No Delays Reported As First Beetle-Prone Shipments Arrive
The Asian longhorned beetle has not interfered with commerce on the West Coast — so far. Vessels that left China and Hong Kong after Dec. 17 began arriving at West Coast ports earlier this month, and no significant delays or congestion have been reported due to the government inspection policy aimed at keeping the Asian longhorned beetle out of the United States. The pest, which has no known predators in the United States, already has caused infestations in the New York and Chicago areas.
Inspectors are pulling aside only a small percentage of the containers, said Brian Hamilton, supervisory plant protection quarantine officer in Los Angeles-Long Beach for the Department of Agriculture. More than 2.5 million 20-ft container units enter the United States each year from China and Hong Kong.
"It's good news so far, but it's still early," said Glenn Del Ross, general manager of J.F. Moran Co. and chairman of the transportation committee of the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association. "I think we will continue to have questions as real-case scenarios pop up," he said. As of Dec. 17, 1998, all shipments leaving China and Hong Kong must be accompanied by a Chinese government certificate indicating that the containers, and in particular the wooden pallets, are free of infestation from the voracious beetle.
The document states either that the shipment contains no wooden packaging material, or if it does contain pallets or crates, that the shipment has been properly fumigated. Importers and brokers, waiting for the first vessels to arrive at West Coast ports, feared that mass confusion and excessive delays would result if the USDA detained containers for inspection and documentation checks. Several vessels from China and Hong Kong have arrived at Los Angeles-Long Beach since Jan. 1, but shipping executives and terminal operators reported that cargo was moving normally.
"The vessels have been arriving, but I haven't seen any significant increase in inspections or holds placed on containers," said Sudesh Tennekoon, import manager at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines America in Long Beach. Terminal operators say the USDA began to aggressively inspect containers from China and Hong Kong six months ago.
No Interference Yet
"There has been no interference yet because of the USDA policy," said Karsten Lemke, vice president of West Coast operations at Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. "That's right," responded Hamilton. "That's what I've been telling everybody repeatedly."
The Southern California trade community has requested meetings with agriculture officials because they feared that the inspection certificates would not be arriving on time or that the USDA would be overwhelmed. Hamilton, however, said the USDA has been receiving documents for more than two weeks, and for the most part, the certificates have been submitted correctly and the fumigations in China have been properly done."There have been some problems, such as improper dosage, but for the most part they've been OK," he said.
USDA encourages importers not to file a document unless requested to do so. Importers or their brokers, however, must keep the documents on file.
In December, the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, representing 13 carriers in the trade from Asia to the United States, published a tariff, or listing of charges, that its members would apply to shipments that are detained or returned to China because of improper documentation. Individual lines also have been notifying shippers of their responsibilities.
Del Ross said that although it is normal for shippers to be responsible for holds placed on the container, the documentation requirements and operational procedures of the USDA are still not clear. For example, he noted, several terminals do not have examination stations where the USDA can inspect the containers. Also, there is only one company in the entire Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex approved to incinerate pallets that have not been properly treated, and that company will only accept the packaging material if it has been reduced to chips. None of the terminals are equipped to chip the wood.
Volume Will Increase
Hamilton of the USDA said the volume of cargo from Hong Kong and China will increase, but he does not anticipate massive delays because of the beetle inspection policy. USDA offices have fax machines dedicated to the inspection certificates, the agency has transferred personnel to China to oversee inspection procedures and some carriers are making USDA's job easier by breaking out China-origin cargo into special manifests.
Editor's Note: This article was adapted from a story printed in The Journal of Commerce, 1/6/99.