vessel arrival in New Zealand. A recent customer advisory sighted from Mistui OSK Lines (MOL) noted that any cargo that […]
The post Vehicle & Machinery Importers Are Warned of Extra Fees appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read The Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation (‘CBAFF’) told Shipping Gazette™ it is actively working towards resolution of issues with MPI clearance delays. Chris Edwards, vice president of CBAFF, said the Trade Single Window (TSW) issues are top of mind for the industry and no solution is yet in sight. “I’m not blaming […]
The post Import Delays to NZ Are Getting Worse (Is There a Solution?) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
25-minute read The government is cutting import taxes on low-value goods to soften the impact for New Zealand consumers who start paying GST on all overseas purchases next year. Following consultation earlier in 2018, details were released on 18 October 2018 on the proposed GST regime for non-residents supplying “low-value goods” to NZ buyers. While many aspects […]
The post New Import GST on Goods Valued Under $1000: the What & How appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
9-minute read From 12 November 2018 hemp (cannabis sativa) seed food products will be able to be imported into (and exported from) New Zealand. What are the rules? Importers and exporters should note products must NOT contain whole hemp seeds. Whole hemp seeds remain Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 and […]
The post How to Import Hemp (Cannabis) Seed as Food into New Zealand appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Departure cards have been discontinued this month, and the information used to account for all travellers departing New Zealand will now be collected electronically. You still have to meet some requirements to avoid problems. Key facts and stats: › In 2017, 6.5 million cards were completed. › This represents around 100,000 hours of […]
The post NZ Customs Departure Card Cancelled: What You Need to Know appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Let’s discuss the volume of alcohol being illegally imported into the country and imported without compliant labelling. What are the telltale signs of illegitimate product? Citing examples of imported shipping containers being declared as beer when they were predominantly filled with spirits. That kind of smuggling is denying the country of about $40 […]
The post NZ Importer Jailed for Smuggling Goods (What Can You Learn?) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read (10-minute watch) You Will Learn: How to save money on cargo insurance The costs to insure your goods in New Zealand Three common mistakes that you need to avoid And other practical tips you can implement today! Today we are going to talk about New Zealand cargo insurance costs and three little-known issues […]
The post Cargo Insurance Costs & 3 Little-Known Issues You Must Avoid appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
12-minute read Administrative Penalties Administrative penalties apply to exporters, importers, licensees and agents who make an error or omission on their entry and do not voluntarily disclose it to Customs. Who do penalties apply to? Administrative penalties apply to all exporters, importers, licensees and agents who make errors or omissions on import, export or excise […]
The post Updated NZ Customs Rules & Fees: What You Need to Know appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read From 1st January 2020, a new regulation will come into force to reduce air pollution from ships globally. Whereas today ships can use fuel with up to 3.5% sulphur content (outside Emission Control Areas), the new global sulphur cap will be 0.5%. The regulation has been developed and adopted by the International Maritime […]
The post New Sea Freight Fuel Prices – How it Will Affect You (Q&A) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Progress is being made on the massive automation project being undertaken at the Ports of Auckland , as the port readies itself to become the first in New Zealand to use automated straddle carriers to load and unload trucks and to operate the container yard. There is also a “world first element to […]
The post How Ports of Auckland Automation Will Affect Importers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Recent Shipping Gazette™ news articles and the Commentary column focusing on emergency bunker surcharges being applied to shippers (June 9) have prompted interest from readers who have asked the basic question – how are BAF (bunker adjustment factors) calculated? BAFs aren’t the same as the emergency surcharges. These an everyday occurrence wrapped up […]
The post Why are Freight Fuel Prices (BAF) Going Up & are They Valid? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read (7-minute watch) You’ll learn: How to hire the best talents for your business Important steps and techniques of the hiring process Why you need to have team discussions Ways to improve the communication in your team How social networks can help your business Max: Hi. Today you’re going to learn some tips and […]
The post How to Hire Top Talent & Tips to Improve Team Happiness appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read (9-minute watch) You’ll learn: What are the costs to import 1 pallet of standard goods from Australia to NZ The main components of these costs In what way you can calculate the cost of importing more than 1 pallet How your customs broker can help you save money Why a local freight forwarding […]
The post Costs to Import One Pallet (or More) from Australia to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read (9-minute watch) You’ll learn: What are the costs of import from China to New Zealand Which freight incoterms to choose and why All fees included in the NZ port fees Extra fees that you should account for How to calculate the cost of importing 1+ pallet from China to NZ Watch full […]
The post Prices to Import One Pallet (or More) from China to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read One of the examples of how “General Average” works was Maersk’s declaration of it following the fire on board the Honam. It caused some interesting feedback relating to the value of having marine cargo insurance. In particular, the issue that was drawn into sharp focus was the risk borne by all New Zealand […]
The post How to Decide if You Need Cargo Insurance & Who Pays for It? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
17-minute read (11-minute watch) You’ll learn: Who benefits from this new tax Current GST rules, how and when they are going to change How much you have to spend on customs clearance, including customs broker fee What you should be aware of in regards to Amazon Tax Watch full YouTube episode below Alex: Everyone keeps […]
The post Amazon Tax: What You Need to Know & Beware of This Trap appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
27-minute read (46-minute watch) You’ll learn: Is it worth to have a recruiting agency and how much do they charge What is the difference between “passive” and “active” candidates and how you can use that How you can grab the attention of applicants in your ad Why it is so important to gather critical information […]
The post Top 5 Recruiting Mistakes by NZ Import & Export Businesses appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
20-minute read (42-minute watch) Max: If you want to learn more different business tactics, tools and how to import or export goods to New Zealand then start now by subscribing to our YouTube channel . Alex: You want to bring a 20-foot container from any country to New Zealand, where do you start? Watch full YouTube […]
The post True Costs to Import 20ft Container to NZ (How to Save Money) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
7-minute read (19-minute watch) Max: All these five mistakes apply whether you import a full container , air freight, or even 100 kilos by sea freight, and it’s very important to make sure that you prepare all these things before you arrive in New Zealand. Make sure you do not arrive before your shipment arrives in […]
The post 5 Expensive Mistakes When You Import Used Household Effects to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
8-minute read (18-minute watch) Max: We wanted to sit together and talk to you about a very sensitive subject for many. Alex and I are both co-founders and directors of the beautiful company called Easy Freight. And we’ve been in business for a long seven years! Some of you also have a business partner or planning […]
The post 3 Reasons Why I Want to Ditch My Business Partner! (Number 2 is Vital) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
11-minute read (28-minute watch) Max: Were talking about importing goods to New Zealand, and four ways the supplier will cost you extra money that you didn’t budget for. #1 YOU RECEIVE LESS THAN EXPECTED The first way that you can lose money is, surprisingly, some New Zealand importers can receive half-full containers. And it happened […]
The post Importing Goods to NZ? 4 Ways an Overseas Supplier Will Cost You appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
11-minute read (23-minute watch) Max: If you think about it, when you import two pallets or even a full container, you’re going to pay at least anywhere between NZD 1,000 to 5,000 of freight to ship the goods say from China to New Zealand . Alex: So why we think that it’s so important not just […]
The post How to Select an Auckland Customs Broker – Avoid THESE Costs appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
12-minute read (26-minute watch) Max: We’re going to talk about mainly importing containers with used household goods to New Zealand. And it’s going to be a very topical question, how to save money when you migrate and bring your stuff to New Zealand . What’s the first step when you prepare to bring your goods […]
The post How to Save $3,105 on Importing Your Used Personal Effects to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
7-minute read (14-minute watch) Today we’re going to talk about the price breakdown if you want to import one cubic metre standard pallet of goods from China to New Zealand. This is the most commonly asked question, so I’m delighted to finally break it down for you. Watch full YouTube episode below So imagine that […]
The post Price Breakdown: Import One Pallet of Goods from China to NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
8-minute read (16-minute watch) Max: Today we’re talking about “Three things I know about my business partner, but his wife doesn’t.” And I think I should clarify some very important things straightaway. I’m not married. Alex is not married either. So we don’t live double lives. Do you Alex? Watch full YouTube episode below Alex: […]
The post 3 Things I Know About My Business Partner, But His Wife Doesn’t appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read (3-minute listen) Newscaster: Well, self-driving cars, and driverless trucks, also airliners that fly on autopilot. They’ll soon be commonplace. What about crewless container ships though? Well, they’re just over the horizon, as it were. Eric Frykberg plots their course. Eric Frykberg: Coming soon to a port near you, the crewless ship with a […]
The post How & When Autonomous Ships Will Change Imports & Exports appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read (8-minute listen) Mark: Greg Harford is from Retail New Zealand . He joins us now. Hey, are you all doomed to put up the shutters and close up? Greg Harford: Well, we represent the retail sector including some online retailers. So I think the outlook for retail itself is positive, but it’s certainly, increasingly, […]
The post Online vs Physical Retail: What’s the state of NZ shopping? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
1-minute read (20-minute watch) Today my guest is Dr. Peter Stoeveken co-founder of Stoeveken Cosmetics Ltd who will share his tips for NZ Importers & Entrepreneurs. They are NZ importers of 100% natural and certified organic beauty care products from Germany. We talk about how to find the supplier , how to avoid mistakes when […]
The post Peter from Stoeveken Cosmetics shares tips for NZ Importers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read (9-minute listen) The boom in global trade was caused by a simple steel box. Shipping goods around the world was – for many centuries – expensive, risky and time-consuming. But, as Tim Harford explains, 60 years ago the trucking entrepreneur Malcolm McLean changed all that by selling the idea of container shipping to […]
The post How a Shipping Container Changed The World & Why It Happened appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read (6-minute listen) Guyon Espiner: New Zealand First is suggesting to move the Ports of Auckland to Northland. This has been met with some scepticism, particularly from the National Party. We had Simon Bridges on the program a little earlier. Labour’s Phil Twyford was also unwilling to commit the Labour Party to the move. […]
The post What are the Problems of Moving Auckland Port to Northland appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
8-minute read 1. Can you deliver? Part of securing export orders is making sure you can deliver. Many Kiwi exporters have underestimated the volume opportunity they encounter overseas. Similar issues arise for NZ importers. Before anyone from your business travels overseas prospecting for business, give some thought to what might happen if your export quest does […]
The post A Cheaper, More Foolproof Way to Import Goods — To Anywhere appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
14-minute read Understanding Regulations Trading rules and regulations vary from country to country and import legislation can be both complicated and confusing. Gaining a clear understanding of your obligations makes sound business sense, but because regulations can be complicated, we recommend you use professionals to help manage the process. It is important to get every […]
The post What You Need to Know About Import & Export Compliance appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
MINIMISING THE FINANCIAL RISK
Finance is obviously fundamental when exporting: you want to be paid quickly and without complications. Here are some factors to cover.
- Credit checks
When you receive your first export order it is important to conduct the same credit checks as you would with any new customer in New Zealand.
The post 6 Things to Do Before the Import of Your Goods (#5 is a Must) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
27-minute read (This is the interview with Richie Norton by Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income). This month, I’m learning everything I can about the world of physical products: how to create my own, how to validate them, how to find the perfect manufacturer, and how to get them in the hands of my customers. […]
The post The Ultimate Guide: How to Make & Source Your Goods Overseas appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Reporter: Lisa Wilson is on the line with me now. Good day, Lisa. Lisa Wilson: How are you doing? Reporter: Hey, now look just for a start. So customs held up your shipment because it contained Weetabix. Is that correct? Lisa Wilson: Yes, that’s right. Reporter: And did they do this of their […]
The post How NZ Corporates can Damage Your Small NZ Import Business appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read Reporter: The new Customs and Excise Bill means Customs will no longer be able to demand that people entering the country hand over the passwords to their devices without reasonable cause. Although, is that a change? We’ll find out, speaking to Tech Liberty founder and New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties chairman, Thomas […]
The post NZ Customs Can Inspect Your Digital Devices at any Airport appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Note that the legislation will not affect customs duty, which is still not payable below the AU$1,000 threshold. What are the likely impacts be for New Zealand companies exporting to Australia? It will depend on how they undertake their exports. However, to get a bit more clarity NZTE spoke with Andrew Hudson, Partner […]
The post New Tax on Imported Goods to Australia: What NZ Companies Need to Know appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read For some time we have been looking to identify the potential long-term impact of 3D printing on the movement of goods in the supply chain but now manufacturers and transport providers are being warned of how the criminal fraternity are using the technology to help steal goods from containers. Cargo thieves have reportedly […]
The post Your Cargo Can be Stolen Using 3D Printing Technology appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read An online shipper/truck operator matching service recently launched by New Zealand startup, TNX , is reportedly delivering 10% cost savings to the former while also reducing the 40% under-utilisation of vehicles said to currently be commonplace for the latter. Following a private beta trial run with a select group of customers in August […]
The post How to Cut Your NZ Freight Costs and Improve Service appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read In mid – July a freight forwarder filed a container pre-receival advice to DP World Australia at Melbourne port, and while doing so made a typo error with the weight, missing out a “zero” numeral … This meant that the weight of the box was being incorrectly declared as 1,800 kg instead of […]
The post Who Should Pay for These Extra Costs and How to Avoid Them appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read A number of CBAFF members have raised concerns recently about delays with New Zealand Customs releasing shipments. MPI delays have been, and continue to be, an ongoing issue . To be fair, the Customs issue is a new phenomenon, but members are telling us it’s happening country-wide. On occasions, NZ Customs client codes […]
The post The Main Reason Your Shipment Could be Delayed appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) secretary general Chris Welsh has announced his organisation aims to stamp out shipping surcharges within five years.
The post Naming and Shaming the Worst Unjustified Freight Surcharges appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
To import food into NZyou need to apply and get clearance from both NZ Customs and the MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries).
For some food, you will need to provide extra proof that it is safe for the NZ plants and animals and for people to eat. This guidance will help you understand the full process and give more detail about what you need to do to get Food Safety Clearance.
The post The Ultimate Guide: Food Import Customs & MPI Clearance appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read What is this about? To import food into New Zealand (NZ) for sale individuals need to understand and comply with requirements under the Food Act 2014. This guidance will help you with this. Who should read it? Any person or business wanting to bring food into New Zealand for sale. Examples: • A […]
The post What You Must Know Before You Import Food into NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read The container shipping industry had one of its worst years in 2016. In his Editor’s Insight, Nevil Gibson says a recovery is underway and that’s good news for importers and exporters. Nevil Gibson joins me now. How bad was 2016 for container shippers? Well, it was the worst year since the global financial […]
The post Good News for Importers & Exporters – New Freight Tech appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read A counterfeit containers warning issued to the Customs Brokers’ and Forwarders’ Council of Australia (CBFCA) by Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) , could serve as a timely portent for New Zealand shippers. While Shipping Gazette™ enquiries with the New Zealand Customs Service and the Custom Brokers’ and Freight Forwarders’ Federation […]
The post Counterfeit Shipping Containers: What You Need to Know to Prevent It appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Mainfreight says KiwiRail needs to find an alternative way to get urgent freight from Auckland to Christchurch as fast as it can. Earthquake damage has left CentrePort in Wellington unable to load and unload container ships and has damaged the rail link to Christchurch, forcing trucks to take up the slack. Thank Heavens […]
The post Customs Brokers Call for an Urgent Solution to Freight Problems appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Importers and exporters are piling work onto other New Zealand ports as they scramble to keep cargo moving after last month’s earthquake blocked most of the trade out of Wellington . They’re having to make long and expensive detours to other ports, raising costs and bringing delays at a busy time of year, […]
The post NZ Imports and Exports are Delayed After the Earthquake appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Hanjin’s receivership represents the greed of the container shipping market, and despite continuing concerns of weak trade growth and fleet oversupply, a gradual market recovery is now expected, according to the latest annual Container Forecaster and Review 2016/17 report published by global shipping consultancy Drewry. Worse than expected second quarter financial results will […]
The post Will Your Import & Export Freight Rates Go Up Or Down? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read You might soon have to pay GST on all the goods you buy online, not just purchases of digital goods including music, software and films and TV shows. The government is looking at Amazon and – this is in Australia, anyway – this is actually been called the Amazon tax. They’ve said that […]
The post Soon You Will Pay Import Taxes On All Small Parcels appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read When I looked in March at the work that had been released by the Port Future Study’s Consensus Working Group (CWG) , identifying a long list of areas being considered as options to meet Auckland’s future demand for a port, I had major reservations about some of the options being considered – particularly […]
The post Back To The Port Of Auckland Future appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read The online shopper is questioning what happens to the GST and customs duty, charged on purchases from overseas when goods are returned. Barb bought two items of clothing from the US, she understood she had to pay the GST and customs duty, fair enough, but wasn’t so pleased to learn that when the […]
The post Little-Known but Vital Online Import Tax Rules appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read In a week when one of the world’s top ten container lines went bankrupt, the business performance of shipping and ports has come firmly under the spotlight, not just globally but in NZ too. We are fortunate in that South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, which has filed for court receivership after losing the support […]
The post What Happens When a Shipping Line Goes Bankrupt? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Reports are emerging of some carriers and other supply chain service providers imposing “exorbitant and unjustified charges” in particularly Asia and Africa following the July 1 enactment of the new verified gross mass (VGM ) regulations for packed containers. Contrastingly, New Zealand Shippers’ Council chairperson Mike Knowles said implementation of the VGM in […]
The post Your Freight Agent May Be Charging Inflated Fees appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
New Zealand exporters seeking financial protection against the non-payment by a customer could find themselves eligible for trade insurance from the New Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO).
The post Why You Need Export Trade Insurance from NZ Government appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
As advised earlier and as constantly reported in industry press the new Mandatory Cargo Weighing Laws become effective around the globe on 1st July this year.
This law is referred to as V.G.M. or Verified Gross Mass. As from this date, a ship will not load a container anywhere in the world without a declared VGM.
The post 9 Facts You Need to Know About Mandatory Cargo Weighing Law appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The freight forwarding charges debate here in New Zealand, as discussed in the past , has probably come to a head with the statement by the Commerce Commission that “it is not the commission’s role to enforce “Incoterms ” in contracts between forwarders and importers.” The most the commission will do is to […]
The post Dispute Over Import Freight Charges (And What to Do With It) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Importers were warned this week by the Ministry of Primary Industries to a situation that has arisen for one of the importers, the outcome of which may need to be considered by others. “This customer had some particular frustrations around bicycle parts and accessories and their classification as vehicles”, said Mark Bateman, Manager […]
The post Importers: Alert to New and Used Parts from USA appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The reference 75 concession allows entry of presents or gifts except tobacco products sent from abroad to a resident in New Zealand: (i) Not exceeding $110 in total value – Free (ii) Exceeding $110 in total value, on the excess over $110 – The rates of duty applicable to the goods as set […]
The post How to Avoid Paying Duty and GST on Imported Gifts appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The researchers’ investigations found 20% of the containers sampled had gas concentrations above safe levels. In the worst case, methyl bromide was found in one container at a level of 50,000 parts per billion — 100 times more than the safe level. Customs external relations manager Helen Keyes confirmed that her organisation was […]
The post Your Import Shipping Container Could be Full of Toxic Gas appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read In the past, the major consideration for exporters has been the legislative requirements surrounding the disposal of packaging waste. Driven by the European Union (EU), member countries have developed stringent legislation governing the disposal of packaging waste. The burden falls on those responsible for bringing the products to their market, so the onus […]
The post 5 Key Principles When Labeling and Packaging Your Goods appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read False import charges have become an endemic issue in the local freight forwarding industry with only a limited number of operators excluded from the practice, according to a stakeholder who approached the Shipping Gazette™ following last week’s article on the issue. “There would be very few in the industry who don’t know about […]
The post Are You Paying Too Much For Import Freight Services? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Did you know that the IMO (International Maritime Organization) passed an amendment to SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) requiring verification of container weights? Starting from 1st July 2016, a packed container will no longer be allowed to be loaded on board vessels unless its Verified Gross Mass (VGM) has been provided by the […]
The post Compulsory Container Weighing Rules (Are You Ready?) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The message is loud and clear from the buyer (importer) to request all applicable destination charges from the China supplier upfront. Time and time again we are approached by New Zealand importers who, admittedly, have not done all the ground work . They leave the freight forwarding up to the shipper as the […]
The post How to Reduce Your Import Charges (One Simple Step!) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read A trans-Tasman customs mutual recognition agreement (MRA.) due to come into force by June next year will lessen border checks and speed the movement of export products to market for members of the two countries supply chain security programmes. New Zealand Customs Service and the Australian Border Force last Friday signed a statement […]
The post New Rules in Trans-Tasman Trade (What You Need to Know) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has advised us of seasonally high volumes in bio-security applications. These are bringing with them the usual timing constraints and frustrations, said Mark Bateman, manager Operational Coordination Operations Branch. “With up to 5000 more applications per month this year, post our early year improvements, delays are once […]
The post Reasons for Delay in MPI Bio-Security Applications appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read A recent recruit to our Detector Dogs team, Kane, a black Labrador, has been proving his worth at the border. Based in the South Island with his handler Senior Customs Officer Robert Gillanders, Kane is trained to find large amounts of cash and has been sniffing out the dosh on a weekly basis. […]
The post You Won’t Believe How Much Cash NZ Customs Dogs Find Per Year appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Fake goods are easily accessible everywhere these days – international travel and online shopping make it easy for people to buy counterfeits and import them. You can be almost certain that Prada in a plastic bag at a night market is unlikely to be the real thing. Counterfeiting is an organised crime where […]
The post How to Avoid Buying Fake Goods – and What will Happen to It appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read If you import goods into New Zealand you must declare the Customs value of the goods on the import entry or clearance document, but questions are always asked – how is the value determined, and what is the process for appeal? The Customs value of imported goods plays a large part in determining […]
The post Can You Reduce Value of The Goods and Minimise Import Taxes? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Most businesses that make or import hazardous substances have to give some basic contact information to Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). This information helps the EPA effectively manage New Zealand’s hazardous substances and enables us to communicate with manufacturers and importers and keep them up to date and informed. The new rules came into […]
The post Importer: New Rule for Hazardous Substances (You have 30 Days) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) Secretary-General Chris Welsh was in New Zealand recently, attending the NZ Shippers’ Council annual meeting and also for comprehensive meetings with Government officials. I caught up with him for a chat, to find out what are the current major topics occupying the GSF globally, and which could be of […]
The post Are You Responsible for New Cargo Weighing Requirements? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read New Zealand’s coastal shipping sector needs to be acknowledged as a valuable transport asset that figures prominently in future transport planning, according to both the New Zealand Shipping Federation and Customs Brokers’ and Freight Forwarders’ Federation (CBAFF). Noting a number of recent transport planning reports had overlooked the “essential” role of the sector, […]
The post Why Coastal Shipping is Important for NZ Shippers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read A new FernMark, embedded with augmented reality and including a global trademark monitoring programme, is now available to help exporters market their products internationally. Any New Zealand company currently exporting goods can now apply to carry the FernMark on their products. Previous programmes were open by invite only. To be granted a FernMark […]
The post How to Get a New FernMark – and Receive Instant Credibility appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read (3-minute watch) One of the globe’s great trade fairs will commence in Guangzhou province, in southern China, and according to the representative of the China Foreign Trade Centre it will be one of the biggest yet. A delegation visited New Zealand recently to promote awareness of the Canton Import and Export Fair and […]
The post Do not Miss Canton Import and Export Fair (3 Practical Tips) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Many importers and exporters question why does it take so long to go through the New Zealand border? Easy Freight has received the following update from MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries). Unfortunately, it happens several times a year and it is not an isolated case. Therefore, we recommend that you send documents to your […]
The post Why is Your Shipment Delayed? (How to Avoid Common Issues) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read Recent complaints made by importers against several freight forwarder charges are disturbing. It shows that there is a structural problem in the way importers are doing business, and a lack of clarity as to what ‘rules’ apply. Put simply, importers are being landed with costs which should never apply to them. They are […]
The post You’re Paying False Import Charges and Don’t Even Know That appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement have been successfully concluded. It involves 12 Asia-Pacific countries, which together account for 36 percent of the world’s economy. This agreement will deliver significant benefits to New Zealand – it will support more jobs, higher incomes, and provide a better standard of living for New […]
The post How does Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Affect You and NZ appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read Is it time to radically change our thinking in terms of rail? Should we stop expecting a financial profit from the rail, and start to recognise its more strategic importance in our national transport infrastructure? The prompt for asking these questions was the release of Treasury documents after the Budget, in which Finance […]
The post Should New Zealanders Fund Rail and Road? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Our job is to cut costs and save time for importers and exporters. We would like to share some of the insider secrets with you. Here are six key questions you should ask your freight forwarder to make sure you are getting the best deal possible. 1) Do you have back up support? […]
The post 5 Aspects of a Perfect Import Business (Number 3 is a Gem!) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read “It is highly recommended that all companies do their due diligence before committing to the overseas market”. This was the main message from Mr Paul Smith, NZ Customs Counsellor. Paul went on to explain, using China as an example, why working with trusted trading partners, logistical providers and brokers is a fundamental need. New Zealand […]
The post What Problems to Expect When Exporting to China (And How to Avoid Them) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Interview with Aaron Muir from Argus Tracking. Aaron Muir is a director of Auckland-based firm Argus Tracking, which has had its asset management hardware manufactured in multiple countries. How did you come to start outsourcing manufacturing offshore? We originally sourced our first generation tracking hardware from a niche supplier in Canada that was […]
The post The Do’s and Don’ts When Working with an Overseas Supplier appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read The New Zealand Flower Growers Association (NZFGA) wants imported flowers to be labelled as imports so consumers can make an informed choice about whether to buy them. Chairman, David Blewden, says Kiwis can be short-changed when buying flowers because they don’t realise their purchases are often imported products. “First of all, they are getting […]
The post 2 Shocking Facts You Need to Know About Imported Flowers appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read New Zealand has quite an old vehicle fleet compared to many other countries. The average age of a car is about 13 years. This is set to change. As part of efforts to reduce vehicle emissions, the government introduced tighter car import rules to restrict older used vehicles. Newer vehicles are generally more […]
The post How to Import a Car and Avoid Costly Mistakes appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read Politics involves a heap of misleading information. The tendency is to seize on populist themes and fashion statements that meet with approval over the dinner table, in smoko rooms and in the pub. Therefore it comes as no surprise to see politicians seize on the container ship Rena sinking to make statements that, […]
The post Why Do Shipowners Have a Limit on Compensations? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Most residential building materials can now be imported into New Zealand duty-free as a result of a new tariff concession scheme recently announced by the Government. A wide range of materials is covered by the scheme, from the structural elements of a house to fittings and products such as paint, builders’ hardware and […]
The post How to Import Building Materials Duty-Free appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Parallel imported goods are genuine branded products that are imported into New Zealand (or other countries) and sold within that market without the brand’s owner consent. Parallel importing gives importers the opportunity to offer authentic branded item to consumers at a more affordable price by cutting out the additional costs incurred where a […]
The post Can You Really Trust Parallel Imported Goods in New Zealand? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read How do the goods of the world travel from one place to another? Despite technological advancements and the propagation of a globalized economy, a surprising 90% of everything still comes and goes on a ship by sea. The shipping industry may be one of the oldest in the world, but the global economy […]
The post 9 Surprising Facts About the Worldwide Shipping Industry appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Finding the right supplier for your product idea may prove challenging. If possible, you should find one that you like working with, and they should also provide you with a quality product at a fair price. Here are the steps involved in finding a supplier, and some of the many considerations you will […]
The post How to Find an Overseas Supplier for Your Product Idea appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read The IMF (International Monetary Fund) data indicate a continued rise in the proportion of the global GDP accounted for by Asia. The Asian region almost doubles in importance in the 40-year period to 2020, rising from 18.3 percent of the global economy in 1980 to 30.8 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, Europe shrinks in […]
The post What does Asia’s Rise Mean for Your NZ Company? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read There are several rules that could impact your importing, and it is vital to know what procedures you need to follow in order to ensure timely and safe delivery of your goods. Here are five rules that you should take note of. 1. Import Entry or Electronic Cargo Information All goods brought into […]
The post 5 Rules That Could Impact Your New Zealand Importing appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read There are some harsh lessons sometimes handed out in business. A good case was reported in the Shipping Gazette™ of a cargo owner with a shipment on board the ill-fated cargo vessel Rena. To pay for the freight of a consignment of export goods from Napier port that gets as far as the […]
The post [True Story] Is Your Marine Insurance a Waste of Money? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Thinking about importing goods into NZ? Perhaps you can access better prices or superior quality overseas? Or maybe you’ve identified a market for goods that just can’t be sourced locally? But importing into NZ is more complicated than it may seem at first. The risks are significant if you don’t know what you’re […]
The post Importing Into NZ? Have You Considered These 6 Risks? appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read As an importer or exporter, you’re no doubt always on the lookout for ways to save your money. But there’s one place you shouldn’t be skimping on, and that’s cargo insurance. Sure, you might never have had any problems with your shipments in the past. Or you might feel it’s worth the risk […]
The post Cargo Insurance: The Shocking Truth for Importers & Exporters appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read A dangerous and highly effective new online scam is affecting New Zealand importers. The scam has already left several Kiwi businesses severely out of pocket, with some businesses losing deposits of over USD 250,000 to scammers. How does this hacking scam work? Email hackers are infiltrating the email accounts of overseas suppliers – […]
The post BEWARE: NZ Importers Targeted by Email Hacking Scam – 5 Ways to Control It appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
5-minute read 3 Our clients often ask us about the goods that are restricted for importing to New Zealand. Can one bring necessary medicine, favourite DVD collection or some rare artwork as an unaccompanied baggage? Despite New Zealand’s reputation of having a very strict rules at the border, a person can import almost every possible […]
The post How to Import Household Goods — The Ultimate Guide appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read 2 (4-minute watch) International Postal Regulations require that every item passing an international border is subject to Customs inspection in the destination country. Postal items coming into New Zealand are inspected by the New Zealand Customs Service (Customs) for a number of reasons. These include but are not limited to inspecting the item to identify: […]
The post Why is Customs Holding Your Parcel? (and How to Avoid It) appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read Importers to New Zealand need to beware of a legal ‘loophole’ that leaves you exposed to unexpected and unwarranted charges on your imported goods. When you buy goods overseas under cost and freight rate (CFR) terms (see our Incoterms page for more about this), this should mean the seller covers the costs of freight to you in […]
The post Importers: Beware of ‘Fake’ Import Charges appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read With the rise of internet shopping more and more New Zealanders are importing goods from overseas using postal and international courier services. Whether the goods are a pair of sunglasses from America or a carton of cigarettes from France; a cellphone from Hong Kong or a bolt of cloth from Scotland – all […]
The post 25% of Courier Parcels Evade NZ Import Duty appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read This information is to help people understand the collection of Customs tariff duties, plus goods and services tax (GST), on articles imported into New Zealand. It explains how Customs tariff duty is charged on goods imported into New Zealand, lists a number of concessions, and describes which goods are subject to strict import […]
The post Tips on Importing Goods Into New Zealand appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
3-minute read People often get confused by these two words Demurrage and Detention. Well then, what is the difference? When dealt with in the context of containerised cargo, simply put, Demurrage relates to container storage at terminal (charged by the port) Detention relates to container usage (charged by the shipping line) How does it work […]
The post Demurrage and Detention: A Complete Comparison appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
2-minute read Easy Freight has responsibility in making sure your orders not only head to the destination in good condition but actually go through customs border without delay. When you decide to transport any products you will soon realize that you have to deal with the numerous barriers that have to be overcome to ship […]
The post Your Expectations from Us appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
4-minute read Both buyers and sellers need to determine the risk to their own business, the amount they are willing to pay to mitigate that risk. There are four commonly used payment methods for reducing these risks. 1. ADVANCE PAYMENTS Buyer pays for the goods prior to shipment. With this payment method, the exporter can […]
The post How to Get Paid appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.
6-minute read THE MAIN ADVANTAGES TO IMPORTERS ARE: Deferral of the payment of Customs charges for up to seven weeks, with a minimum period of three weeks. No requirement to pay cash on each import entry. Instead, importers have an account with Customs and settle one month’s transactions with a single payment. SOME CHARGES CAN […]
The post Be Smart, Defer Payment to Customs appeared first on NZ Customs Broker | Freight Forwarder | Customs Clearance.