Products being shipped as air cargo spend up to 90 percent of the transport time on the ground waiting to be processed, according to IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler.
The former Cathay Pacific chief executive was commenting after the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), that will strengthen their support to developing countries seeking to implement the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The accord will help the countries lower transport costs by up to 10 percent through more efficient facilitation that would raise their competitiveness, the UNECE said in a statement.
"The air cargo industry ships around 35 percent of global trade by value. For up to 90 percent of the transport time the goods may actually be on the ground waiting to be processed,” Tyler said. “Alligning regulation and procedures with global standards and best practices has the potential to deliver major efficiency gains. That’s the aim of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which presents a great opportunity for our industry to reduce these delays and costs, particularly in developing countries.”
IATA has been heavily focused on speeding up the air freight processes. Evolving shipper demands in the past few years have forced the air cargo industry into an adapt-or-die situation as it fights off competition from other modes of transport that offer better service and prices. This prompted IATA to set an industry goal of cutting 48 hours off the average end-to-end time of a consignment. Since the 1960s, the average transit time of air cargo has not changed from six to seven days.
By cutting down the end-to-end time, the industry would be making dramatic improvements to processes and data sharing across the supply chain, enabling airlines to cope with handling products that were growing in value and complexity.
“There is no alternative to not coming up with an enhanced and optimised industry. As the supply chain demands become increasingly more complex and the products are more sophisticated and higher in value, we need to provide a more sophisticated service,” said IATA cargo director Glyn Hughes said.
Simplifying the measures involved in shipping air cargo across borders will remove significant costs from the supply chain, and a faster service will be a natural by-product. Crucial to the process was working with customs organisations in the provision of cargo data and building systems that provided an integrated, transparent chain that would avoid unnecessary delays during different steps in the voyage.
“Together with UNECE, we will work with developing countries to simplify their procedures and enhance their facilities. This is a win-win scenario for everyone ? the industry, the economy and the community,” said Tyler.
Christian Friis Bach, UNECE executive secretary, said developing trade facilitation recommendations and standards reduced the cost of doing business.
“An excellent example of the application of these instruments is the IATA eFreight Programme which reflects UNECE standards. This MoU with IATA will strengthen the implementation of our standards in developing and least developed countries, and as a consequence, help create growth and new jobs,” Bach said.
(Source : www.joc.com)
