Air freight declined 1.3% for the month of December, said the Airports Council International. For the full year, air freight was down 0.2%, according to its figures. It said Europe dropped 2.7%, Latin America-Caribbean 2.6%, North America 1.5% and Asia-Pacific 1.2%. Freight traffic grew 2.2% in Hong Kong and 2.5% in Memphis, it said, but 57% of the top 30 airports in air freight volume declined in 2012.

The International Air Transport Association said there are four priorities to make air cargo more secure, and it urged stakeholders to move forward on the implementation of the Secure Freight principles. "The stakes are high. If regulators and governments lose confidence in the security of air freight, then bureaucracy will increase and ultimately some items may not even be viable to be air freighted. Commerce as we know it would look very different," said IATA Director General Tony Tyler at the Secure Freight Forum at IATA's offices in Geneva (here). Tyler said a team effort engaging the entire air cargo supply chain and governments is necessary to enhance and deploy global standards for security. The International Civil Aviation Organization should be the focal point for this work, which could embrace a roadmap for states to obtain mutual recognition of cargo security regimes, he said, and harmonization and recognition of air cargo security requires a continued commitment from all parties over the long-term. Tyler said a case study of the Secure Freight pilot in Malaysia shows that the benefits anticipated from full national implementation of Secure Freight are estimated to be $350-600 million annually.

The agenda for the Federal Maritime Commission's Feb. 13 open meeting includes: Docket No. 11-22: Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier Negotiated Rate Arrangements; Tariff Filing Exemption Revised Timetable for Retrospective Review of Existing Rules: Priority of Review of Service Contract and Negotiated NVOCC Service Arrangement Rules Docket No. 11-16: Passenger Vessel Operator Financial Responsibility Requirements for Nonperformance of Transportation and Technical Revision to Passenger Vessel Operator Regulations Draft Concerning Licensing, Financial Responsibility Requirements, and General Duties for Ocean Transportation Intermediaries. The 10 a.m. meeting will be at the FMC's First Floor Hearing Room, 800 North Capitol Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Feb. 6-12. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).² Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

The Federal Maritime Commission formally asked the parties to the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement to provide additional information about the agreement. The request prevents the agreement from taking effect as originally scheduled. Interested parties can file comments on the request by Feb. 20. Parties to Agreement No.: 011223-048 (see ITT's Online Archives 12122711) are: American President Lines and APL Co. (operating as a single carrier); A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S trading as Maersk Line; China Shipping Container Lines (Hong Kong) Company and China Shipping Container Lines Company (operating as a single carrier); CMA CGM, S.A.; COSCO Container Lines; Evergreen Line Joint Service Agreement; Hanjin Shipping Co.; Hapag-Lloyd AG; Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.; Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd.; Mediterranean Shipping Company; Nippon Yusen Kaisha; Orient Overseas Container Line; Yangming Marine Transport Corp.; and Zim Integrated Shipping Services.

The International Chamber of Shipping board "agreed that ICS will fully support the concept" of mandatory Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of emissions by ships, "provided that any measure adopted is developed and agreed at [the International Maritime Organization], and that it will be simple to administer and based primarily on fuel consumption measured by bunker delivery notes," said ICS Chairman Masamichi Morooka after the board meeting in London Feb. 5.

The Federal Maritime Commission said it launched an investigation and hearing into whether United Logistics (LAX) Inc. violated the Shipping Act by obtaining transportation at less than the rates and charges otherwise applicable by the device or means of unlawfully accessing service contracts to which it was neither a signatory nor an affiliate. It's also looking into whether United Logistics violated the Shipping Act by providing transportation in the liner trade that was not in accordance with the rates, charges, classifications, rules, and practices contained in its published tariff. The investigation is also to determine whether, if violations are found, civil penalties should be assessed against United Logistics and how much, whether the tariff of United Logistics should be suspended and its Ocean Transportation Intermediary license should be suspended or revoked and a cease and desist order should be issued, the FMC said. The notice provided no additional details.

Notice of Agreements Filed (here)

The Panama Canal Towboat Masters Union agreed Jan. 31 to join the Panama Division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the ILWU said. The unit has 140 members, it said. They join the Panama division, which also includes the 250-member Panama Canal Pilots Union.

Trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico was up 6.2 percent in November 2012 compared to November 2011, reaching $81.5 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation. BTS said $56.2 billion of the U.S.'s trade with Canada and Mexico moved by truck in November, $14.9 billion moved by rail, and $5.9 billion by pipeline. U.S.-Canada surface trade was $46.7 billion in November 2012, and U.S.-Mexico surface trade was $34.8 billion.