Global Trade
UK PLANS FOR UP TO 10 BORDER SITES IN PREPARATION FOR BREXIT
The UK government has revealed plans for up to 10 inland sites to avert Brexit congestion and border checks. The border sites should relieve ports, including at Dover and Liverpool, and could be in place for two years. Furthermore, the government has announced new rules for border controls.EU member state national ID cards will no longer be accepted from 2021. After this date, passports will be mandatory to enter the UK. For more details on this news item, please see The Guardian.
ESRI WARNS THAT NO-DEAL BREXIT WOULD HALVE IRISH ECONOMIC GROWTH
Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned that a no-deal Brexit with the imposition of tariffs will halve economic growth in 2021. The institute predicts that the Irish economy will grow by 6.3 percent in 2021 despite the impact of Covid-19. This prediction assumes that the UK and EU will reach a free trade agreement. However, if a no-deal Brexit occurs, this growth will be closer to 3 percent. In this case, it is forecast that the food and drink sector will suffer the worst hit. According to the ESRI, short-term disruption at ports and airports due to new customs requirements could also worsen the impact. For greater details on this story, please see The Irish Times.
Retail
AMAZON AND RIVIAN REVEAL FIRST CUSTOM ELECTRIC DELIVERY VEHICLE
Amazon has revealed images of its new custom electric vehicle. The e-commerce giant developed the van in partnership with EV manufacturer Rivian. The vehicle has advanced safety measures and will also enhance the driver experience. This includes advanced sensor detection, a suite of highway and traffic-assist technology and a large windshield to improve driver visibility. In addition, exterior cameras around the vehicle give the driver a 360° view outside the vehicle. For more details, see the full article at Post and Parcel Technology.
Carriers
UPS ANNOUNCES NEW LOGISTICS HUB IN BARCELONA
UPS has announced that it plans to open a new €40 million (approximately $48 million) logistics hub in Barcelona. The new facility follows the design principles of the strict global certification standards for energy performance. According to UPS, the new facility will have LED lighting, energy-efficient insulation and advanced package sorting technology that reduces energy consumption. Furthermore, photovoltaic panels on the roof to decrease the amount of electricity drawn from the grid. The hub covers an area of approximately 24,000m² and has a sorting capacity of up to 22,000 packages per hour. UPS intends to open the hub before this year’s holiday peak shipping season. For more details, please see Post and Parcel Technology.
SEPTEMBER AIR FREIGHT RATES STABILIZE
In September, air freight rates on a number of the world’s main trade lanes stabilized — although at a high level — as carriers continued to add cargo capacity. According to the latest figures from the TAC Index, average rates on services from Hong Kong to North America increased 52.9 percent year-on-year in September at $5.26 per kg. Average rates from Hong Kong to Europe were up 31.6 percent to $3.37 per kg. For more details, please see Air Cargo News.
DPD PLANS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS
DPD has revealed plans to introduce zero and low-emission deliveries to 25 of the largest towns and cities across the UK by 2025. This is part of a Europe-wide drive by the DPDgroup. The plan involves 225 urban areas across 20 countries. Over the last number of years, DPD has reviewed the way it operates last mile delivery. The carrier has implemented micro and urban depots as well as other alternative delivery solutions. For more information, please see Post & Parcel.
Precision News
CREATING A GLOBAL TRADE COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
This October, it was reported that over 16,000 coronavirus cases went unreported in England. The problem? The reliance on spreadsheets, legacy file formats and human error.
Health reporting and global trade compliance may be very different disciplines. However, a dependence on spreadsheets is not.
Some of the world’s largest enterprises rely on spreadsheets to manage their global trade and supply chain operations. Unfortunately, that leaves them vulnerable to compliance violations. Lack of version control, typos and other unwitting mistakes could mean that critical processes are not met.
Then there is the data itself. Any organization that uses decentralized data risks time redundancy and duplication when different teams work from different, potential outdated data — thus undermining corporate oversight. If the data is sensitive, and shared such as by email or USB, the risks are even greater in the event of a security breach. Decentralized data and lack of trade secret security could lead to legal vulnerability. In this QAD Precision Report, we look at how having the right systems in place help enterprises avoid violations. To read the full report, please click here.
