Change is coming!  While the train may have slowed to allow for more people to get on board, the push for an entirely new Import Processing System is well on its way toward completion.  The date is set for February 298, 2016 when all entry filers must be utilizing the new Automated Commercial Environment.  

Software vendors have been feverishly programming to meet the updated transmission modules that will require more detailed supplier, product, packaging, usage, and ultimate consignee information than ever before.  It will be imperative to have these details provided earlier in the supply chain process to enable CBP and other federal agencies to determine the security risk and ultimate admissibility of your product once it arrives into the United States.  Missing, unclear or untimely information will result in higher likelihood of examinations, delays and additional costs for your products.  Contact your suppliers now to assure that they can provide you the details in a clear, concise, and timely manner to assure proper release.  Coppersmith has been developing these new programs, in house, since their inception five years ago, and continues to be a pilot of the programs as they reach completion.  We will be ready for the change.  Will you? 

 Please contact our staff to learn what additional information will be required for ACE 2016!

   Some of this congestion could be blamed on the meltdown on the U.S. West Coast due the oft-contentious contract negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and its employers. However, it was also the result of a changing market dynamic toward bigger ships, increased container volumes and constrained shore-side infrastructure and cargo-handling assets to handle the trade on both coasts.

   In response, many of the country's largest retailers diverted cargo around to different ports, formed chassis fleets, and used untapped drayage to try to combat the problem and sometimes came up against congestion nonetheless. Many shippers, however, didn't even have this level of wherewithal and were simply stuck in the quagmire. That's when the industry realized that it needed to work together to break through this congestion and get cargo moving efficiently once again.

   

That's why it's now more important than ever for the industry to remain engaged with these task forces and working groups at the nation's key container ports for the next two to three years before we can truly say we beat port congestion.

France's CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping firm, made a $2.43 billion offer

 on Monday to buy Singapore's Neptune Orient Lines to expand its presence on trans-Pacific routes.

The deal would require anti-trust approvals from the United States, Europe and China. After they are obtained, a formal offer is expected to be launched around June 2016,