Time to Reconnect!
The FIATA HQ Meeting is back! Register now for the 2022 event!
FIATA invites its Members to join the 2022 HQ Meeting titled "Reconnect" in presence!
The event will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on 17-20 May 2022 at the CICG – the International Conference Centre Geneva. A virtual attendance option is also being developed and will be available for attendees who cannot attend in person.
More information about the programme, such as the registration process, registration cost, and accommodation suggestions are available through this link.
Please note that registration to the FIATA HQ meeting is open until Sunday, 1 May 2022 inclusive.
Should you have any questions about this event, please contact the FIATA Events team at [email protected].
President Biden addresses shipping line anticompetition
In an attempt to crack down on anticompetetive practices, U.S. President Joe Biden has spoken out against the shipping line competition law exemption and has pledged to target regulations allowing carriers to work together on sharing vessels as well as other supply chain aspects. He honed in on the fact that 80% of the shipping capacity is dominated by just three alliances.
“Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism; it’s exploitation. Without healthy competition, big players can change and charge whatever they want and treat you however they want.” said President Biden.
This statement will support the work of the FIATA maritime crisis taskforce which meets biweekly to discuss the way forward for members in the crisis.
President Biden's full State of the Union speech can be read here.
Maersk buys trucking firm in aim to expand its on land commerce
Maersk has bought Pilot Freight Services LLC for a price of $1.68billion, expanding its road transport unit as it sees a lower-than-expected profit margin forecast for 2022. The giant has said that it expects a strong first half before an early second half normalisation, according to Bloomberg.
This comes as a further blow to the ongoing maritime crisis situation, where shipping SME's are struggling amongst anticompetitive practices by the three alliances who currently dominate the market. Maersk transports a fifth of the world’s containers at sea, and aims to expand this further to land-based logistics. It also acquired LF Logistics of Singapore in December, in its second biggest takeover.
Cybersecurity threat increases as Russia sanctioned
Cybersecurity, according to many leading industry experts, deserves key investment and time focus amongst the freight forwarding community, not least in the maritime sector, but particularly with the current threat of a retaliation to Russian sanctions. Lars Jensen, CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime shared a warning with FreightWaves:
“Fast forward to the conflict as it is now. If we see sanctions, Russia will very likely respond with cyberattacks. There is a very real risk that critical infrastructure might be targeted, and obviously shipping lines, ports and terminals are critical infrastructure.
“The situation now is markedly different than in 2017. In 2017, we could essentially lose the largest carrier in the world for a week and it didn’t cause any major problems in the supply chains. There was plenty of buffer capacity: ships, terminals, everything. Right now, we have literally zero buffer capacity. We have insufficient ships because they’re caught in queues. We have ports and terminals that are horribly congested,” he said.
“If — and I stress if — all the ports and terminals have done their jobs very well and boosted their cyber defenses over the last five years, it still doesn’t render them impermeable, but they will have a good backup plan, which means they could be fully up and running again in two, three or four days.
“But think about that in the current environment. Just taking one major port out of action for two or three or four days, on top of what we are already dealing with, will have major global ramifications on the supply chain.”
WTO shares report on trade bottlenecks in LLDC's
The World Trade Organization has in recent months shared the Easing Trade Bottlenecks in Landlocked Developing Countries publication. It will officially be launched at the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference, which has been postponed to June.
This publication serves as a significant opportunity to increase global awareness of the problems that LLDC's face, and to support landlocked FIATA member countries who themselves are tackling the issue of bottlenecks as LLDC's (see the Key Messages section in the report). The study confirms concerns that they are confronted with very high trade costs, which are much higher than those of coastal countries as a result of transport costs and non-tariff measures.
3 March World Wildlife Day 2022
On the occasion of World Wildlife Day on 3 March 2022, FIATA is proud to reiterate its strong commitment to support the fight against illicit wildlife trade taking place in the legal supply chain, namely by promoting awareness raising and capacity building in the logistics and freight forwarding sector. In this regard, FIATA offers a three-module course on the ‘Prevention of Wildlife Trafficking’, launched with TRAFFIC in 2019. Available in seven languages and free of charge, the course can be accessed here.
Agenda
Upcoming events where FIATA is participating:
- 10 March ¦ FIATA Extended Board Meeting
- 15 March ¦ IFCC Day 2 Extended Session
- 21 March ¦ WTO Global Supply Chains Forum
- 17-20 May ¦ FIATA HQ Meeting 2022, Geneva