The regulations in force for Central America allow two methods of certifying the weight of cargo moving through ports in the region.
The new regulations in force since July 1 oblige entities transporting containerized cargo by sea tocertify its weight under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas). The problem cited by exporters is the increase this will have on costs, in addition to infrastructure problems faced in some ports in the region.
Reports in Nicaragua indicate that only five companies managed to obtain the certificate which will be needed from July 1st to export by sea.
The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP warned that a week before the rule takes effect, only five exporting companies have carried out the procedures needed to certify the weight of marine cargo when the rule goes into effect.
Alcoholic beverages, technological equipment and chemical products are some of the products most affected by the disappearance of containers which has been denounced by the union of importers in Costa Rica.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Importers has expressed its concern at the "extreme" security measures which have to be taken to ensure that containers with imported goods reach their destination without being stolen in transit.Its director, Katherine Chaves, told Diarioextra.com that in some cases the containers disappear from thestorage zones.
In Costa Rica the exporter's union has stated that complying with the new regulations of weighing containers will raise costs and affect their already deteriorating competitiveness.
The new rules for certifying the weight of maritime cargo to be adhered to under the SOLAS convention will come into effect on July 1, 2016, and Costa Rican exporters are already raising their voices to denounce the impact it will have on their cost structure.
The global relevance of companies seeking the award of a third port for container ships in the Pacific is a clear sign of the importance of Panama as maritime and logistics hub.
The companies pre-qualified to participate in the tender for the concession of a new port in Corozal are subsidiaries of the largest shipping companies such as Maersk-Denmark, MSC-Italy and CMA-CGM-France or are direct port operators, in this case the most important in the world, PSA from Singapore.
An announcement has been made that in 2016 an integrated system will be used to to carry out fiscal, safety and phytosanitary controls in a single revision.
The Tax Authority will be responsible for deciding the date of the launch of the new system, which will integrate phytosanitary controls, customs and security in the container terminal of Puerto Quetzal.
The terminal which is being built by APM Terminals in the Costa Rican Caribbean will be able to receive vessels containing refrigerated cargo containers of a larger capacity than those currently arriving at the port.
Fresh fruits and meat exporters are some of the productive sectors that will benefit the most once the mega port being built in Limon, Costa Rica comes into operation.
In order to analyze the impact that Panama Canal expansion will have on this sector it is necessary to dissect the current numbers on movement and transshipment of containers in Latin America.
From a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC):
Trade in container ports in the region up 1.3% in 2014
Ranking updated by USI / ECLAC confirms the slowdown in foreign trade shown by the container terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years. The movement of containerized cargo at ports in Latin America and the Caribbean grew by 1.3% in 2014, according to data released today by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). This year's ranking of movements in container ports confirms high heterogeneity: the west coast of South America is up (5.3%), Mexico (4.0%) and Central America (3.4%), but the East Coast of South America (-2.2%) and the Caribbean (-8.2%) are down.
Carriers are warning that an epidemic of theft of containers that primarily affects El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, may be starting to affect Nicaragua.
The president of the Central Transport Federation (Fecatran), Marvin Altamirano, told Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... at least four cases of container theft have occurred in Nicaragua. "With the authorities we managed to stop about four containers that had been stolen, and which were loaded onto trucks with Guatemalan plates, that showed that the vehicles were already in contact with international criminal gangs.'"
Organization that operates in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua and Central America.
Phone: (506 ) 22402425 - (506 ) 84144524
Shipping companies accept payment for inspection of containers but are asking for the removal of the charge for the "traceability tax disc" on the part of port companies.
Industry representatives argue that charging twice for stamps used for international transit through the container ports Quetzal and Santo Tomas de Castilla, breaches the agreement reached between business and the government in October 2014, when "...Tariff schedules were agreed by Empresa Portuaria Quetzal. "
From 14 to 16 October participants in the port and logistics industry will gather together at the 14th edition of the event to be held in Cartagena, Colombia.
Between 14 and 16 October this year the fourteenth version of TOC Container Supply Chain (TOC CSC Americas), an international conference on the port industry and the container supply chain, will be held in Cartagena, Colombia.
SeaLand will be located in the U.S. and will have a structure that is similar to that of other regional Maersk operators.
The new subsidiary of Maersk Line and AP Moller-Maersk Group will operate in the same way as MCC Transport which operates in Asia and Seago Line in Europe.
The new company will have sales staff and customer support with local knowledge in every American country, in order to offer a better service focused on customers in local markets.
Logistics is the system of veins and arteries through which global trade flows, and the ports are the heart of this system; a strike has the same impact as a heart attack in a human being.
An article in Prensa.com states: "What should be ceaseless port activity has become bogged down. Nothing is worse for a production system, and is even more worrying when it affects to the logistics industry.
Within a trend of overall decline in port activity, Central American countries are recording negative growth.
From a statement by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Decreases in port activity in the region because of low export growth
The lack of dynamism of exports from the region and the prospects for slower growth in the global economy since late 2012, have intensified the slowdown of the ports in the first half of 2013, according to figures from the ECLAC released today.