The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is extending its deadline for the new shipborne dunnage program to Nov. 6, Livingston International said June 30. The original directive for the program, published Jan. 6, made the deadline for compliance July 6. The extension was announced to "allow more time for the industry to address implementation issues," Livingston said. The order also includes amendments to "approved heat treatments and marking requirements made under the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) 15," Livingston said. CFIA did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
Longshore workers are "prepared" to walk out of work at Canadian West Coast ports at 8 a.m. on July 1, after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada issued a 72-hour strike notice to the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, ILWU Canada said in a news release June 28. The ILWU Canada Bargaining Committee "has run out options at the bargaining table because the BCMEA and their member employers have refused to negotiate on the main issues, and we feel we are left with no choice but to take the next step in the process," the news release said.
The U.S. candidate for World Customs Organization secretary general was elected to the post June 24. Ian Saunders, whose five-year term will begin Jan. 1, is currently deputy assistant secretary at the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration. The secretary-general is responsible for "overseeing the day-to-day activities of the WCO Secretariat," the WCO said in a news release. Saunders has over 20 years in customs and more than 30 years' experience in international relations, CBP and the WCO said.
CBP named Daniel Mercado the port director for Presidio, and he was sworn in on June 22. Mercado has a long tenure with CBP and was most recently liaison to the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
The Federal Maritime Commission has hired Alex Chintella as an administrative law judge, FMC Chairman Daniel Maffei announced June 21. Chintella was previously an attorney and administrative hearing officer with the Federal Railroad Administration.
The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union reached a tentative agreement on a six-year contract, both unions announced June 14. This comes amid repeated slowdowns at several West Coast ports, including at Los Angeles and Long Beach, that the PMA said were directed by the ILWU (see 2306050077).
The Port of Los Angeles has been able to function "close to normal" since June 1 despite issues arising from labor negotiations between dockworkers and terminal operators, Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said at a press conference June 13. "The Port of L.A. terminals are open, trucks are moving, and vessels by and large have been on schedule," Seroka said (see 230609004, 2306050077 and 2303270032).
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and her staff "have been working tirelessly" with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to help the two sides come to a labor deal, Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, told CNBC June 8. Seroka said the Labor Department is talking with both sides "to keep this progress moving" after some West Coast ports experienced disruptions during the last week from work stoppages caused by the labor negotiations (see 2306050077 and 2306060077).
Marine terminal operator APS East Coast (Amports) engaged in "a series of schemes and efforts to unlawfully restrict stevedoring services" and charged $1.2 million in "baseless" fees, Ports America Chesapeake (PAC) and Marine Terminals Corporation-East (MTCE), said in a June 2 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. PAC and MTCE, which provide stevedoring services in Baltimore, also accused Amports of subjecting them to "prejudicial treatment" compared with other stevedores "without legitimate transportation justifications," interfering with their stevedoring business and contracts and "unreasonably refusing to deal" with them.
The delays at ports on the West Coast have been "a lot more noise than impact," affecting only a few terminals at a time for short periods, said Nathan Strang, director of ocean freight for U.S. Southwest and small and medium-sized businesses for Flexport, during a webinar June 8.