Miscellaneous goods: Commerce Ministry seeks better classification of ‘other’ imports

NEW DELHI: The Commerce Department has asked the Revenue Department to clearly identify each product in the ‘others or miscellaneous goods’ categories so that imports of each item can be better monitored, a Senior Government Official said recently.

A Customs Official said the value of imports under such categories has come down drastically in recent years due to better classification of goods. Nevertheless, more steps can be taken in this direction to further bolster this system, he added. Imports under the ‘miscellaneous’ goods category – which made up for as much as $7.1 billion, or 1.8% of the country’s total merchandise imports in FY17 – stood at $15 million in FY17 and $51 million in the last fiscal, thank to an upgrade of the classification system in recent years, said the official.

For its part, the Commerce Ministry wants to ensure that the classification system should be strengthened in such a way that unscrupulous elements don’t get a chance to push unclassified commodities into the Country in large volumes without causing a flutter. The move comes at a time when the Ministry is tightening its scrutiny of irrational spike in imports or illegal trading and has also stepped up efforts to promote the Make in India programme.

India has been seeking to contain its trade deficit, which hit a six-year high of $176 billion last fiscal, according to a quick estimate of the Commerce Ministry. Reining in non-essential imports is part of the drive to curb the trade deficit.

The Government has already hiked customs duties on scores of items in recent years to discourage inflows of select items, ranging from electronics items such as AC and refrigerator to jewellery. In September last year, basic customs duties were raised on 19 tariff lines that accounted for an import bill of Rs 86,000 crore in FY18 by 2.5-10 percentage points. It was followed up by another round of hike last year on scores of other items. The Government is planning another round of hike on items, including toys and furniture, in the current fiscal.

Commerce Ministry division to track FTA utilisation

NEW DELHI: India’s existing free trade agreements (FTAs) with partner countries are likely to be monitored by a separate division to be created in the Commerce & Industry Ministry. This division will keep track of the extent to which FTAs are being utilised by Indian industry and also identify non-tariff measures that are acting as hurdles.

“The Commerce & Industry Ministry is considering setting up a trade monitoring division that will monitor utilisation of current FTAs and the non-tariff measures taken by partner countries,” a Government Official said recently.

Tracking trade diversion

The division, if created, will also take note of the trade diversion taking place due to third Country FTAs and will give the Ministry some indication of whether an FTA needs to be explored with a particular Country or grouping.

It is to coordinate with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the Department of Revenue and the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics.

After India’s last-minute decision to exit the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership — a mega FTA being negotiated between 16 countries — the Government is focussing more on trying to understand how free trade pacts could work for India.

The RCEP included the 10-member ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

As per various studies, including one carried out by the NITI Aayog, India’s utilisation rate for most FTAs is very low (between 4 per cent and 20 per cent). India’s existing FTAs with the ASEAN, Japan and South Korea, too, have worked out more in favour of the partner countries and has resulted in an increase in trade deficit with the countries.

It is evident that Indian industry can benefit from FTAs only when utilisation rate is improved.

“It will happen when there is more awareness about the pacts and also non-tariff barriers are removed,” the official said.

The proposed division is also likely to undertake outreach programmes to sensitise exporters on the utility of existing FTAs, the existing provisions and how to go about the paperwork required to get the entitlements.

PIL upgrades Redsea Gulf Service and Intra-Redsea Feeder 5 (IR5) December 06 ,

SINGAPORE : PIL has informed the following enhancements to its existing Redsea Gulf Service (RGS) and Intra-Redsea Feeder 5 (IR5). These upgrades are made following the suspension of the Intra-Redsea Feeder (IRF) route with effect from December 2019.
For RGS, a weekly Berbera call will be inserted with effect from Kota Karim 0164W/E ETA Mundra  7 December.
The rotation of the new RGS is as follows:
Mundra – Karachi – Jebel Ali – Djibouti – Jeddah - Berbera.
For IR5, a fortnightly Massawa call will be inserted with effect from Kota Naluri 0191S/N ETA Jeddah 28 December.
The rotation of the new IR5 is as follows :
Route 1: Jeddah – Sudan – Jeddah
Route 2 :  Jeddah – Sudan – Massawa - Jeddah
Advantages of the enhanced service:
  -  Improved frequency and fixed weekly window into Berbera
  -  Direct service into Berbera from India/Gulf/Red Sea.

Maersk launches new visibility tool “Captain Peter” December 06 , 2019

OPENHAGEN: Maersk has released its revamped Remote Container Management (RCM) platform featuring the Virtual Assistant Captain Peter.

Since its launch to customers in September 2017, over 3,600 companies have signed up for RCM and the transparency on information from the over 380,000 refrigerated containers of the combined fleet of Maersk and Hamburg Süd it provides.

“Over the last two years, our RCM product has proven good value to our reefer customers, but we have also identified key areas of improving such a cargo visibility tool,” explains Ken West, Reefer Digital Development Manager at Maersk. “With Captain Peter, we are significantly elevating the customer experience of working with the data and building the foundation for delivering even more advanced features around it.”

Captain Peter keeps an eye on the container’s temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, and notifies the customer if something needs attention. The data is now cloud-based for increased agility and can be easily shared as well as configured to the customer’s specific needs. 

Wiskerke has been one of the key customers involved in the development of Captain Peter. When it comes to tracking their reefer shipments, the visibility offered makes the tool a clear winner for the company.

"I choose Maersk and Captain Peter over others because I can see what is happening with my cargo. You can’t imagine the pain I’m feeling when I can’t see what is happening during the voyage," says Chayenne Wiskerke, Managing Director of Wiskerke Onions.

Maersk plans to continue the dialogue with customers and add even more advanced features to the new reefer platform going forward, delivering value to the customers’ businesses through digital innovation.

 

THE Alliance formally adopts HMM as a new member and boosts ‘contingency fund’ : Alphaliner

LONDON: THE Alliance members have filed an amended version of their vessel-sharing agreement (VSA), to incorporate new member HMM, with the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), according to Alphaliner. It will also include provision for an increase in its $50m contingency fund from a significant financial commitment from the South Korean carrier. HMM will join THE Alliance on 1 April next year, after its slot charter agreement with the 2M Alliance comes to an end. Until then it is purchasing Asia to North Europe slots from current partners Hapag-Lloyd, Yang Ming and ONE to cover VIP customers using its standalone loop which was terminated in August. Apart from its ‘strategic cooperation’ space agreement with the 2M for both Asia to North Europe, the transpacific and the transatlantic, HMM also operates three transpacific services of its own.
According to the consultant, the amended agreement submitted to the FMC last week only mentions 168 vessels of 3,000-15,000 TEU, compared with the existing agreement without HMM, which is for 180 ships of up to 21,000 TEU.
However, the new VSA submission allows the four carriers to adjust the number to 200 ships with a maximum capacity of 24,000 TEU to include the twelve 23,000 TEU ULCVs HMM will receive next year.
In addition, HMM will receive eight 15,000 TEU newbuilds in 2020 and 2021, plus nine 10,000-13,000 TEU vessels redelivered by Maersk and MSC when the 2M agreement ends, and notwithstanding that it might decide to redeliver some of its chartered in tonnage, this will take HMM’s TEU capacity to more than 700,000 TEU by June.
This means the carrier will leapfrog new alliance partner Yang Ming into eighth place in the global carrier league table – albeit that the Taiwanese line has a orderbook of some 200,000 TEU that should see it regain its ranking.
With the exception of the profitable leading line, Hapag-Lloyd, THE Alliance has struggled financially, compared with the better returns earned by members of the rival Ocean and 2M alliances.

Oil spill mock drill exercise conducted at JNPT North Anchorage

NAVI MUMBAI: An oil spill response exercise was carried out recently at JNPT North Anchorage area. A real time mock exercise was carried out by acting on a scenario of fuel oil leakage from Tag Navya anchored at JNPT North inner Anchorage. The mock exercise also involved representatives of Coast Guard, MbPT, Reliance, IOC, HOCL, BPCL, Aegis, MMB among others who actively participated in the exercise.
JNPT is fully geared up to meet oil spill contingency, and as per procedure regular exercise and drills are carried out by the port in conjunction with other agencies to ensure preparedness. Audit and inspection of facilities are regularly carried out by different Government agencies like Ministry of Shipping, Coast Guard and DG Shipping to ensure compliance.

Global Container Volumes to rise 2.5% in 2020 : Fitch Ratings

NEW YORK: Fitch Ratings in its recent report has forecasted a growth of 2.5% in Global Container volumes in 2020. While this represents a small increase from 2019, it is well below the average growth rate of about 4.5% over the past eight years, says the report.
Trade restrictions, if they remain unresolved, are likely to have a negative impact on Global Container volumes of about 1% in 2020, according to AP Moller-Maersk.
 “We expect better capacity management in Global Container shipping with fleet capacity increasing by 3.3% in 2020, slower than 3.6% in 2019. Container freight rates in 2020 are likely to remain at levels similar to those in 2019,” the agency added.
Dry Bulk
Fitch expects Dry-Bulk trading volumes to grow by 3% in 2020, up by more than 1.5 percentage points on 2019, due to higher iron ore and other commodities volumes. Iron ore volumes are expected to slowly recover following the Vale dam incident in Brazil and challenging weather at Australian Ports in 2019.
Fleet additions are likely to match this growth in volumes, and freight rates are likely to increase as dry-bulk shippers will be better positioned to pass on some of the higher fuel costs.
Tankers
Global tankers’ supply and demand are likely to grow by 2.5% and 3.5%, respectively, in 2020, supporting a better supply-demand balance. This will help freight rates to stay at levels comparable to annual averages in 2019, which represents a recovery from their troughs in the middle of 2018, the report says.