The European Shippers’ Council (ESC), The Asian Shippers’ Association (ASA) and the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) have signed a memorandum of understanding which calls for cooperation in air freight, maritime transport and trade facilitation. The joint body which aims to represent shippers’ interests worldwide will be called the Global Shippers’ Alliance.
According to a statement, the Global Shippers’ Alliance plans to engage in constructive dialogue with national governments, supranational bodies, NGO’s, transport organizations and logistic
service providers and strive for better cooperation so international trade can thrive, economies can grow and society can benefit.
Subjects that are important to shippers are, amongst others, fair pricing of transport including surcharges in maritime and air transport, proper competition, security and customs regulations,
standardization to facilitate data exchange, terminal handling charges and service levels in international transport.
U.S., New Zealand Challenge Indonesia's Import
Restrictions
Meanwhile, the U.S. and New Zealand have requested a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel over Indonesian import restrictions, saying barriers to agricultural goods, ranging
from potatoes to poultry breached international trade obligations. Their request kicks off a process that could lead to sanctions.
Announcing the request, U.S. trade representative, Michael Froman, asserted that Indonesia is banning the import of a variety of U.S. agricultural products and imposes several other import
restrictions on everything from potatoes to beef, and apples to grapes, and poultry. Froman added that such restrictions "run afoul of Indonesia’s obligations under the WTO and infringe U.S.
trading rights.”
Froman noted that the U.S. has been working together with New Zealand on this issue, which is also pursuing the establishment of a WTO panel to examine Indonesia’s import restrictions.
Prohibitive policies act as a brake on trade
According to U.S. estimates, nearly US$200 million worth of U.S. exports to Indonesia either transported by air or ship were affected by import licensing regimes in 2014, including $122 million
of fruit and vegetables, and other temperature sensitive horticultural products. “If it weren’t for Indonesia’s prohibitive policies, we would expect to have sold far more than that," Mr Froman
stated.
The request to involve the WTO in this case, comes at a time when the U.S. endeavors’ to unlock economic opportunities for U.S. agricultural exporters across the Asia-Pacific region through the
Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP is a trade agreement that will grant Americans access to the rapidly growing economies of that part of the world.
Important market
"Apart from access to those markets, the TPP also aims to lift labour, environmental protections and strengthen intellectual property rights, and other standards in the region to levels that are
appropriate for the 21st century," Mr Froman stated.
Indonesia is an important trading partner for the U.S., it is a top-ten market for U.S. agricultural products and within the top 30 overall markets for U.S. exports.
It is the fifth WTO case the U.S. has brought against Indonesia, and New Zealand's second. Indonesia also has two cases against the United States.
Nol van Fenema
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