GLOBALLOGISTICS
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cated customs and security requirements in place that it is often easier to import goods from Europe or Asia,” Eskew noted at the Americas event. These trade issues are particularly nettlesome, he said, because they impede the region’s built-in advan- tages, such as geographic proximity. Extensive delays in cross-border ship- ments between NAFTA partners, for example, threaten the proxim- ity advantage over other hot trading regions such as Asia. Eskew’s advice? U.S. and Latin American governments should take several steps aimed at shoring up trade stability: ■ Develop a single, streamlined cus- toms clearance system. ■ Identify “trusted shippers” and let them get in the “fast lane” for customs processing. ■ Raise the minimum dollar value at which imported goods must receive customs clearance, and separate the release of shipments from the collec- tion of duties and fees. ■ Increase spending on transpor-
tation infrastructure, particularly the road and rail networks. Latin America spends less than 2 percent of GDP on infrastructure, compared to 3 to 6 per- cent in China and South Korea. ■ Improve the communications infrastructure, both wired and wireless. Cracking the Case: Asian Air Cargo P erish the thought, but Asia is lag- ging–in terms of air cargo volume, that is. Middle East airfreight traffic tops the world in freight ton kilometer growth during the past year, accel- erating at a 12.7-percent clip, while the Asia Pacific region plods along at a more pedestrian pace of 4.7 percent, according to a surprising recent report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). But in terms of critical mass, Asian – and specifically Chinese – air cargo volume is expanding, along with its airports. Asia Pacific lays claim to five of the top 10 freight airports in
the world–Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai Pudong, and Singapore. It also boasts three other Chinese hubs with roughly 20-percent cargo growth since 2005–Shanghai Hong Qiao (22 percent), Guangzhou Baiyun (18.7 percent), and Beijing (17 percent). So what accounts for the anomaly in IATA’s most recent data? For one, IATA measures airlines by registration region, regardless of where they fly, indicates Mark Smyth, the trade organization’s senior econo- mist. “Therefore, some of the growth for Middle Eastern airlines will include, for example, Asia-to-Europe cargo that airlines such as Emirates carry transit- ing through Dubai,” he explains. Secondly, elsewhere in Asia, cargo volumes are somewhat muffled. Japanese, Taiwanese, and Southeast Asian airports grew slowly last year and in some instances posted declin- ing freight growth: Singapore (3.3 percent); Tokyo Haneda (3.2 per- cent); Jakarta (2.5 percent); Osaka (0.7 percent); Taipei (0.3 percent); Kuala Due to low cargo growth at Asian airports such as Tokyo Narita, the Asia Pacific region is no longer tops in air cargo growth. That title now belongs to the Middle East.
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48 Inbound Logistics • July 2007
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