Shipping+and+Transport

Shipping and Transport deals with the organization, preparation, documentation, execution and reporting of the movement of goods. There are various reasons for moving goods, such as the purchase of products, supply of stocks for a production process, stocking shops, the replenishment of warehouses and distribution centres, or the movement of parts to a building site. Physical transport may be by road, rail, sea, air, inland waterways or even pipelines. The movement of goods can involve several modes of transport, for example pre-carriage to a seaport by a truck, main carriage to another continent by an ocean-going vessel, and on-carriage by rail. Shipping and Transport involves activities of the SHIP part of the BUY-SHIP-PAY model  of UN/CEFACT.

Parties involved
Organizing and executing a complex movement of goods involves a large number of parties or stakeholders (e.g. consignor, consignee, carrier, freight forwarder), who need to communicate amongst themselves, as well as follow procedures and documentary requirements from authorities such as Customs and security formalities. Organization of the transport itself requires many actions between transport operators, such as booking cargo on a transport means, establishing a transport contract and documenting it in a waybill, making detailed shipping instructions, and organizing pre- and on-carriage to the main maritime or air transport leg.

Challenges
Challenges that face operators in shipping and transport include:
 * finding qualified parties to arrange (part of) the transport at long distance,
 * deciding on the optimal transport route,
 * combining cargo to obtain more efficient and less costly transport,
 * tracing and tracking cargo whilst under transport,
 * timely communication of essential documentation and information, and
 * timely handling of Customs, transit and other regulatory procedures.

In Shipping and Transport, the following product-related regulations have to be complied with: chemical materials and safety; regulations for movements by a certain mode of transport and for storage of goods; documentary requirements; regulations for entering in, transit through or leaving a country; regulations about transport means used. These can stem from international conventions, or regional, national or local legislation. The main authorities involved are Customs, Port and Airport Authorities, Transport Authorities, Health and Agriculture Authorities.

Important trade facilitation issues are
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">sending correct and timely pre-arrival information,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">efficient border crossing,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">efficient port and airport management,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">correct and timely declarations of transport means and goods to Customs and other authorities,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">timely release of goods,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">effective monitoring of dangerous and obnoxious goods during transport and whilst stored, and
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">monitoring the security of the transport of goods and the transport means.

Implementation solutions
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Solutions to the above issues are: adherence to international conventions from international authoritative bodies such as the World Customs Organization and International Transport Organizations; the introduction of harmonized and standardized documentary requirements; cross-border transit arrangements; use of modern Information Technology in the form of Port and Airport Community Systems and Shipping Portals; and logistics information systems that allow information exchange throughout the transport chain.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Implementing trade facilitation recommendations brings major benefits, such as ensuring that information about goods being shipped and transported is sent in a timely and correct way to the responsible authorities, so that required procedures, validations, inspections and releases can be performed reliably and smoothly. This will benefit <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">both the <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">authorities in security monitoring of goods in transport, and the traders in moving goods at predictable and low costs, thus increasing competitiveness.