Articles under section " Dossier: Focus on the port environment "

Maritime transport carries 90 percent of global merchandise trade[1], and impediments to ports’ logistical chains have tangible repercussions in terms of higher trade costs and even shortages of goods and materials. The chains include numerous entities, spanning shipping lines, carrier agents, ter...

There are international requirements for governments to use electronic information exchange in this process. Since April 2019, the transmission of information required in respect of the arrival, stay and departure of ships in ports and harbours must take place via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) a...

Abu Dhabi (AD), the capital of the United Arab Emirates, was one of the early adopters of trade digitalization in the Middle East and has made considerable progress in this field. To achieve this, it needed to establish a solid partnership between key private- and public-sector stakeholders, includi...

The Advanced Trade and Logistics Platform Back in 2014, the government selected the AD Ports Group – the master developer, operator and manager of commercial and community ports within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – to build what was to become the UAE’s first dedicated Single Window Port Community...

The exercise brought valuable insights to participants, and 25 observations and recommendations were drafted. They addressed particularly OGA/Customs coordination, highlighting the need to establish a coordinated border management framework which would provide for joint inspections and enable Custo...

Bulgaria has been a fully-fledged Member State of the European Union (EU) since 1 January 2007 and exerts controls over one of the external maritime borders of the EU with the Black Sea, in accordance with EU Customs policies. The number of inbound and outbound container units going through its larg...

Customs risk analysis In all EU countries, the Customs administration has the legal obligation to carry out the security and safety risk analysis on all the cargo, regardless of the EU country of destination. To do so, Customs risk analysis systems must apply common security and safety risk crite...

The NMSWe is to be transformed following the establishment of a European Maritime Single Window Environment (EMSWe) by 15 August 2025. The EMSWe aims to lower the administrative burden on ship operators by harmonizing rules for the provision of the information that is required for port calls, in par...

In today’s interconnected world, the efficient movement of goods across borders is crucial to most economies. Ports and Customs play pivotal roles here. In this environment, as in many others, efficiency means digitalization of processes, and seamless flows of information. One critical decisi...

However, scaling up or down in response to fluctuating demand can be challenging with on-premises systems, often requiring costly hardware upgrades. IT teams are responsible for maintaining hardware, applying updates, and managing security, diverting resources from core activities. Establishing robu...

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) develops, maintains and operates ocean and inland river ports within Georgia, United States. Its top priority is to ensure the seamless movement of cargo for its customers while enforcing security and environmental protection requirements. For more than 30 years, th...

The primary focus of this team, and of Customer Service management, is to facilitate ongoing dialogue between the external customers and USCBP, while adhering to all USCBP guidelines. The team also ensures customers are following proper protocol when working to get their freight released. The Port A...

In today’s highly interdependent world economy, business and societies depend on the efficient clearance of vessels and goods in ports worldwide to function, develop and prosper. More than 80% of world trade is transported by sea and via ports, and any business that is part of global supply chains...

Why tackle corruption in ports? Corruption comes with a cost to business and societies. The impact of corruption in ports has been documented in several studies and through data collected by the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network: Increasing the cost of trade: Studies from Southern Africa have show...

Using industry data to identify and address corruption In 2019, MACN and CBi introduced an Anti-Corruption HelpDesk for the maritime private sector and vessels calling at Nigerian seaports and terminals. The objective of the HelpDesk is to empower and support companies to reject corrupt demands duri...

Operation TIN CAN was the first enforcement activity actively involving the shipping industry to combat the contamination of legitimate cargo with drugs through the rip-on/rip-off method. This article explains how it opened new horizons for enhancing the capacity of Customs to fight drug smuggling,...

We are not talking about “small” quantities. In 2020, police in Costa Rica made the biggest seizure of drugs in the country’s history, finding more than five tons of cocaine in 202 suitcases which had been placed in a container with a consignment of flowers headed for the Netherlands. This...

Testing technology Drugs used to be found mainly inside bags near the door of the container and were therefore visible once it was opened. Nowadays, however, they are more likely to be found behind the first rows of boxes or pallets of legal cargo, which makes control more difficult. One of the ob...