NEW MEMBER OF STAFF JOINS OUR TEAM

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Danny Louis to our team, his role will

be to develop our existng Import & Export services in the role of Business Development Manager.

We are very excited by his arrival and he will be of a great help.  He can be reached on dlo@go2fmi.com

and I am sure he will be in touch with many of you soon to say hi.

__________________________________________________________________________________

FAR EASTERN FREIGHT CONFERENCE (FEFC)

BAF / CAF – Jun 08 / Jul 08

The Member Lines of the FEFC wish to advise Shippers:-

Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) for the month of Jun 08 will be USD 546.00 per TEU

Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF) for the month of Jun 08 will be 118.2%

Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) for the month of Jul 08 will be USD 610 per TEU

Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF) for the month of Jul 08 will be 17.4%

__________________________________________________________________________________

TREATMENT OF WOOD PACKAGING FOR THE U.S.A.

On September 16th 2005 , U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin enforcement

of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection

Service (APHIS) import regulation for wood packaging material (WPM). This is in

accordance with ISPM 15 (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures).

The rule requires WPM such as pallets, crates, boxes, and dunnage used to support or brace

cargo, to be treated and marked. In cases of noncompliance the WPM will be subject to

immediate export from the USA along with the accompanying cargo.

Cargo will NOT be allowed to be fumigated upon arrival in the U.S. It will be exported.

It is the Exporter's responsibility to ensure all WPM is treated and any costs incurred due to

the return of the cargo to the UK because of non treated WPM will be charged back to our

client.

With Consolidated cargo, our warehouses will be asked to look out for WPM that is not

marked and if WPM is found not to be stamped correctly then vehicles may not be unloaded.

It must be stressed however that it is not Freight Movers responsibility to seek out non

treated WPM and should it be loaded, any costs incurred in its return will, as stated before,

be for the account of our client.

WPM exempt from this regulation include:

WPM made entirely of wood pieces less than 6 mm thick in any dimension.

Manufactured wood materials such as plywood, particleboard, oriented strand board.

For full details please visit the APHIS website at: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/swp/import.html

Further information may be found at:

www.forestry.gov.uk - enter ISPM15 in the search field - this site is very informative

www.phpallets.com/ispm15.htm - supplier of treated pallets

www.inkapallets.com/ispm/ispm.htm - supplier of treated pallets

__________________________________________________________________________________

U.S. Customs - Severe holds and delays

All ports in the USA are experiencing increased numbers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection

holds which require containers to be examined before they are available for pick up and devan

at our depot. The exams are either by x-ray or a full unpack inspection at a Customs facility,

or a combination of both.

Unfortunately these holds affect containers entering the USA from all over the world and the

time taken to resolve the holds is increasing and can take weeks due to a lack of resources at

the Ports and at Customs.

Our agent, Primary Freight, is doing everything they can to speed up the releases however

U.S. Customs has the right to examine each import container, as do some other departments

of the U.S. government.

These holds can result in additional charges on a container and these are pro-rated among each

of the importers in the container.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Wood Packing Legislation - Exports to the USA, Canada, and Mexico

Please be aware that sometime in 2005 timber products to the above will have to comply with new wood packing legislation -  ISPM15 (International Standard for Packaging Material).

The requirements stipulate that ALL timber packaging will need to be heat-treated to 50 o/C for 30 minutes, or chemically treated with Methyl Bromide, to prevent the spread of disease through insects such as the Asian Longhorn Beetle and the Pine Wood Nematode.

These new heat treatment regulations are already being operated in China, and in the coming months a further 118 countries around the world are expected to implement the same requirements.

Treated goods will be marked with an approved international certification mark. Failure to comply with the requirement will result in the importer or his agent being charged for the fumigation or destruction of the packaging. I would suspect the cost of this will likely be passed back to the agent or shipper at origin.

At this time we are still trying to determine what precisely will be required documentation-wise in order to prove that any wood packaging meets the requirements. As soon as we have more information we will advise immediately.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Wood Packing Legislation – Imports into the European Union

With effect from the 1st of March 2005 consignments entering the European Union will need to comply with the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures NO.15 (ISPM15), which sets out the guidelines for regulating wood packaging material used in the international trade.

Inspectors will identify material for inspection from customs declarations, manifest and bills of lading.  Most inspections will be carried out using existing inspection facilities on the dockside, the forestry commission does not anticipate additional delays in clearance however we at FMI will be monitoring this closely.

There is no requirement for a phytosanitary certificate; the purpose of the permanent mark on pallets is to avoid the need for certification.

___________________________________________________________________________________