All news & events

CLECAT’s Freight Forwarders Forum entitled ‘building sustainable and resilient supply chains’ will take place on 25 November in Brussels in a hybrid format.

On 11 October, the Members of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA) and of the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee will hold a joint hearing on AI and Transport, from 13.45-15.45h CET, which will be webstreamed.

On 7 October, the World Trade Organization (WTO) launched a new online tool for keeping track of changes in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), the system used for the classification of traded goods. The HS Tracker, developed with the support of the World Customs Organization (WCO), is also aimed at helping customs officials and traders prepare for HS amendments that will enter into force on 1 January 2022.

n October, a new Automatic Train Operation (ATO) test project for cargo started on the Betuwe route, which connects the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) with the German Ruhr region. The aim of the German-Dutch cooperation project is to trial and test the control and remote monitoring of automated trains in rail freight traffic for the first time by the end of 2025.

On 7 October, the Connecting Europe Express reached its final destination of Paris after 36 days travelling across Europe - West to East, North to South, and even visiting neighbours outside the EU. This train was specially put together for the occasion of the European Year of Rail 2021, aiming to raise awareness of the benefits of rail and the challenges which still need to be overcome.

The European Commission published on 7 October a draft implementing Regulation updating the list of serious infringements which may lead to the loss of good repute by a road transport operator. The draft act results from the publication of the Mobility Package I Regulations which add new infringements that could lead to loss of good repute, introduce an additional criterion when defining the degree of seriousness of infringements and their frequency of occurrence.

The maritime supply chain disruptions will not normalise before the end of 2022, according to the latest Container Forecaster report published by Drewry on 5 October. The supply chain crisis has worsened during Q2 2021, with cases of COVID-19 temporarily closing some Chinese terminals, and extreme weather events occurring in some regions. Drewry expects that fleet growth will continue to lag behind demand growth this and next year, but the discrepancy will be eased from 2023 onwards when the orders for newbuilt vessels will come to the market.