JIFFA Report

82020

Multimodal Transport Specialists Training Course for FY2020 Ends
Total of 211 Enrollees Pass Exam, Boosting Qualified Specialist Number to 6,078
The Education Committee delivered
its courses for qualifying international
multimodal transport specialists in Tokyo
from Oct. 3 to Nov. 15, 2020 and
Osaka from Oct. 24 to Nov. 28. The
courses were both made up of 30
lectures, which were given on a total of
10 days.
The Tokyo class was attended by 151
students, while the Osaka class, which
was held for the first time in two years,
had an enrollment of 65.
On Dec. 11, unified examinations wereconducted in both cities. A total of 214
students took the exams, 211 of which
passed them, becoming new international
multimodal transport specialists. The
total number of specialists produced
from the courses has increased to 6,078
since they were first held in 1985.

On Jan. 23, 2020, the Education
Committee invited three top performers
each from Tokyo and Osaka to JIFFA’s
Tokyo head office, at which they received
certificates of international multimodal(continued from page 1)

TEUs with Europe, 180,621 TEUs with
Vietnam and 155,731 TEUs withThailand.
FY2019 total
In fiscal 2019, JIFFA forwarders
imported to Japan a total of 72.733
million tons of international multimodal
shipments, down 6% from a year earlier.
Exports from Japan abated 4.5% to46.409 million tons. The total, as such,

Japanese Freight Forwarders Handle
from Europe fell by a notch to fourth
place, plunging 12.6% to 4.425 million
tons. Shipments to and from Thailand
diminished 10.8% to 3.584 million tons,
coming in fifth. On a TEU basis, Japan
traded 883,343 TEUs with China,
210,155 TEUs with the U.S., 187,903

transport specialists from Chairman
Junichiro Watanabe.
The highest score marked at theexaminations was 91 points out of 100,
while the average was 76.55 points.

 SummerJapanInternational

FreightForwarders

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 https://www.jiffa.or.jp
Issued in August 2020

Japanese Freight Forwarders Handle 4.93 Million TEUs in FY2019
Their Business Operation Adversely Affected by COVID-19 in 2nd Half

Four top performers with Chairman in the front row

slid 5.4% to 119.142 million tons,registering the first year-on-year
subsidence in four years. In terms ofvolume, however, it was the second
greatest annual record, following the125.94 million tons moved in fiscal
2018. On a TEU scale, imports
accounted for 2,947,791 TEUs, andexports, 1,979,082 TEUs for a total of4,926,873 TEUs.

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 *6566Total

2020 TotalGrand Total JIFFA-affiliated freight forwarders
increased cargo throughput constantly in2017 and 2018, taking advantage ofbrisk world trade. The global economy,
however, took a downturn in 2019,
when freight movement grew weaker
under the influence of the trade war
between the U.S. and China. In the firsthalf, imports to and exports from Japan
both decreased year on year. In thesecond half, the COVID-19 pandemic hiteven harder in the fourth quarter.
International multimodal shipments
handled by JIFFA members plunged 9.2%
to 56.692 million tons in the second halfof 2019, which was the second largest
year-on-year decline after the 14%
marked in the second half of fiscal 2008,
which came immediately after thebankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
Holdings, Inc.
Imports
JIFFA member forwarders imported toJapan 34.185 million tons of multimodal
shipments in the second half of fiscal
2019 (October 2019-March 2020),
down 10.9%, suffering the first doubledigit year-on-year contraction in the2000s. By origin, those from China

plummeted 12.7% to 15.849 million
tons but managed to hold the leading
share of the pie. Ranked second were
those from Vietnam, which improved
8.7% to 3.239 million tons, helping
them step up from third place. As forimports from other countries andregions, those from Europe sank 17.4%
to 2.577 million tons, and those fromThailand fell 12.3% to 2.167 million
tons. Imports from the U.S. swelled 1.8%
to 2.01 million tons. On a TEU scale,containers from China amounted to660,089 TEUs; from Vietnam, 127,765
TEUs; from Europe, 105,492 TEUs; fromThailand, 95,057 TEUs and from theU.S., 84,339 TEUs.
Exports
Export shipments from Japan moved
by JIFFA freight forwarders in the six
months in question waned 6.4% from ayear earlier to 22.507 million tons intotal. Quantitatively, however, it was thesecond-highest volume after the 24.054million tons recorded in the second halfof fiscal 2018. By destination, exports toChina incurred a double-digit abatementof 12.1%, totaling 4.081 million tons,
but they managed to account for theContainer Volumes Handled by JIFFA Members in Last 20 Years
1,000 R/Ts

largest part of the total. The second
greatest destination was the U.S., towhich 3.11 million tons were moved,
down 4.7%. Exports to Europe shrank
4.9% to 1.848 million tons but bumpedup a notch from fourth to third place.
Those to Vietnam remained stable,growing 2.6% to 1.476 million tons andfinishing in fourth place. At the bottom of
the top five were those to South Korea,
which decreased a notable 30% to1.475 million tons, falling by twonotches. In terms of TEU, international
multimodal shipments to China totaled
223,254 TEUs; to the U.S., 125,816
TEUs; to Europe, 82,411 TEUs; toSouth Korea, 81,957 TEUs and toThailand, 70,675 TEUs.
Import/Export Total
The total volume of imports andexports that JIFFA-affiliated forwarders
handled in the second half of fiscal 2019was 56.692 million tons, down 9.2%
year on year. In terms of growth, it was
the second-largest decrease after the14% registered in the October 2008March 2009 term, which came rightafter the Lehman Brothers crisis.
Quantitatively, it was the lowest sixmonth volume in the last four years.
Looking at shipments to and from the Big
Five partners, those to and from China
plummeted 12.6% to 19.93 million
tons, while those to and from the U.S.
went down 2.3% to 5.12 million tons.
Shipments to and from Vietnam, incontrast, hiked 6.7% to 4.715 million
tons, allowing the economy to move up
from fifth to third place. Those to and(continued on page 8)

JIFFA Report

22020

JIFFA’s General Assembly Approves FY2020 Business Plans
Focusing on Close Cooperation with Authorities Concerned
JIFFA convened its ninth generalannual assembly at a Tokyo hotel on
June 11, 2020.
In fiscal 2020, the global economy isstill being faced with the various causesof concern that it has been bothered
with, such as the trade war between theU.S. and China, regional disputes andterrorism. In America, the presidential

election will be held in a few months. Inaddition, the COVID-19 pandemic,
which is having an incommensurable
impact on the entire world, hasdevastated supply chains across theglobe. It is totally unpredictable howtransport systems will be rebuilt andreturn to normal in the future.
To address such challenges, JIFFA will

General assembly

Chairman Watanabe Elaborates on JIFFA Activities
JIFFA’s activities are being advancedsmoothly despite the fact that there are
drastic changes in environment due tothe ongoing economic crisis, which isdeemed more serious than the several
months we spent after the bankruptcy
of Lehman Brothers Holdings. First ofall, I would like to express my deepest
gratitude to all of you for always
supporting and cooperating with us.
Looking back at the situation that wehave been in for the last year, thevolume of NVOCC shipments handled
by JIFFA members is on the decline
because of escalations in the trade
friction between the U.S. and China andother factors. In fiscal 2019, exports
from Japan decreased 4.5% from a year
earlier, and imports to Japan, 6%. The
combined volume of exports andimports amounted to 119.14 million
tons, which shrank 5.4% from theprevious fiscal year. Nevertheless, it was

the secondhighest
a n n u a lthroughput
after thatrecorded infiscal 2018.
In fiscal
2019, sixm e m b e r s Junichiro Watanabe, Chairman
left JIFFA,
but since April 2020, we havewelcomed as many new members. As ofJune 1, our membership consisted of519: 496 regular and 23 supporting
members (13 enterprises and 10
organizations), indicating that we areexpanding constantly. We will continue
to make efforts to enhance thepresence of freight forwarders.
To this end, JIFFA will endeavor to
execute projects to assist humanresource development through

JIFFA Report

help domestic freight forwarders
continue to do business constantly andadequately in fiscal 2020, dealing
accurately with changes in needs andenvironment, and provide better services
than ever. To this end, specifically, it will
work together in close cooperation withrelevant governmental ministries andagencies as well as private organizationsin Japan and overseas, while making every
effort to keep novel coronavirus
infections from expanding any further. Itwill also conduct projects toenhance freight forwarders’capabilities, ensure the safety ofbusiness and improve businessenvironments. By garnering
information on such projects
and provide it to members andother parties, the association
will endeavor to further develop
the international freightforwarding business andprotect the interests and statusof affiliated forwarders, hoping
to contribute to the growth ofinternational logistics.
education and training. We will also
actively develop public relations andother activities to raise the status of thefreight forwarding industry. In
preparation for post-COVID-19 days,
we will launch e-learning in July andwork on other IT-based training as well.
JIFFA will make greater efforts topromote the JIFFA MT B/L and the JIFFA
Waybill, which are used by manymember freight forwarders. In fiscal
2020, we will create a new form of theJIFFA Forwarder’s Cargo Receipt (FCR).
Through these measures, we will strive
to help all of you.
It is possible that in 2020, the novel
coronavirus pandemic could affect thelogistics research in other countries
that we conduct every year and theinteractions that we have with theFIATA. JIFFA will, however, fully
cooperate with relevant overseas
associations and organizations toprovide information to member
companies on a timely basis.

20203JIFFA Committees Unveil Report on Their Joint Logistics
Research in Eastern Europe Countries for the First Time Ever
The International Exchange andForwarding Committees have compiled areport on the logistics research that they
conducted on Oct. 6-14, 2019 inEastern European countries anddistributed it among member companies.
At a time when free trade is facing
headwinds worldwide under the influenceof the prolonged trade dispute between
the U.S. and China as well as Brexit, aneconomic partnership agreement (EPA)
took effect on Feb. 1, 2019 between
Japan and Europe. Countries in Eastern
Europe, which function as Europe’s
gateway of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI), are anticipated to become more
attractive as a promising market. Demandfor logistics is also expected to become
more stronger there. In spite of such
positive factors, however, we had heardthat there was not enough information
on logistics affairs in Eastern Europe. As
such, the International Exchange andForwarding Committees jointly
conducted research on logistics inEastern Europe.
The committees decided to visit threeeconomies that are closely related toeach other in terms of history, culture
and economy: Poland, the Czech
Republic and Hungary. After World War
II, they became members of the Soviet
Bloc. When the Cold War came to anend, however, the three nations
established political relations with
Western countries and became affiliatedwith the European Union (EU), too.
Today, many Japanese enterprises,
mainly from the auto industry, are doing

Street View, Czech

business there.
It was not enough to conduct hasty
research in the three countries just for aperiod of a week. Nevertheless, theInternational Exchange and Forwarding
Committees felt that Japanese freight
forwarders can play an important role in
the logistics market in Eastern Europe,
which has a network of ocean, railway
and land routes stretched over several
economies as well as customs functions.
They even thought that the EU, including
Eastern Europe, is the root of multimodal
cargo transport.

Statute of Copernicus, Poland

Walbrzych
Wroclaw

Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Budapest
PragueWarsaw
Malaszewicze(Rail Terminal)

Esztergom
Plzen

Countries visited by JIFFA delegation

Budapest

Having withdrawn from the Soviet
Socialist Bloc and become EU members,
countries in Eastern Europe are on theroad to development now. Accepting theBRI, furthermore, they are growing evenmore powerfully. Proportionately, freightforwarders are playing a more and more
important role there.
Introduced in the report are logistics
affairs in Eastern European nations thatwork as the BRI’s gateway in Europe, upto-date information on railway andcustoms services and others.

JIFFA Report

42020

JIFFA Report

Language Training Committee Holds One-day Intensive ClassTo Improve Skills for English Presentation from Native Speakers
The Language Training Committee
held an English presentation class on Jan.
24, 2020 as part of its efforts to help
employees of member companies brush
up their English proficiencies. A total of
11 students had individual lessons andlearned basics to improve theirpresentation skills from native speakers

Introductory session(Ms. Liudmila Ivanova and Mr. Robert Li).
Using PowerPoint materials, the class wasconducted in accordance with the theme“Strong Points for Your Logistics
Services,” one of the two options fromwhich all of the students had selected inadvance.
In the first half of the class, Mr.
Hiroyuki Fujita gave a lecture on mental
preparation for giving presentations. He
focused not only on English, but alsopresentation components that Japanesepeople in general do not do very well,such as gathering information onpresenters and listeners, developing logic
and anticipating possible questions, andkindly taught them.
To help the students learn how
presentations should be delivered, Mr. Li
actually gave apresentation on goodand bad samples. The
students, for their part,
wentoverthepresentation
manuscripts that they
had prepared manytimes, repeated roleplayings that included
facial expressions andgestures, pursuedsimplicity and clearness

Group session

Presentations by finalists

Mr. Fujita, lead instructor

and cut unnecessary elements. Using
PowerPoint materials, they learned from
specific instructions from Mr. Li, whosuggested that they not speak to slides,
but think that they are in front ofaudience, keeping smiling and having eye
contact. Divided into groups, they
delivered completed versions of theirpresentations in the groups. A total offour students from the groups gave
presentations to the entire class.
The Language Training Committee
conducted a survey after the class, whichindicated that all of the students weresatisfied with the class and would like tostrongly encourage co-leagues and otherpeople to attend it, too. “We could alllearn at our own levels,” said one, while
another stressed, “I improved mypresentation skills from lectures andpractical training.”

52020

Language Training Committee Organizes ASEAN Language Seminars
For Member Firms’ Staff, Indonesian in Osaka, Thai in Nagoya
The Language Training Committeeorganized Southeast Asian language
seminars in November 2019 as part ofits fiscal 2019 projects. The membersonly lessons were given for free onIndonesian in Osaka and Thai in Nagoya.
In Southeast Asia, which is showing acertain presence at a time when thetrade war is ongoing between the U.S.
and China, JIFFA-affiliated freight
forwarders are accelerating businessexpansions.
The number of attendees was smaller
than the last time, when the languages
were both taught in Tokyo in June. TheMs. Yumiko Horas

Indonesian course was attended byfour students, and the Thai course,by three. However, the smallerclasses contributed to generating asense of more closeness andleading to giving more efficientlessons.
As with the last time, Ms. Yumiko
Horas was responsible for theIndonesian class, and Ms. Marin
Nakajima, for the Thai class. The
languages were both taught almost
on a man-to-man basis, enabling
the students to learn correct
pronunciations by repeating thesame things over andover again. Some ofthem were actually
going to be stationed inIndonesia and Thailand,
including some coming
all the way from Tokyo.
They all maintained sohigh motivation forlearning as to be able tocomplete the seminars
with a great deal ofPractical English Correspondence Class Closes
COVID-19 Prevents Commendation Ceremony
The last lecture of the practical English
corresponding class (in Osaka), a project
the Language Training Committee
advanced in fiscal 2019, was given onFeb. 26, 2020, drawing the curtain on
the class. The final examination wasconducted on March 4. Having gradedexamination papers, the reviewing
committee selected successful students
and top performers. Usually, JIFFA holds
a ceremony for conferring certificates ofcompletion to top performers, attended
by Chairman Junichiro Watanabe. Due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, however, theLanguage Training Committee did not doso in fiscal 2019 to keep attendees frombeing infected. Instead, the committee
sent certificates together with extra

prizes to top performers to congratulate
on their achievements.
The Language Training Committee isgrateful to supervisors and colleagues ofMs. Marin Nakajima

satisfaction.
JIFFA’s Indonesian and Thai seminars
both intend to help attendees learn not
only the languages, but also something
beyond, including their cultures. To havean enrollment of more students, it willcontinue to work hard to improvecurricula.
As there is demand for otherlanguages as well, the Language Training
Committee plans to give a lecture in
Vietnamese next time.
the students for supporting theirattendance for a long time. It hopes thatthose who passed the exam will makeeffective use of the English skills theylearned from the class to become more
active in the future.

English Correspondence ClassJIFFA Report

62020

JIFFA Report

Forwarder’s Overseas Representative Reports on Vietnam
People There Characterized Hard Working, Highly Cooperative
Tomoko Tanaka, NRS Logistics Vietnam Co., Ltd.

NRS Corporation established a local
affiliate in Hanoi in October 2018 toexpand to Vietnam the logistic service fortransporting hazardous materials that it
had developed in Japan and otheroverseas economies. Although I am still anewcomer—as I have only been here inVietnam since April 2019—I am
compiling this report to let as many
people know the charm of this country aspossible.

Writer, right

About Vietnam
Formally known as the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam, it is a physicallylong, thin country, stretching from northto south, and has a population of some
96 million. It shares borders with China
in the north, Laos in the west andCambodia in the southwest. The capital
city of Hanoi in the north is the politicaland cultural center of Vietnam, while Ho
Chi Minh City in the south is an
economic city enjoying commercialdevelopment. In 1975, the Vietnam War
ended, unifying North and South
Vietnam. In 1986, Vietnam accomplishedeconomic liberalization, resulting fromthe adoption of the Doi Moi policy. As

Van Mieu

local people are very powerful and lively,
it is hard to see from them that it has notbeen so long since the war came to an
end and economic growth began.
As for means of transportation,
railways are not common (there are only
two state-run services available for longdistance carriage). Buses are the only
mass transport system, while passenger
cars are so expensive that they are far
from being popular. Therefore, there aremany motorcycles on the street, and to
make things worse, traffic rules are hardly
followed. Foreigners may say, “I cannever cross such a [dangerous] street,”when first beginning to live in Vietnam. It
could be the first challenges they must
address. To successfully cross streets, itis necessary to do so with your headhigh, staring hard, without changing thepace at which you walk. Driving thewrong way, ignoring traffic lights andrunning into streets are all daily
occurrences in Vietnam. Please be very
careful when coming here.

Tam Coc

Academy, the first national collage inVietnam; Hoan Kiem Lake, which islocated at the center of the city; andLong Bien Bridge, which is reminiscent of
the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It is still used asa railway bridge today. Long Bien Bridgeand St. Joseph’s Cathedral, which wasestablished during the French colonialera, both create a nostalgic atmosphere.
Vietnam has many UNESCO World
Heritage Sites as well, such as Ha Long
Bay in the northwest (Quang NingProvince) and the Trang An Scenic
Landscape Complex (Ninh BinhProvince).

2020

Two Committees Jointly Hold Workshop on Incoterms 2020
Lecture Halls Fully Attended As Theme Attracts Forwarders
The Judicial Affairs and Public
Relations committees held workshops on
the Incoterms 2020 in Tokyo on Dec. 4,
2019 and Osaka on Jan. 29, 2020. As
the trade terms had been updated forthe first time in 10 years, JIFFA member
freight forwarders were so highlyinterested in it that the Tokyo and Osaka
courses were both fully attended.
Professor Emeritus Koji Tsubaki fromWaseda University, who had been
engaged in the project for revising theIncoterms, gave lecturers at theworkshops, focusing on the intent andpurpose of the revision and changes
made.
The Incoterms 2020 is a series ofinternationally unified terms that can bereferred to (in case it is necessary toinclude them in contracts and otherdocuments as rules to comply with),according to Mr. Tsubaki. He added thatthey are trade terms that had beencreated fundamentally for tradetransactions between equal independentpartners (not including consumertransactions). The professor emeritus
emphasized the Incoterms had been
updated to reflect current tradetransaction developments of the time inits long history and won the trust ofparties concerned with the trade andtransport businesses.
Mr. Tsubaki indicated the Incoterms
2020 had not been changed much fromthe Incoterms 2010 on a practical basis.
Major changes, however, included animprovement in the “Introduction” andthe addition of the “Explanatory Notes
for Users.” Also, the 11 trade terms havebeen rearranged based on importance,
while differences in insurance coverages

Fully attended room

Ha Long Bay with friends from JapanCuisine & sight-seeing
Vietnamese cuisine is influenced by
the French and Chinese dietary cultures.
Not too oily or spicy, dishes aregenerally mildly flavored. Local people
eat rice as their staple together withsoup. It is relatively easy for Japanesepeople to become familiar with it.
There are many sightseeing spots inVietnam. The city of Hanoi boasts theCentral Sector of the Imperial Citadel ofThan Long; Van Mieu, a temple dedicatedto Confucius that also hosts the Imperial7

Sapa

Labor affairs in Vietnam
Women work very hard. Without
regard to gender, Vietnamese people arehighly cooperative and love to take careof others. I came to Vietnam for the firsttime in my life, and it is the first overseas
life that I have ever led. I am deeply
grateful to them for caring about meboth when I am at work and in my private
life.
It is natural that in many cases,(continued on page 7)(continued from page 6)

Forwarder’s OverseasRepresentative Reports
different nationalities hinder businessprojects from being successful. However,
if I have them know that I would like tohave good communication with andunderstand them, they will do their best
to help me with heart and soul. I feel thisevery day.
In Vietnam, on a final note, commodity
prices are low, and food is delicious. But
in Hanoi, in particular, I still fellinconvenience from time to time in mydaily life. Because Hanoi is such a city,
however, I can become tougher toovercome challenges when being facedwith them. I am encouraged many times
by connectedness among Japanesepeople and the smiles of Vietnamese
people. I strongly hope that in the future,legislation will be advanced more, that
the Vietnamese economy will growfurther, that it will attract people from allover the world and that there will be
more business opportunities.

Mr. Tsubaki

have also been added, he said.
Previously, when a seller wascompensated for its loss by insurance,
the Institute Cargo Clauses (ICC)(C)
were applied in principle, and in fact, achoice was made in accordance with
commodity prices between the ICC(A) or
the ICC(B). In the Incoterms 2020, Mr.
Tsubaki said, it is now advised that theICC(A) be applied for expensive
products and the ICC(C) for
commodities that are carried in large
quantity on specialized vessels, such as
raw materials. Also, the Delivered atTerminal (DAT) has been changed to theDelivered at Place Unloaded (DPU),indicating that places of destination now
do not have to be terminals.
The Incoterms 2020 took effect onJan. 1, 2020 as rules to refer to.