Export Compliance Management Best Practices Benchmark Study

{Article from Supply Chain Management Review site}

The Export Compliance Management Best Practices Benchmark Study helps you implement best-in-class export compliance strategies to prevent fines, delays, and loss of export privileges.

Over 400 compliance professionals responded to our 40-question survey on export compliance, end-use management, & denied party screening. From this information, we gathered industry-leading best practices, key usage data, & advanced methods for managing export compliance to support globalization while reducing risk.

The complimentary benchmark study addresses common issues when increasing exports:

• Survey findings highlighting key export challenges

• End-use & license management Benchmarks

• Average costs of Export Management

Best practices for product classification, denied party screening & managing export transactions.

Gulf oil sprill Ignites concerns among some Alaskans

Source: Sustainable Business News

"In light of the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska Native communities and conservation groups sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Wednesday urging him to reconsider his approval of exploratory drilling by Shell Oil due to begin in Alaska’s Arctic Ocean in less than 60 days.

The groups point to new information from the Gulf spill that requires the Secretary to reconsider his decision to approve Shell’s Arctic Ocean drilling.

"Despite the different operating environments, the Deepwater Horizon spill is directly relevant to the analyses underlying your decision to approve Shell’s Arctic Ocean exploration drilling plans," the letter reads. "MMS did not analyze or disclose the effects of a large oil spill from Shell's activities before approving the plans, even though it acknowledges that such a spill could have devastating consequences and could be difficult to clean up in the Arctic Ocean's icy waters. The agency concluded that a large spill was 'too remote and speculative an event' to warrant analysis."

The letter also highlights the stark differences between what is available to respond to a major oil spill in the Arctic and what was mobilized to respond to the Gulf disaster. In the Gulf of Mexico, 32 spill response vehicles, 1 million feet of containment boom and at least six firefighting vessels responded to the scene within 24 hours of the Deepwater Horizon accident. Such a rapid mobilization of resources would be far more difficult in the remote Arctic Ocean. As Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing response efforts in the Gulf, said at a recent Senate field hearing in Alaska, "oil spill clean-up is significantly more difficult in colder temperatures and ice-covered waters" that prevail in the Arctic Ocean and there are "limited response resources and capabilities" in the region.

The Department of the Interior has full authority to suspend such operations under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in order to review this significant new information.

The groups signing the letter are: Alaska Wilderness League; Center for Biological Diversity; Defenders of Wildlife; Earthjustice; Greenpeace; National Audubon Society; Native Village of Point Hope; Natural Resources Defense Council; Northern Alaska Environmental Center; Oceana; Pacific Environment; REDOIL; Sierra Club; The Wilderness Society; and World Wildlife Fund."

How To Complete a Bill of Lading

How to Fill out a Bill of Lading

Wikipedia says that:

"A bill of lading (sometimes referred to as a BOL,or B/L) is a document issued by a carrier to a shipper, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the cosignee who is usually identified. A through bill of lading involves the use of at least two different modes of transport from road, rail, air, and sea. The term derives from the verb "to lade" which means to load a cargo onto a ship or other form of transportation."

1) Download the Free Bill of Lading pdf from the Alaska Traffic Company website.

2) With the bill of lading, you can fill out a bill of lading online and print a copy to any printer.

3) Once you have filled out If you are submitting a copy of the bill of lading to Alaska Traffic Company, please fax it to: 206-682-6804.the bill of lading, please print a copy for your records.

4) Please view samples of completed bill of lading for what a finished form looks like.

For more information, please contact us our Alaska Transportation Service staff.

January 11, 2010 FUEL SURCHARGE UPDATE

Dear Valued Customer,

Please note that the fuel surcharges for the water carriers serving Alaska are changing once again. The amount of the change and the effective date differ slightly among the carriers as shown below. Your shipments will be billed according to the fuel surcharge that is in effect at the time the shipment departs. We will do our best to keep you informed of any further changes.

Horizon Lines Current Surcharge 20.50% August 30, 2009

Increasing to 22.5% January 24, 2010

Totem Ocean Trailer Express Current Surcharge 23.5% September 20, 2009

Increasing to 24.5% January 17, 2010

Northland Services (Central Alaska) Current Surcharge 20.5% September 6, 2009

Increasing to 22.5% January 25, 2010

Northland Services (Southeast Alaska) Current Surcharge 13.0% September 6, 2009

Increasing to 14.0% December 1, 2009

Northland Services (Western Alaska) Current Surcharge 15.0% June 30, 2009

Increasing to 19.0% December 3, 2009

Samson Tug & Barge Current Surcharge 20.5% September 10, 2009

Increasing to 22.5% January 20, 2010

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

ALASKA TRAFFIC COMPANY

Ocean cargo/global logistics: Port of Seattle reports solid start for new year

Another sign that U.S. West Coast seaports may finally be rebounding was reflected in new December numbers in the Pacific Northwest.

Patrick Burnson -- Logistics Management, 1/26/2010

SEATTLE--Another sign that U.S. West Coast seaports may finally be rebounding was reflected in new December numbers in the Pacific Northwest.

When the Southern California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reported a surge in throughput last month, it was not an isolated incident. The Port of Seattle is coming out with a similar story.

Throughput figures for December, 2009 were robust, with inbound cargo imports ramping up 32.6 percent and outbound having doubled. When Maersk Line and CMA CGM began a new service to Seattle, an upward trend in traffic became starkly evident. And with Hanjin Shipping reinstating Seattle in one of its trans-Pacific services, port officials are even more optimistic.

This is in contrast to reports issued just a few months ago. As reported in LM, officials then had said that the port's 2010 budget plan would be slashed by commissioners with significant workforce downsizing. The port had forecasted a net operating income for 2010 of $37.5 million.

The forecast may have to be recalibrated, given the recent development, said analysts. Furthermore, the port has room to grow and absorb anticipated demand. It has recently completed its acquisition of the Eastside Rail Corridor from BNSF Railway, which may attract even more inbound vessel calls in the future.

"The port's goal has always been to preserve the corridor and place it in public ownership, and we've accomplished that goal," said Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani. "I'm grateful to BNSF for their willingness to work with the port, and to our partner agencies for joining us in the effort."

Oakland, which has had its share of layoffs in response to diminished container throughput and fewer inbound calls, also said things are looking up.

"Our 2009 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) volumes were down only 8 percent from 2008," said maritime director James Kwon. "But our outbound volume actually increased 6.5 percent. These numbers reflect strong performance in a weak global economy."

To view article, please click here.

For more information on Alaska Traffic's schedule to Seattle/Tacoma or other Alaska transportation services, please visit our website.