JIFFA Report

8

2022

Report on 2021 FIATA General Meeting
The International Federation of Freight
Forwarders Associations (FIATA)
organized its 2021 general meeting
online to prevent coronavirus infections
from expanding, as it did in the previous
year. The federation, scheduled to meetin person in Busan, South Korea in 2020
and Brussels, Belgium in 2021, hoped toresume a face-to-face meeting hopefullyin 2022. Some 250 representatives
from member countries and regions
logged on to Zoom Meetings to attend
the meeting, which was held from 12:45
to 15:15 CET on Nov. 18, 2021. On
behalf of Japan International Freight
Forwarders Association (JIFFA),
Secretary-General Hisanao Kawachi waspresent.
Before the general meeting began,
FIATA President Basil Pietersen gave theopening address, commenting on thedigitalization efforts that the federation
is making, such as the introduction ofelectronic bills of lading (eB/Ls), and how
important they are. Following thepresidential message, the meeting was
moved forward in accordance with thefollowing proceedings.
Proceedings:
1) Approval of the proceedings of thegeneral meeting held in 2021;
2) Approval of the entry of two new
association members;3) Suspension of one association
member;4) Approval of the 2021 accountsettlement report;
5) Approval of considerations on
member due revisions in and after
2022;6) Approval of an income-andexpenditure budget for 2022;
7) Election/approval of FIATA
leadership members; and
8) Election/approval of FIATA
institute members.
As the general meeting was convened
in a year when the FIATA leadership

members' term expired, an online
election was held. The meeting beganwith full preparation, as rehearsals had
been made for several days in advance.
The election was, therefore, completed
without a hitch. President Pietersen
stepped down from the presidency at
the meeting. Instead, Mr. Ivan Petrof,
secretary-general of the European
Association for Forwarding, Transport,
Logistics and Customs Services(CLECAT) and vice chairman of theboard of directors at the Bulgarian
National Freight Forwarding Association(NSBS), succeeded to Mr. Pietersen. A
new treasurer and secretary-general werealso elected. Mr. Galo Molina, presidentof the Ecuadorian Association of Freightand Logistics Agencies (ASEACI)
assumed the former post, and Mr. Robert
Keen, director-general of the British
International Freight Association (BIFA),
the latter. After new appointments tomajor leadership posts were approved,
vice presidents and institute chairs werealso elected and approved.
FIATA welcomed new members at thegeneral meeting, which were the Council
for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding(CRFFN) from Nigeria and the Kosovo

Local and International Freight
Forwarding Association (KLIFFA).
Prior to the general meeting, theFIATA Region Asia-Pacific (RAP)
convened an online session on Sept. 7,
at which a new chair candidate wasselected. At the general meeting, a neworganization of the RAP was settled. At a
Sept. 17 meeting, a briefing was given on
Freight-Pay, a platform developed by
FIATA to allow members to pay andreceive freight rates and make otherpayments with each other online.
Information was shared on movements
worldwide to implement new andadditional carrier surcharges. Also, FIATA
institutes made activity reports.
FIATA will meet next time in Busan,
South Korea on Sept. 11-16, 2022
under the theme of “Uniting for Global
Solutions.” For member freight
forwarders associations, meetings will be
convened of institutes, advisory bodies
and standing committees. A Young
Logistics Professionals (YLP) session is
also scheduled, while regional meetings
will be held, followed by the opening
session of the FIATA World Congress(FWC). In respec to ongoing important
issues, panel discussions will be held on
the introduction of digitalization in thelogistics business, shipping crisis, tradefacilitation and workforce shortages.

2022

SummerJapan

International

Freight

Forwarders

Association INC.

4F, Across Shinkawa Bldg. Annex, 16–14, Shinkawa 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104–0033
Telephone 81 3 3297 0351 Facsimile 81 3 3297 0354
URL http://www.jiffa.or.jp
Issued in September 2022

JIFFA Holds 11th General Assembly
Education, Training Programs to be Held in Person in FY2022
Japan International Freight Forwarders
Association (JIFFA) held its 11th generalannual assembly at 16:00 on Thursday,June 16, 2022 in banquet roomPrimavera at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Tokyo in
Minato Ward. Out of the 510 regularmembers, 77 were present, while proxystatements were submitted by 293 for a
total of 370.
After giving the opening address priorto advancing proceedings, Chairman
Junichiro Watanabe was elected by theattending regular members to presideover the meeting. First, Senior Executive
Director Kazuyoshi Yamauchi gavebriefings on 1-(1): a fiscal 2021 business
report and 2-(1): a fiscal 2021 accountsettlement report. When auditing reports
were made by Auditor Daisuke Miyakawa,the account settlement report wasapproved. Then, 1-(2): a fiscal 2022
business plan and income andexpenditure report was made. As for 2(2): the election of secretariat members,
the term of the incumbent members
expires this fiscal year. Twenty-four

commissioners and two auditors wereplaced before the meeting and approved.
After the general assembly,
commissioners met for their 47th
meeting, at which Mr. Munenori Kimura
assumed the vice-chairmanship.
In fiscal 2022, JIFFA will hold its annual
courses for certifying international
intermodal transport specialists in Tokyo
and Osaka, and workshops for mid-careerand new employees, practical English
correspondence and Chinese courses andother events in Tokyo. It will also consider
giving an online English presentation
contest. As for other business plans, JIFFA
will hold seminars on Southeast Asian
languages, conduct surveys on logistics inother countries and regions, give online
introductory courses to learn the JIFFA
transport terms and conditions, arrange
logistics tours for children, allow students
to participate in internships in thelogistics industry, consider producing
educational videos, share International
Federation of Freight Forwarders
Association (FIATA) information with

General Assembly

Chairman Junichiro Watanabe

member freight forwarders, promote its
transport-related and other documents,
work with the government of Japan'scommittee and working group for
promotingport
andharborcomputerization (cyber ports), consider
holding logistics seminars and attend
meetings convened by governmental andindustry organizations.
Chairman Watanabe's opening address
is outlined below.
I would like to deliver a message at the
beginning of the 11th general annual
assembly of Japan International Freight
Forwarders Association. In the ongoingdifficult situations where uncertainties are
persisting, JIFFA activities are being
advanced smoothly. I would like to takethis opportunity to express my deepest
gratitude to you all for supporting andhelping us.
Fiscal 2021 (April 2021-March
2022) was a year in which supply chains
was constantly disrupted, as logistics
turmoil resulting from the coronavirus
pandemic–namely, containership capacity
shortages and schedule upsets–was noteased. Supply chains could not satisfy(continued on page 2)

JIFFA Report(continued from page 1)

demand, while marine freight rates
hovered at high levels. Such adverse
factors were on top of labor and material
shortages. Consequently, inflation has
been accelerating in the U.S. and Europe.
Concerned about such a situation
since an early stage, JIFFA has, to stabilize
maritime transport, exchanged
information with industry and otherorganizations and made requests to thegovernment of Japan and relevant
associations to take actions. Although
there are signs of improvement now, it isstill unpredictable due to the crisis in
Ukraine, developments in the labormanagement negotiations on the U.S.
West Coast, the anti-COVID measurestaken in China and so forth.
In such difficult times, the combined
volume of NVOCC cargo that JIFFAaffiliated freight forwarders imported toand exported from Japan in fiscal 2021
amounted to 122.48 million tons. Fromthe previous fiscal year, it swelled 8.9%
and accomplished its first year-on-year
improvement in three years. In the firsthalf alone, there was a much more notablerise of 17.4%, partly because it
rebounded from a severe decline in theprevious fiscal year. In the second half,
meanwhile, there was an increase of
1.6%. Although it was only moderate
growth, throughput itself was nearly

2

2022

unchanged from the corresponding termof the previous fiscal year, when it
increased sharply. At a time when theJapanese economy was only mildly
expanding, registering a real-term GDP
growth of 2.2% from the previous fiscal
year, our member NVOCCs' combined
throughput almost returned to a prepandemic level in 2018. This is solely the
fruit of the tremendous efforts they made.
I would like to show my respect to themonce again.
In respect to membership expansion,
the number of JIFFA members as of June 1
was greater by five than a year earlier.
Currently, regular members amount to512, and supporting members consist of
15 businesses and 10 organizations for a
total of 537. Under such a circumstance,
JIFFA is steadily growing thanks to you all.
Although supply chains are in a chaotic
environment worldwide, I believe the roles
that freight forwarders should fulfill andtheir future are valued afresh.
To live up to expectations andrequests from members, JIFFA willcontinue to powerfully promote support
programs to develop human resources
through education and training, inparticularand strive to help the freight
forwarding industry grow further even intimes of hardship.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, JIFFA
was left with no choice but to cancel

JIFFA Report

some of its activities last fiscal year,
including a survey on overseas logistics
affairs. By staying active in holding various
seminars and other events online,
nevertheless, we managed to share withmember freight forwarders the current
state of, challenges facing, the future
development of the forwarding industry
and other information. We havecontinued to give language courses inperson despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, in addition, we will work hardon other in-person training programs aswell that we have organized on smallerscales in the last few years.
As the coronavirus pandemic has
increased opportunities for online
activities, it is becoming more and more
important to promote digitalization in thefreight forwarding industry, too. JIFFA will,
for its part, cooperate with efforts to use
digital transformation (DX), such as tasks
related to port and harbor services andcustoms-house duties. We also intend topromote the digitalization of the JIFFA
Multimodal Transport Bill of Lading (MTB/L) and the JIFFA Waybill, both of whichhave already been used by manymembers on a daily basis. We will also
keep an eye on developments within theforwarding industry and address
challenges through communication with
FIATA and other overseas associations aswell as domestic organizations.

Future State of Freight Forwarders Projecting Global Logistics in Mid-21st Century
The Public Relations Committeeorganized an online seminar on Tuesday,
Feb. 8, 2022 to foresee how freight
forwarders should change and act torespond to changes in a post-COVID era.
Mr. Mikio Tasaka, a research fellow from
NX Logistics Research Institute andConsulting, gave a lecture, entitled“Future State of Freight Forwarders–
Projecting Global Logistics in mid-21st
Century.”
Below is an outline of Mr. Tasaka's
lecture.

Roadmaps the Japanese logistics
industry should take in the next 10-20
years1) Standardization of trailers, shipping
containers unit load devices (ULDs)
including pallets
Japan needs to standardize trailers,
shipping containers and ULDs including
pallets. When automation, manpower
reduction and unmanned operations arepromoted, it is necessary to standardize
various things. However, some things canhardly be standardized unless operations
themselves are standardized. Only

Japan International Freight Forwarders
Association (JIFFA)-affiliated freight
forwarders moved a total of 61.461
million tons of international intermodal
cargo to and from Japan in the second
half of fiscal 2021 (October 2021March 2022), which only increased by amilder 1.6% from the corresponding six
months of the previous fiscal year.
In the first half (April-September),imports and exports both expanded
notably, rebounding from severe declines
incurred a year earlier due to lockdowns
worldwide and the state of emergency
declaration in Japan.
（1,000 revenue tons）

64,00062,00060,00060,516

Total

61,01758,000In the second half, imports grew by
5.4% year on year to 37.896 million
tons. Meanwhile, exports weighed23.565 million tons, which shrank by
4.1% from the second half of theprevious year but were higher by 4.7%
from the same six months of fiscal 2019.
On a full-year scale, imports picked up
7.6% to 74,988 million tons in fiscal
2021, while exports were morefavorablethanks
totheabovementioned rebounding growth in
the first halfmarking a double-digit
improvement of 10.9% to amount to47.49 million tons.
Imports and exports
totaled 122,478 million
tons, swelling by 8.9% and61,461
accomplishing their firstyear-on-year gain in three
years.

Europe grew by double digits to finish inthird place, soaring by 11.7% to 2.096
million tons.
Those to South Korea jumped so
notable a 23.1% to 1,851 million tons
as to step up from sixth to fourth place.
The fifth-largest destination was
Thailand, but exports to it sank by 9.5%
to 1.464 million tons. Those to Vietnam
were sluggish, too, plunging by 22.4% to
1.208 million tons to end up in sixth
place.
Exports to China aggregated248,809 TEUs, up 4%, accounting forthe largest part in TEU terms as well. As
for those to other destinations,
122,304 TEUs were transported to the
U.S., up 3.5%; 96,675 TEUs to South
Korea, up 20.8%; 95,988 TEUs to
Europe, up 14.8%; and 77,174 TEUs to
Thailand, up 1.6%.

Exports
The combined volume ofinternational intermodal
cargo that JIFFA affiliates
exported from Japan in
October 2021-March 2022
totaled 23.565 million tons,
which sank by 4.1% year on
year. It has, nevertheless,returned to its pre-pandemic
levels in the first and second
halves of fiscal 2019. The
decline was made mostly bysluggishness in exports to
China,
theleading
destination of shipmentsfrom Japan, which waned by
5.6% to 4.817 million tons.
Coming in second place,those to the U.S. gained
from a year earlier, up 7.9%
to 3.036 million tons, butfailed to recover their volume
in the second half of fiscal
2019 (3.11 million tons),
when the COVID-19
pandemic began. Exports toImports
JIFFA members imported 37.896
million tons of international intermodal
cargo to Japan in the second half of last
fiscal year, which inflated by 5.4% from ayear earlier.
Imports have remained on a upward
trend since the second half of fiscal
2020. By source, 18,983 million tons
were transported from China, up 5.2%,
holding the leading share of the pie.
Ranked second were those from
Vietnam, which rose by 10.2% to 3.39
million tons. Intermodal cargo fromThailand waned in terms of volume,
sinking by 0.5% to 2.379 million tons
but managed to advance to third place.
Imports from Europe fell by 1.9% to2.367 million tons, finishing in fourth.
The U.S. came at the bottom of the top
five, from which 1.888 million tons were
imported, down 0.8%.
On a TEU scale, imports from China
went down 3.2% to 826,430 TEUs;
from Vietnam, up 2% to 122,786 TEUs;
from Europe, up 3.8% to 112,582

56,00054,000 56,692
52,00051,99150,00048,00046,00044,00042,00035,95137,09237,89636,00034,00032,00034,18533,74530,00028,000 Export
26,00024,56523,92524,000 22,507

23,56522,00018,24620,000because pallets of the same size are usedin Europe and the U.S., operations inwarehouses can be standardized. In Japan,
in contrast, pallets used inside factories
and to deliver shipments out of factories(continued on page 4)2022

International Intermodal Cargo to/from Japan in H2 of FY2021
Exports Decrease Mildly Due to Fall in Those to China; Imports Remain Massive

40,000 Import
38,000Workshop to Commemorate JIFFA's 40th Anniversary

3

18,0000year on year
in total

FY2021
FY2021
FY2020 FY2020
FY2019
2H
1H
2H
1H
2H
Oct 2019 Apr 2020 Oct 2020 Apr 2021 Oct 2021
Mar 2020 Sep 2020 Mar 2021 Sep 2021 Mar 2022

-9.2%

-16.7%+6.7%+17.4%+1.6%(continued on page 6)

JIFFA Report

4

2022

JIFFA Reportsouth. They were held in a similar
structure to the one recorded in
September 2013. Warm-up exams wasgiven, while the attendees had beenrequired to make preparatory study.
Having several breaks, the three-hourclasses were completed successfully,
although they may have run too fast.
Some of the students had expected theywould learn specific English usages forlogistics, but in fact, a wider variety of
topics were discussed based on thelecturer’s knowledge and experience,
ranging from basic writing skills to hownative speakers think and feel as well as
things that Japanese people would say
from their Japanese intuitions but cannot
be understood by native speakers. In
addition to the PowerPoint textbook, thewebinars were given on the basis of theeighth edition of “Kokusai Butsuryu Eigo”(English for International Logistics), abook written by Mr. Yamada. JIFFA hopes
the attendees will make use of it as a
powerful tool for English communicationin the future.

(continued from page 2)

standardizing pallets, shipping containers
need to be standardized. Even if so,
factories and logistics facilities in Japan do
not have such extensive areas. If this is
the case, city planning must be made firstto review specific-use areas including
urbanization promotion zones. The
private sectors cannot do these things
alone; therefore, support from the public
sector is needed. That it to say, private
business operators must, then, do what
they can alone and by helping each other,such as the standardization of truck,
trailer and container specifications anddevices.

are different. As such, when trucks areloaded with shipments, pallets must be
removed, and the shipments are carried inmanually. When they arrive at logistics
centers, they are moved on the centers'
pallets manually again. When they aredelivered to customers, then, they areagain loaded on vehicles in bulk. Whenthey reach customers' facilities, truck
drivers, this time, place them on pallets
prepared by the customers. Considering
the situation that Japan's logistics is innow, there is no time to make such
efforts. If contactless operations andmanpower reduction are to be promoted,
standardization is necessary to the extent
that pallets will not even have to be
touched at all–from when goods leaveproduction lines at factories–by way oflogistics and other centers–to when theyreach customers' facilities as long as they
can be moved on pallets. Prior to2) Standardization of data formats andcode systems
As for data formats and code systems,in Japan, standardization has been
introduced in “vertical” business
transaction relationships. Standardizationin business transaction relationships is

2022

FY2021 Course for Qualifying International
Intermodal Transport Specialists

Practical English Webiners Given for Forwarders
JIFFA hosted online seminars on March
23 and 29, at which its secretariat
synchronized a PowerPoint textbook withthe recording of an in-person seminar
held in September 2013 as an advanced
class of the practical English
correspondence course its Language
Training Committee began in 1988. The
webinars were arranged to meet requests
from students who had attended Mr.
Masashige Yamada’s lectures and wanted
to step up to higher levels. The regular
practical English correspondence course
consists of 36 classed held on 12 days.
Although given more intensively, thewebinars turned out to be a great
opportunity for attendees to see andbrush up their English skills.
Provided in person, the regular
practical English correspondence course
can only be held at limited locations,meaning that only limited people canparticipate. However, there were no such
limitations in the web seminars; as such,they were attended by people from
Hokkaido in the north and Kyushu in the5

Mr. Masashige Yamada extends video greetings(recorded in Yokkaichi in November 2021).

A survey indicated that 86% of those
who responded said the webinars were
helpful. The survey also asked them tocomment on the seminars on the whole.
Some claimed that it is necessary todeliver information in different ways, as
they had expected live-streaming classes
simply because not much information
had been distributed to tell them theywould just be online seminars. Othersuggested the three-hour time frame bereconsidered, and that one class be heldin two sessions. Although the webinars
were good enough to convey thelecturer’s enthusiasm at that time, there
were several things to be edited, such as
noise. By learning from survey responses,
the Language Training Committee willhold discussions and hold similar eventsof higher quality this fiscal year.

being made in Japan, for example,
between makers and retailers, makers andwholesalers, wholesalers and retailers,
logistics service providers and shippers
and so on. However, pallets, invoices, data
formats and code systems must all bestandardized not only vertically but also
“horizontally,” if they are for the same
consumer goods; in other words, if
processed food, medical products,
cosmetics, other daily necessities andbeverages are to be handled uniformly.
This is not practiced in Japan. Unless it isdone, standardization will not proceedsmoothly. If standardization does notproceed, it could mean that digitalization
will not be realized. If digitalization is notrealized, DX could not be achieved
forever.
In the world, digitalized providers,
including freight forwarders, logistics SaaSand logistics marketplaces, are in themarket, playing digitalization roles.

The Education Committee held its
annual course for qualifying international
intermodal transport specialists in Tokyo
on Oct. 7-Nov. 16 and in Nagoya on
Oct. 14-Nov. 25, 2021. The sessions
were both given in 30 classes in 10 days.
To keep coronavirus infections fromspreading, the course reduced thenumber of attendees by half as it did in
the previous fiscal year. Prevention
measures were fully taken, requiring
attendees to wear masks, wash theirhands and sanitize them with alcohol;
measuring their body temperatures when
they entered the classroom; and having
one student use one desk.
On Dec. 8, the unified final
examination was given in Tokyo andNagoya. A total of 101 students took
the exam, and 97 passed, newly
becoming international intermodaltransport specialists.
The total number of international
intermodal transport specialists thatJIFFA produces has reached 6,288.
On Jan. 19, 2022, a ceremony washeld at the JIFFA secretariat office toconfer certificates of completion to fivetop
performers,
one of which
could not makeit for somereasons.
Chairman
Junichiro
Watanabe said
that he hopes
the students
will make fulluse of what
they
had

learned from the course in daily routines.
The certificates of completion were given
to them.
After the ceremony, the chairman had
a meeting with the leaders of the
Education Committee, at which
comments on the course from the top
performers were unveiled.
The highest score was 90 points, while
the average was 75.5.

Fiscal 2021 Introductory Chinese, Practical English Correspondence
Courses in Tokyo Ceremony Held to Confer Certificates to Top Performers
JIFFA held a ceremony on Feb. 2,
2022 to confer certificates ofcompletion to top performers of its
annual language courses.
The fiscal 2021 introductory Chineseand practical English correspondence
courses were both opened in Tokyo in
June 2021, with all programs completed
in November and December,respectively. The Chinese course
consisted of 15 classes (one class a day),and the English course, 36 classes (threeclasses a day). After the respective final
examinations, the grading committee
held a meeting to pick up high achievers.
Present at the ceremony, Chairman
Junichiro Watanabe conferred certificatesof completion to three students from the
Chinese course and two from the English
course. “As writing is a very basic thing tolearn, I believe that if you master it, youwill be able to have smootherconversation and better communication,”
he said. “I hope that you will makeeffective use in daily business routines ofthe valuable assets that you acquired in
the course.”
After the ceremony, the attendees
spent a sociable time, while becoming
nervous but rejoicing at theirachievements. In an interview with anindustrial publication, they said what had
made them take the courses, what hardtimes they had during the coronavirus
pandemic and while attending thecourses, how they cooperate with theirworkplaces
and whatthey want
to do andbecome in
the future.
T h eintroductory
Chinesecourse wasattended bysix students,
all of whom
passed thefinal examination, while the practicalEnglish correspondence course wasattended by 20, 18 of which passed thefinal.

JIFFA Report

6

2022

JIFFA Report

18th Edition of JIFFA's Report on Japanese Freight Forwarders
Operating Abroad, Overseas Forwarders Doing Business in JapanThe first survey on Japanese freight
forwarders going overseas was
conducted in 1983. In those days, a verysmall number of Japan International
Freight Forwarders Association (JIFFA)
members were expanding their business
operations outside Japan. Over the last
40 years, however, Japanese forwarders
have constantly made inroads into othercountries and regions amid greatchanges of the times, enhancing systems
and services.
JIFFA has, in the meantime, conductedsurveys on a regular basis to 1) create
lists containing as much information as
possible on the overseas development ofmember forwarders and 2) collect as
numerical data as possible and compile
statistics to analyze trends over time. We
have now published the 18th edition of
our report on Japanese forwarders
operating outside Japan and overseas
forwarders operating in Japan. We are
grateful again for all members to provide
information and cooperate with us inother ways.
Following is an outline of the 18th
edition.
1) Japanese freight forwarders having
operations outside Japan1-1) The section has been greatly
enlarged in which forwarders are listed by
the countries and regions where they dobusiness. JIFFA members have business
footholds at 1,307 locations outside(continued from page 3)

TEUs; from Thailand, up 0.9% to93,539 TEUs; and from South Korea, up
8.6% to 92,616 TEUs.
Export/import total
In the second half of fiscal 2022, JIFFA
member forwarders carried 61.461
million tons of international intermodal
freight to and from Japan in total, whichswelled by 1.6% from the same monthsof the previous fiscal year. It has

Japan (as of the beginning of 2022).
Information on their overseas
developments (e.g., the names of theirbusiness footholds, the number of
employees and local offices they haveand the types of business activities theydo) is listed by country and region as
well as business foothold. The latest
edition can now be usedas an
upgraded databasenot only bymembers who share information witheach other, but also by non-members,
such as shippers that intend to build
supply chains overseas.
1-2) The number of overseas businessbases in operation now and when theywent into operation are newly included.
Meanwhile, a variety of tables and graphs
have remained unchanged inconventional formats. Referring to suchinformation makes it easier to see
historical developments in overseas
expansions and recent trends.
2) Overseas freight forwarders
operating in JapanThe number has been on the rise inrecent years of overseas operators either
registered with the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLIT) as first-class non-vesseloperating common carriers (NVOCCs) or
having permission from the MLIT as
second-class NVOCCs, according to
JIFFA. Players in the industry are
becoming more and more international.
continued to increase since returning to
the 60-million-ton line for the first timein three halves in October 2020-March
2021. To and from China, 23.8 million
tons were moved, up 2.8% from a year
earlier, helping it the leading trade
partner to Japan. China was followed by
the U.S., to and from which 4.924 million
tons were hauled, up 4.4%. Placing third,
shipments to and from Vietnam dippedby 0.8% to 4.598 million tons. Those to
and from Europe hiked by 4.1% to4.463 million tons, winning fourth place.
Thailand came at the bottom of the top
five, to and from which 3.843 million
tons were transported, down 4.1%.
In terms of TEU, exports to andimports from China totaled 1,075,239
TEUs, down 1.6%; to and from Europe,
208,570 TEUs, up 8.6%; to and fromthe U.S., 193,479 TEUs, up 4.2%; toand from Vietnam, 177,649 TEUs, down
2.1%; and to and from Thailand,
170,713 TEUs, up 1.2%.

2022

JIFFA Logistics Seminar“Present and Future of the Port of Los Angeles”
The Forwarding Committee organizes
a logistics seminar every year to discusssubjects that JIFFA members areinterested in. At a time when container
trade is disrupted worldwide under the
influence of the coronavirus pandemic,
the committee decided to focus oncongestion on the North America routeand have the Port of Los Angeles deliver
a live-streaming lecture on congestion at
the port, the actions being taken to easecongestion and so on. A gist of thelogistics seminar, which was held on Oct.
28, 2021, is as follows.

As of the beginning of 2022, 266 suchoverseas operators have been either
registered with or gained permission
from the ministry (including 74 JIFFA
members). The latest edition of ourreport carries hot information given by
47 of the registered and permitted
operators from overseas. Along withinformation on Japanese freight
forwarders, we intend to further improve
our report in the future to make it adatabase to be used even more
extensively. The 18th edition of ourreports on Japanese forwarders
operating outside Japan and overseas
forwarders operating in Japan is available
for sale at ¥2,200 per copy (includingtax) for members and ¥2,750 per copy(including tax) for non-members.

7

The lecture began with an outline of
the scale and other aspects of San Pedro
Bay, where the twin big ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach are located. Los
Angeles has grown through well planned
capital investments that have been madein the anticipation that an annual growthrate of some 4% would continue.
Container throughput at the port was on
a downward trend from 2018 to the firsthalf of 2020 due to the trade frictions
between the U.S. and China and the

COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it has since
been surging because of
consumption recovery in
the U.S. It was also
discussed that Los
Angeles is now runningout of space for cargohandling, as shipments
moved on ever-enlarging
cargo freighters aremostly carried to andfrom the U.S. As such, it
is now experiencing an
unprecedented busy timein its 114-year history.
Many
of
the
containerized shipments
deliveredoutofcontainer yards after arriving in the U.S.
are either 1) relayed to trucking service
providers on chassis or 2) forwarded toinland facilities by rail. Currently,
containers and chassis described in 1)
are piled up not only at container yards
but elsewhere in the U.S. as well, bringing
about delays in picking up andrepositioning containers. With specificdata, it was described the situation is amajor factor behind the ongoing port
congestion. It was also explained that as
many American truck drivers are
independent, it is difficult for trucking
service companies to exercise effective

control over them.
The U.S. government recently
announced the Port of Los Angeles
would begin operating 24 hours a day,seven days a week. To ease cargo andequipment congestion across the U.S.,
however, the lecture indicated that it isnecessary to have cooperation not only
from the port, but also from beneficial
cargo owners (BCOs) and logistics
warehouses. The latest information wasgiven on a container excess dwell fee tobe imposed in November on
containerized shipments that stay overlong periods of time at the ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach. It was stressedin the lecture that to ease congestion,
Los Angeles had been left with no otherchoice than to take such measures.
The renewal of U.S. West Coast labormanagement agreements at the end ofJune 2022 was discussed near the end of
the lecture. The Port of Los Angeles said
that a one-year extension would be
grateful,butthatalthoughprenegotiations will begin in December, it
is difficult to project what points of issuelabor and management will focus on after
them, how negotiations will advance or
how they reach an agreement.