01 October 2021

CLECAT Newsletter 2021/37

CLECAT NEWSLETTER
 
Brussels News

TRAN MEPS EXCHANGE VIEWS WITH COMMISSIONER VALEAN ON FIT FOR 55 PACKAGE

The European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee met on 27 September to discuss the Fit for 55 proposals with EU Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean. The Commissioner presented the legislative proposals that are most relevant for the transport sector including the proposal for a Regulation on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) the FuelEU Maritime Regulation and the ReFuelEU Aviation proposal.

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MARITIME
 
Maritime

CLECAT MARITIME LOGISTICS INSTITUTE MEETS

Members of the CLECAT Maritime Logistics Institute met on 28 September to discuss the latest developments impacting sea freight forwarders, notably the ongoing disruptions in the maritime supply chain which is largely impacting SMEs in Europe. Shippers and freight forwarders continue to be confronted with high freight rates and a low level of service quality from ocean carriers.

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Maritime

VESSELS SCHEDULE RELIABILITY DROPS TO AN ALL-TIME LOW

On 27 September, analyst Sea Intelligence released the latest edition of the Global Liner Performance report which analyses the schedule reliability of ocean carriers up to August 2021. Although schedule reliability has hovered between 35%-40% for most of the year, in August 2021 it dropped to 33.6%, a new all-time low during the ten years Sea-Intelligence has tracked global schedule reliability.

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AIR
 
Air

AIR CARGO UP 7.7% IN AUGUST COMPARED TO PRE-COVID LEVELS

On 29 September, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air cargo markets in August 2021, showing that demand continued its strong growth trend, whilst pressure on capacity is rising.

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RAIL
 
Rail

10TH MARKET PLACE SEMINAR: REGISTRATION OPEN

On 14 October, the 10th edition of the Market Place Seminar, organised by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA) and the International Union of Railways (UIC), will take place from 11:00 to 14:00 CET. As the event coincides with the European Year of Rail, the event is supported by CLECAT.

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ROAD
 
Road

UK GOVERNMENT TAKES MEASURES TO EASE DRIVER SHORTAGE CRISIS

On 25 September, the UK government announced several initiatives to tackle the shortage of HGV drivers, which is currently dangerously disrupting supply chains in the United Kingdom, with empty shelves and a shortage of petrol in refuelling stations. The objectives of these measures are to increase the number of new drivers, attract foreign drivers that left the UK following the Brexit as well as former drivers that left the industry.

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Road

GERMANY RATIFIES E-CMR PROTOCOL

On 17 September, the German Bundesrat (Federal Council) ratified the e-CMR protocol, thereby enabling its application in Germany. The e-CMR Protocol of 20 February 2008 supplements the 1956 Convention on the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR) and allows the consignment note to be created electronically with legal effect.

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CUSTOMS & TRADE
 
Customs & Trade

CLECAT CUSTOMS INSTITUTE MEETS WITH UK HMRC

On 27 September, the CLECAT Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute (CITI) met to discuss relevant ongoing developments in post-Brexit EU-UK trade and transport, ongoing review of the Union Customs Code (UCC) and EU customs policy, and international trade. The CITI meeting held a special Brexit session, with members of the CLECAT Road Institute and guest speakers from the UK HMRC, which focused on practicalities of post-Brexit UK border processes for customs controls.

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Customs & Trade

PLENARY MEETING OF THE TRADE CONTACT GROUP FOR CUSTOMS

On 30 September, CLECAT attended the 59th plenary meeting of the Trade Contact Group (TCG), organised by the European Commission’s DG TAXUD. The meeting was dedicated to hearing from TCG members about their key messages for consideration in the context of the ongoing evaluation of the implementation of the UCC and possible future revision.

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Customs & Trade

EU EXTENDS EXPORT AUTHORISATION FOR COVID-19 VACCINES

On 29 September, the EU extended the COVID-19 vaccines export transparency and authorisation mechanism until 31 December. The purpose of the vaccines export transparency and authorisation mechanism is to secure deliveries of vaccines to Europeans in line with companies’ contractual obligations.

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SECURITY
 
Security

EUROPEAN CYBERSECURITY MONTH KICKS OFF

On 1 October, the ninth edition of the European Cybersecurity Month kicked off, which will run for the entire month of October under the motto ‘Think Before U Click'. The European Cybersecurity Month is an annual awareness campaign organised by the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and over 300 partners in the EU Member States.

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Security

ESPORG WORKSHOP ON SAFE AND SECURE PARKING AREAS

On 7 October, the European Secure Parking Organisation (ESPORG) is organising an online workshop from 10.00-13.00h CET to provide information about safe and secure parking, the EU Standard for Safe and Secure Truck Parking Areas (SSTPA), as well as detailed information and advice to interested applicants about the recently launched funding call for SSTPAs under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Transport.

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DIGITALISATION
 
Digitalisation

COUNCIL AGREES ON DATA GOVERNANCE ACT

On 1 October, the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) agreed on a negotiating mandate on a proposal for a Data Governance Act (DGA), which is part of a wider policy, aimed to give the EU a competitive edge in the increasingly data-driven economy. The Act would seek to set up mechanisms to facilitate the reuse of certain categories of protected public-sector data, increase trust in data intermediation services and promote data altruism across the EU.

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
 

CLECAT Meetings

CLECAT Sustainable Logistics Institute
15 October 2021, Online

CLECAT Road Logistics Institute
18 October 2021, Online

CLECAT Supply Chain Security Institute
22 November 2021, Online

CLECAT Board/GA
25 November 2021, Brussels

CLECAT Freight Forwarders Forum
25 November 2021, Brussels

CLECAT Air Logistics Institute
26 November 2021, Brussels


Events with CLECAT participation

Connecting Europe Express Conference on Rail Freight
5 October 2021, Luxembourg/Online          

Market Place Seminar - Multimodality in the year of Rail
14 October 2021, Online

GreenPort Congress 2021
21 October 2021, Place tbc


EU Meetings

Council of the European Union

Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council
14 October 2021, videoconference (informal meeting)
2-3 December, Brussels
9 December 2021, Brussels

Environment Council
6 October 2021, Luxembourg
20 December 2021, Brussels

European Parliament

European Parliament Transport Committee
27 September 2021, Brussels
27-28 October 2021, Brussels
Including a Public Hearing on “Impact of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) on modal shift and European Economic Exchanges”

European Parliament Plenary
4-7 October 2021, Strasbourg