Intertek said it signed a contract with the Agence Gabonaise de Normalisation in Gabon, Central Africa, to support its new Conformity Assessment Programme "PROGEC" (Programme Gabonais d'Evaluation de la Conformité) to provide certification service to exporters to Gabon. The PROGEC program verifies the conformity of all regulated products in the respective exporting countries, ensuring they comply with applicable Gabon national, regional or international standards and technical regulations, it said.

C.H. Robinson opened a new office in Istanbul, Turkey, the company said. The office will mostly offer international road freight services, the company said.

FedEx Trade Networks opened a new distribution facility in Romulus, Mich., on June 18 that will help strengthen their North American infrastructure, FedEx said in press release. The new facility will expand service offerings for international and domestic trade, including trans-loading and cross-docking and includes a full portfolio of customs brokerage, freight forwarding and distribution solutions, the company said. Fred Schardt, president and CEO of FedEx Trade Networks called Romulus “a key point of entry” for the company and that the new facility would “provide customers more opportunities to improve their supply chains.”

Canadian customs broker Russell A. Farrow Ltd is changing its name to “Farrow” as part of an overall move to a new brand. Randy Motley, president of the Windsor-based broker’s Canadian operations, said he hopes the move will help “generate new business that will see us expand our job base in regional centers like Windsor, Cambridge, Detroit, Toronto, Edmonton, and Seattle.”

Horizon Lines added a bi-weekly Jacksonville, Fla. call to its southbound gulf service between Houston and San Juan Puerto Rico, beginning June 7, the company said in a press release. The schedule change provides an option through Houston for cargo bound for southeastern destinations like Miami., without disrupting the service’s 14-day roundtrip timetable, it said. The new service provides an efficient solution for shippers who wish to deliver cargo like building and agricultural products between two major U.S. regions, said Joe Rodriguez, vice president of Sales and Marketing at Horizon

The ACE Group's U.S. retail operation began offering an updated Maritime Open Cargo Policy that includes multiple coverage components into a single form, the company said. The single form includes an "easy-to-understand Conveyances clause, which includes the Vessel Classification wording directly in the form" and "combined Warehouse-to-Warehouse and Marine-Extension clauses," it said.

A group of six U.S. and Canadian clothing-related trade associations urged Bangladesh to provide information on inspected factories as part of an increased commitment to factory safety following the recent collapse of a clothing factory in the country that killed over a thousand people. The groups -- the American Apparel and Footwear Association, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association, the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Apparel Federation -- pushed for the disclosures in a letter to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister in a May 17 letter.

A.N. Deringer expanded its full container load (FCL) ocean import services through partnerships around the world, the company said in a press release. Deringer can now "provide additional route options, cost and time savings to its customers," it said.

The U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) voted to ratify a six-year contract with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), said USMX in a press release. ILA already voted to ratify the contract (see 13041019). The Master Contract covers about 14,500 waterfront workers belonging to the ILA. The contract includes three $1-an-hour wage increases over the life of the contract and guarantees that carriers will fund the annual container royalty payments at $211 million, the amount paid in 2011, plus up to an additional $14 million for administrative expenses, and share equally with the ILA any container royalties that exceed $225 million.

FedEx Trade Networks will work with Port link Logistica Mutlimodal of Brazil in a strategic alliance, allowing FTN to expand its reach into Latin America, the company said in a press release. FTN will also provide an air consolidation service between Mexico and Brazil, it said.