JIFFA Report

8

2023

2023

FIATA Convenes 2022 World Congress JIFFAThe International Federation of Freight
Forwarders Associations (FIATA), of
which JIFFA is a regular member,convened its annual World Congress in
Busan, South Korea on Sept. 12-16,
2022. FIATA held its first in-person
meeting in three years, which wasattended either in person or online by atotal of more than 1,000 local people,
according to the organizer. JIFFA took
part in the event online.
On days 1 and 2, FIATA in-houseunits the Airfreight Institute (AI), theMultimodal Transport Institute (MTI),
the FIATA Logistics Institute (FLI), theCustom Affairs Institute (CAI), theAdvisory Board on Legal Matters(ABLM), the Advisory Board on
International Affairs (ABIA), the Advisory
Board on Safety and Security (ABSS),
and the Advisory Board on Information
Technology (ABIT)/made reports on
activities they had conducted and willconduct. The Multimodal Transport
Institute (MTI), which has strong
business relations with JIFFA, indicatedthat there had been 93 cases in whichshipping companies impose unreasonabledemurrage and detention charges. The
institute also discussed manyother interesting subjects, suchas the vertical integration ofshipping companies (e.g.,
expanding business to custom
clearance, logistics and otherservices), shifts to detour
routes under Russia’s invasionof Ukraine and the promotionof the use of railway transport
documents.
Mr. Mark Bromley, chair ofthe MTI, is a member of theUnited Nations Economic
Commission for Europe(UNECE), of which the chair of
the ABIT is also a member.
They are both promoting theelectronification of contracts
for the international carriage ofgoods by road (CMRs). Mr.
Bromley said that FIATA’s Working
Group Sea, Working Group Railand Working Group Road will all
work to put sustainability-related
assignments into practice andpromote better horizontal
integrations in each transport
mode.
Mr. Steve Parker, chair of the CAI,
claimed that governments are increasing
support for digitalization efforts amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that itis necessary to enhance recoverability incase operators are at risk of not being
able to remain in business and, as across-institute effort, to standardize andharmonize cargo information at higher
levels in partnership with the ABSS. Mr.
Parker particularly focused on the Import
Control System 2 (ICS2), which is
expected to take effect in Europe inMarch 2023, and pointed out possible
impacts on non-vessel-operating
common carriers (NVOCCs). To makethe authorized economic operator (AEO)
system to work more effectively, the CAI
is working̶together with the World
Customs Organization (WCO) ̶ toWinterJapan

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 https://www.jiffa.or.jp
Issued in March 2023

encourage small and midsize operators
to be certified as an AEO andcomputerize customs clearance
formalities.
On Day 3, representatives from Africa
and the Middle East, the Americas, AsiaPacific and Europe delivered
presentations at a meeting entitled the“Young Logistics Professionals Award.”
On days 4 and 5, panel discussions
were held with invited experts. Panelists
discussed on various subjects that were
logistics circumstances in South Korea,
the recruitment and development of
human resources, challenges in a newshipping world, digital supply chains andthe return of geopolitics in trade.
The World Congress, the mostimportant FIATA event, is scheduled tomeet in Brussels, Belgium in 2023,
Panama in 2024 and Vietnam in 2025.

New Year’s Message
Japan International Freight Forwarders Association

Happy New Year !
At the beginning of New Year, I wish all
Japan International Freight Forwarders
Association (JIFFA) members a healthy
and prosperous year, and deeply hopethat your companies and our industry willboth grow further.
Last year, we gradually began resuming
our pre-pandemic lives. Russia’s invasionof Ukraine, however, had an adverse
impact on resource and food prices,
accelerating inflation across the globe.
Governments are taking various actions
to control inflation, but due to surging
labor costs resulting from manpower
shortages, supply-demand imbalancesand other factors, it does not seem to be
curbed soon.
In respect to us, freight forwarders,
impediments in international logistics,
such as capacity shortages, are easing
now, but in 2022, we were affected by
the coronavirus pandemic, as seen in city
lockouts in China and ports strikes inadvanced economies, and inflation. I am
grateful and give respect to you from thebottom of my heart for working hard tomeet requests from shippers on a mission
not to stop logistics, at a time when
supply chains are still disrupted.
In the first half of 2022, JIFFA
members handled 23.6 million tons ofexports and 38.04 million tons ofimports for a total of 61.64 million tons,
which increased 1% year on year. In
terms of TEU, exports amounted to 1.01
million TEUs, which went down 4%, andimports, 1.52 million TEUs, down 2%,
both of which lost momentum somewhat.
It is feared the economy will get weakerowing to anti-inflation measures, and it isseen in the volume of shipments thatmembers moved. Shipments to and from
China did not increase as powerfully as
they had, while those to and from South
Korea and Hong Kong both diminished. It
was shown that production and logistics
routes are being reviewed. Because of
semiconductor shortages and otherreasons, a shift from just-in-time logistics
is being suggested. We may experience
another change this year.
In recent years, there have beenchronicle labor shortages and subsequentmajor changes in logistics costs. Our
industry is, as such, drawing attention
more and more closely. Last year, JIFFA
welcomed 15 new members, increasing
the total number of members to 543.
This, I understand, indicates that our
industry has a potential for further
growth and that the efforts that JIFFA ismaking to develop human resources anddo other things are highly rated. It isnecessary to strive to promote DX(digital transformation) in tradeformalities and logistics operations,ensure safety and raise productivity in
cargotransport,
promotedecarbonization and so on. I hope thatJIFFA will continue to be an organization
to satisfy such needs of the times. As weare finally seeing signs of the alleviation of
the coronavirus pandemic, we intend toresume reports on overseas logistics
situations and international exchange
programs, both of which have beensuspended for several years.
The freight forwarding industry is
expected to remain uncertain this year as

Chairman Junichiro Watanabe

to whether the world can avoid an
economic recession; whether the Chinese
economy, which is under the influence ofBeijing’s COVID-19 policies; how thedepreciation of the Japanese yen willaffect; and so on. JIFFA will, for its part,work hard to always pay attention toboth domestic and international affairs togarner collect information and send thelatest information through seminars andother events. We will support members sothat they will be able to provide stable
services.
On a final note, I hope that 2023 will
be a great year, and that members willcontinue to give us advice and guidanceas they did last year.

JIFFA Report

2

2023

JIFFA Report

Overall imports Favorable Despite Mild Decrease in Exports
Increases Made in Both Directions to/from China

third countries and regions. Those
coloaded with others are not included,
either. Changes in the number ofmembers making valid responses are nottaken into consideration.

from the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS), which nosedived 72% to90,000 revenue tons in total, adversely
influenced by Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine.

1. General Overview
JIFFA-affiliated freight forwarders
moved a total of 61.643 million revenue
tons of international multimodal cargo to
and from Japan in the first half of fiscal
2022, which just increased a slight 1%
from the corresponding six months of theprevious fiscal year. There was only aslight year-on-year increase because in
April-September（1,000 revenue tons）
2021, imports to
64,000and exports from61,461 61,643
61,01762,000Japan both swelled
60,516
Total
notably. They both
60,000rebounded from58,000sharp
declines
56,000registered a year
54,000 56,692
earlier, when the
52,000coronavirus
51,99150,000pandemicwas
48,000e x e r c i s i n gdevastating impacts
46,000on the globe, making
44,000governments impose
42,000city lockdowns and40,000 Import
Tokyo declare a
37,896 38,040
37,09238,000state of emergency,
35,951
36,000for example. Imports
34,000grew 2.6% to34,185 33,745
38.04
million32,000revenuetons,
but
30,000exports
declined
28,000 Export
1.3% to 23.603
26,00024,565
million revenue tons,
23,925 23,565 23,603
24,000 22,507
which have remained
22,000on a downward
18,246trend since the
20,000second half of fiscal
18,0002021 (October
0
FY2021 FY2022
FY2021
FY2020 FY2020
FY20192021-March
2H
1H
2H
1H
2H
1H
Oct 2019 Apr 2020 Oct 2020 Apr 2021 Oct 2021 Apr 20222022). A significant
Mar 2020 Sep 2020 Mar 2021 Sep 2021 Mar 2022 Sep 2022
shrinkage was madeyear on year
-9.2%
-16.7%+6.7%+17.4%+1.6%+1.0%
in totalin shipments to and

2. Cargo Volumes in Last 3 Years
Looking at the changes in cargovolume handled over the past three
years, in total, throughput has been on
the rise. More specifically, imports havebeen on the increase since the second
half of fiscal 2020. Meanwhile, exports
hit the bottom in the first half of fiscal
2020 owing to the pandemic, came backremarkably in the second half of fiscal
2020, continued to decrease mildly inand after the first half of fiscal 2021 andmade a fractional increase in the first halfof fiscal 2022.

Throughput Plunges to CIS Due to
Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
Imports Plunge from S. Korea, HK
Forwarding Committee
The Forwarding Committee recently
compiled statistics on the total volume ofinternational multimodal cargo that JIFFA
members transported to and from Japanin the first half of fiscal 2022 (AprilSeptember). To assemble data, thecommittee had conducted a survey
among regular members, 483 of which
had made valid responses. The volume
does not include shipments that were not
moved to and from Japan but between

3. Import-Export Ratio
Although Japan’s trade had been led
by exports, the ratio of imports toexports was reversed in fiscal 1995, as
manufacturers increased production
outside Japan. The overseas relocation of
manufacturing facilities continued toaccelerate, lowering the proportion ofexports to slightly less than 40%. The
import-export ratio has been stablearound 60 to 40 in recent years.
4. Proportion of Consolidation
Shipments
The proportion of consolidation
shipments is on the decline. They
accounted for as much as 20% in both
imports and exports around 2000 but
have since continued to lesson. In thefirst half of fiscal 2022, consolidation
only accounted for 4.1% in imports,
5.5% in exports and 4.7% in total.
5. Volumes in H1 of FY2022
5-1. Imports
JIFFA members handled 38.04 million
revenue tons of imports to Japan in thefirst half of fiscal 2022, which waned

2.6% from a year earlier. They surpassed
the 38-million-revenue-ton line for the
first time in three years, or since the firsthalf of fiscal 2019, as they have stayedon a increasing trend since the second
half of fiscal 2020.
By origin, imports from China
increased 3.3% to 19.369 million
revenue tons, holding the largest share of
the pie. Ranked second were those from
Vietnam, which surged 14% to 3.557
million revenue tons, while those from
Europe and Thailand were both robust,going up 13.3% to 2.918 million
revenue tons, finishing in third place andup 2.9% to 2.494 million revenue tons,
in fourth place, respectively. Imports fromthe U.S. took the No. 5 spot, but in termsof volume, they decreased 6.8% to
2.046 million revenue tons. In six place,those from South Korea plunged 24.3%
to 1.415 million revenue tons, but thosefrom Taiwan improved a remarkable
27.5% to 1.109 million revenue tons tocome in seventh place. Imports fromIndonesia were also massive, soaring
17.1% to 904,000 revenue tons andfinished in eighth place. Imports from
Hong Kong ranked in ninth, sinking asignificant 44.7% to 837,000 tons. At
the end of the top 10 were those from
Malaysia, which ballooned 20.2% to636,000 tons. Imports from the CIS fell
as severely as those from Hong Kong,
plummeting 42.9% to 8,000 tons, whichwere obviously affected by the Russian
aggression in Ukraine.
In terms of TEU, imports from China
went down 5.9% to 766,013 TEUs;
from Vietnam, up 18% to 136,919
TEUs; from Europe, up 11.7% to128,042 TEUs; from Thailand, up 9.9%
to 101,900 TEUs; and from the U.S.,
down 3.5% to 76,630 TEUs.
5-2. Exports
Exports of international multimodal
cargo from Japan declined 1.3% year on
year to 23.603 million revenue tons in
April-December 2022; however, they
had recovered to pre-pandemic volumes
in the first and second halves of fiscal
2019.

3

2023

first half of the previous fiscal year, which
Exports to China turned upward,
picked up 1% from a year earlier. It has
growing 4.9% to 4.999 million revenue
continued to swell year on year since
tons and accounting for the largest partcrossing the 60-million-revenue-ton markof the total volume. Exports were
for the first time in three quarters in thefavorable to the U.S. and Europe as well,second half of fiscal 2020.
which finished in second and third places,
International intermodal cargo to andswelling 2.8% to 3.166 million revenue
from China totaled 24.368 million
tons and 7.1% to 2.139 million revenue
revenue tons, up 3.6%, making thetons, respectively. On the other hand,country the leading trade partner toexports to South Korea, Thailand andJapan. The U.S. was ranked second, but
Vietnam were not, which slid 11.7% toshipments to and from the nation waned
1.494 million revenue tons, 14.2% to1.2% to 5.212 million revenue tons. In
1.464 million revenue tons and 4.5% tocontrast, exports to and imports from1.356 million revenue tons, making the
economies come in fourth, fifth and six
Europe were brisk, enjoying a doubleplaces, respectively. In seventh place,
digit improvement of 10.6% to amountthose to Taiwan, in contrast, hiked 3.7%
to 5.057 million revenue tons. Europe
to 1.267 million revenue tons, and in
was followed by Vietnam, freight to andeighth place, those to Hong Kongfrom the nation rose 8.2% to 4.913
improved 6.3% to 912,000 revenue
million revenue tons. At the bottom of
tons. Outbound shipments to Central
the top five, multimodal cargo to andand South America incurred a doublefrom Thailand shrank 4.2% to 3.958
digit contraction of 12.5%, amounting tomillion revenue tons.
848,000 revenue tons and finishing in
On a TEU scale, JIFFA members carried
ninth. The 10th greatest destination was
1,003,997 TEUs to and from China,
the Middle East, to which exports jumped
down 4.4%; 219,274 TEUs to and froma remarkable 29.3% to 803,000
Europe, up 8.4%; 199,471 TEUs to andrevenue tons.
from the U.S., down 2.5%; 197,831
The most significant decrease was
TEUs to and from Vietnam, up 12.8%;
registered in exports to the CIS, which
and 178,931 TEUs to and fromplummeted 73.3% to 82,000 revenue
Thailand, up 4.2%.
tons. They were adversely
Top 5 Countries/Regions with Volume Growth
impacted by Russia’s invasion(1) Export(unit:1,000tons)of Ukraine.
FY2022
FY2021Y/Y
In TEU terms, exports to
To
Y/Y
1H
1H
（％）
China amounted to 237,984
1
China
4,999
4,764
235
4.9％
TEUs, up 0.7%, accounting 2 Middle East803
621
182 29.3％
for the greatest part on this 3 Europe
2,139
1,997
142
7.1％
764
650
114 17.5％
scale, too. Those to other 4 Indonesia
U.S.
3,116
3,081
85
2.8％
major destinations were as 5(2) Import(unit:1,000tons)
follows: to the U.S., 122,841
FY2022 FY2021
Y/Y
To
Y/Y
TEUs, down 1.9%; to Europe,
1H
1H
（％）
91,232 TEUs, up 4.1%; to 1
China
19,36918,754
615
3.3％
3,557
3,121
436 14.0％
South Korea, 78,341 TEUs, 2 Vietnam
2,918
2,576
342 13.3％
down 16.8%; and to Thailand, 3 Europe
4
Taiwan1,109
870
239 27.5％
77,031 TEUs, down 2.5%.
5 Indonesia
904
772
132 17.1％(3) Total

5-3. Import/Export Total
In total, JIFFA freight
forwarders transported
61.643 million revenue tonsof international multimodal
cargo to and from Japan in the

To
1
China
2
Europe3 Vietnam
4
Taiwan5 Indonesia(unit:1,000tons)
FY2022
1H

FY2021
1H

Y/Y

Y/Y
（％）

24,368
5,057
4,913
2,376
1,668

23,518
4,573
4,541
2,092
1,422

850
484
372
284
246

3.6％
10.6％
8.2％
13.6％
17.3％

JIFFA Report

4

2023

Intensive Course on International Multimodal Transport
Held in Hakata Education Committee
The Education Committee held an
intensive course on international
multimodal transport in Hakata, Fukuoka
Prefecture on July 6, 2022, taking
actions to prevent coronavirus infections.
It was the first such event in three years,
as the program was suspended twice dueto the pandemic.
The annual intensive course focuseson subjects that are helpful for freight
forwarding.
After Mr. Masahiro Hamada, chairmanof the Education Committee gave theopening address, the first period began.
Mr. Kunio Orihara from Nissin, who is
vice-chairman of the committee, gave alecture on recent developments in
Europe.
In the second period, when cargo
insurance and liability insurance thatcargo transporters buy were focused on,
Mr. Daiki Hamanaka from Sompo Japan
Insurance spoke of the importance ofcargo insurance.
In the afternoon, the course offered a
Q&A session for freight forwarders. Mr.
Katsuya Tsuda, a lawyer from Okabe &Yamaguchi, who is chairman of the
Judicial Affairs Committee, and Mr.
Masaya Takeda from Transcontainer,
who is vice-chairman of the samecommittee, gave lectures. In respect toproblems that could arise from 1) a lawthat requires shippers to inform
transporters of hazardous commodities
and 2) surrendered
B/Ls, Mr. Tsuda and
Mr. Takeda gave
examples of legal andother issues that onsite workers haveactually encounteredin business routines.
The lecturers gave
advice on how to deal
with and solve such

JIFFA Reportissues.
Attendees intently listened to thelectures. “[The lectures] were very
interesting, as the recent logistics affairs
in Europe that I heard [from the lectures]
were different from the information I hadhad,” said one of the attendees. “[Thelectures] were helpful, as I had noknowledge on liability insurance,”
another commented. There was one who
said, “I thought that surrendered B/Ls
are very convenient, but I did not carefor risks.” They claimed they want the
Education Committee to continue to givepractical courses.

Session 2 on Sept. 2 and Session 1 of thesecond seminar on Sept. 7 and Session 2
on Sept. 14̶with supplemental remarksby the Language Training Committee. In
Session 1, attendees viewed the recorded
lecture to learn points to remember
before and when writing English sentences
in international logistics business routines.
In Session 2, they wrote sentences, heard
comments on their sentences, have theirsentences checked and edited and hadcomments again.
In addition to people who are engaged
in international logistics, the Language
Training Committee had also encouraged
those who need to have English
communication on business to participate
in the seminars.
Although the material used in theseminars was recorded in an advanced
English course, attendees highly rated
them, as they had even learned basis
business English communication skills. The

Language Training Committee conducteda survey on the seminars, in which many
answered that they had been verysatisfied, understood the lecture well andso on.
The Language Training Committee willcontinue to help member freight
forwarders improve their performances byoffering language education and training
programs. It hopes that more people willattend future seminars.

2023

JIFFA Gives Presentations at Logis-Tech Tokyo
Forwarding Committee

manage and select transport modes. With
this service, customers can handle
ongoing disruptions in internationaltransport.
Examples were introduced of the latest
logistics management with Yusen
Logistics’ Order Management System,with which customers manage purchaseorders and suppliers. It is also used totake emergency actions in case there areirregularities and make decisions to switch
marine to air transport and vice versa.
A logistics innovation forum was heldat the same venue on Sept. 14, at which apanel discussion was run on challenges
that shippers face in international
maritime transport and how they canenhance their international transport
capabilities. It was joined by officials from
the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT)’s Portsand Harbours Bureau. Mr. Akio Arimoto,Director, Port Logistics Strategy Office,gave a briefing on a survey that JIFFA had
conducted among member freight
forwarders and results.
Discussed in his presentation were how
important it is for mainline vessels to
make calls at ports on trunk routes andhow necessary it is to increase thenumber of direct sailings from Japan toNorth America.

Course for Qualifying International Multimodal Transport
Specialists Held in Tokyo, Osaka Education Committee

attendees cannot learn from daily
business routines.
After taking a total of 30 classes
during the 10-day courses, the students
took the final examination given on Dec.
14 in Tokyo and Osaka. Those who
passed the exam were certified by JIFFA
as international multimodal transport
specialists.

JIFFA took part in a workshop forexchanging information among logistics
organizations on Sept. 14, 2022, which
was held as part of Logis-Tech Tokyo, aninternational logistics trade show
organized at Tokyo Big Sight on Sept.
13-16.
On behalf of JIFFA, Yusen Logistics
executives, who are members of the
Forwarding
Committee,
gave
presentations on how international cargotransport is conducted now and how
logistics can be improved.
Prior to the presentations, Mr.Minoru

Online Seminars Held on Practical English for Forwarders
77 People Attend Language Training Committee
The Language Training Committee held
online seminars on practical English for
freight forwarders in August and
September 2022, which were attended
by a total of 77 people from across Japan,
including Okinawa.
The committee organized a similar
event in March 2022, using an audio
lecture given in September 2013 by Mr.
Masashige Yamada on ready-to-use
practical advanced English for freight
forwarders.
The same material was used at theAugust and September seminars, but thecommittee had, in advance, edited andmade it easier to understand based on
feedbacks and opinions from those who
attended previous seminars. The
PowerPoint slides used in the seminar had
also been brushed up.
The August and September seminars
were both given in two sessions̶Session
1 of the first seminar on Aug. 26 and

5

The Education Committee held its
fiscal 2022 10-day courses for
qualifying international multimodaltransport specialists in Tokyo on Oct. 622 and Osaka on Oct. 19-29, 2022.
In fiscal 2022, the committee
resumed its pre-pandemic enrollment
limits, and as a result, the Tokyo session
was attended by 158 keen students andthe Osaka session by 77.
To prevent coronavirus infections,actions were taken at both sessions,
measuring attendees’ body temperaturesand requiring them to sanitize theirhands and fingers and ware masks at
entrances.
On Day 1 of the Osaka session, which

Futonaka, Executive Officer, Senior
General Manager, Japan Region Business
Promotion Division, gave an address.
Following Mr. Futonaka’s address, Mr.
Masao Toriitsuka , General Manager,
Ocean Freight Forwarding Department,
analyzed ongoing developments ininternational logistics and discussed
future outlooks. Then, Mr. Shinichi
Ishihara, General Manager, Supply Chain
Solutions Department, introduced
solutions that can reduce impacts on
supply chains and prevent logistics
activities from being forced to stop at a
time
when
shippers are being
faced
with
production delays,
cost hikes andother challenges.
Yusen Logistics’
Global Control
Tower enables
customerstomanage inventory,
individually adjustlead times forindividualcommodities andwas organized for the first time in two
years, Mr. Naoto Nakamura from the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT), gave alecture on the current state of andchallenges facing international
multimodal transport and relevant
legislation. Mr. Nakamura is a chief
inspector under the director for logistics
industries affairs of the ministry’s Policy
Bureau. After the lecture, Mr. Hamada
Masahiro，chairman of the Education
Committee gave the opening address.
The courses for qualifying
international multimodal transport
specialists are a great opportunity tohave a wide breadth of knowledge that

Mr. Masahiro Hamada,
Chairman of the Education Committee

JIFFA Report

6

2023

JIFFA Report

JIFFA Logistics Seminar
Latest on Supply Chains in North America Forwarding Committee
The Forwarding Committee held awebinar on Oct. 14, 2022, inviting Mr.
Masashi Morimoto. It was a year since hespoke of congestion on container trades
to and from North America and future
prospects in October 2021, and thingschanged every second in the meantime.
Mr. Morimoto gave a lecture on avariety of subjects, including the latest on
San Pedro and other major ports in the
U.S., cargo accumulation at railway
stations, the enhancement of the Federal
Maritime Commission (FMC)’s authorities
under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of2022 (OSRA 2022) and challenges
facing the trucking industry, where there
are many sole proprietors and which works
to address increases in cost for achieving
zero-emissions.
The Forwarding Committee organizes aseminar every year on subjects thatmember freight forwarders are interested
in.
1) Current State of Domestic
Transport from LA/LB Port1-1) Railway Transport (IPI)
There are several railway companies in
the U.S., which are in service in different
regions. Interior point intermodal (IPI)
containers from the West Coast to theEast Coast are relayed from operators in
the west to those in the east in Middle
America.
Ship congestion at West Coast ports
has now been almost eliminated. However,it still takes an average of 7.7 days fromwhen IPI containers are unloaded at thePort of Los Angeles to when they aredelivered out of the port, which is longer
by two to three days than normally
expected.
Railway operators do not provide
enough hauling capacity to carry cargo,
which is an underlying factor behind theissue. Taking it seriously, the U.S.
government has expressed concern overrail chassis usage. The Federal Maritime
Commission (FMC) has begun
investigations in accordance with the

Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022
(OSRA 2022), while consultants havebeen brought in. It is hoped that an
expeditious and comprehensive solution
will be devised.
1-2) Shortage of Chassis for
Container Drayage (Local)
Chassis are available from major
providers and leased by overlandtransporters as needed. Providers decideon the number of chassis they have ready,assuming cycles of three to four days.
As congestion at West Coast ports has
been eased, local container is now
delivered out much more smoothly thanlast year. However, retainers’(wholesalers’) warehouses are still filledwith many commodities for major
shippers. There are, as such, cases in which
a number of loaded chassis are side byside in front of warehouses. As the issue ofchassis shortages is not eliminated yet, thesituation is still severe with an average
cycle of 9.9 days.
2) Container Throughput Shares of US
Major East, West Coast Ports
Shipments destined to the U.S. are on
the rise in terms of volume. Volumes arestable at West Coast ports but surging at
East Coast ports, in particular.
Accordingly, investment in warehouses isalso growing on the East Coast. Since thecoronavirus pandemic began, the balancein logistics functions between the East andWest coasts have been changing. It is,therefore, projected that logistics patterns
in North America will also be altered toadjust themselves to a new balance.
3) Imports to US in 2022
As far as U.S. statistics are concerned,building permits and housing starts areboth on the decline. It is expected thatimports of furniture, a major commodity
from Asia, will continue to decrease. The
retailing business is brisk in the U.S.,
according to the National RetailFederation (NRF), which has explainedthat it is because a huge number of instock products are sold extensively at

Mr. Masashi Morimoto

Mr. Hirofumi Orita,
Chairman of the Forwarding Committee

discount prices. Imports are envisaged to
be kept under control until domestic
inventory quantities return to appropriate
levels.
4) Labor-Management Negotiations at
US West Coast Ports
4-1) Points of Labor-Management
Negotiations Between ILWU and
PMA
If a deliberate growth strategy weredevised, in which an annual growth ofsome 4% is expected, U.S. ports would
handle twice as much cargo in 20 years
from now. As port space cannot be
expanded unlimitedly, therefore,
automation and labor saving are
unavoidable. The International Longshore
and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and thePacific Maritime Association (PMA) are
holding constructive talks now, hoping toreach an agreement that they can bothcompromise.
4-2) Other Concerna) Conflicts over job territories between
two labor unions at the Port of
Seattle?the ILWU and theInternational Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers(IAM); andb) Labor-management negotiations
between unions and railway
operators.

7

2023

Online Seminar Held on Latest IT Information
IT Committee
The IT Committee organized an online
seminar to provide up-to-date IT
information on Oct. 27, 2022.
Improvements in IT have influenced
the business environments of member
companies in recent years, such as
CyberPort, jointly launched by the

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the
Cabinet Office; new trade platforms; andso on. In the meantime, JIFFA-affiliatedfreight forwarders are in the process of
employing digital transformation (DX).
At the seminar, which was viewed byWebinar Held on Invoicing System General Affairs
Committee
The General Affairs Committee held an
online seminar in December 2022 to
study the qualified invoice system to be
implemented on Oct. 1, 2023. A lecturer
from the Ministry of Finance (MOF)’s Tax
Bureau gave a presentation on thesystem to 134 viewers from member
freight forwarders.
With the commencement of thesystem in a year, the lecturer outlined it
gain, pointed out changes that will beneeded from the ongoing system andexplained what preparations must be
made, giving specific examples. The
lecturer answered questions that had
been submitted by viewers in advance,
which helped them understand contents
more deeply.

Online Seminars Held on Thai, Indonesian “Sawatdee!”“Selamat Siang!” “Konnichiwa!” Language Training Committee
The Language Training Committee
gave its seventh Thai language seminaron Dec. 2, 2022 and sixth Indonesian
seminar on Dec. 9, both of which were
held online.
The Thai seminar was attended by 12
students. Before moving on to language
learning, Ms. Marin Nakajima gave basic
information on Thailand, such as how
local people think about things, what
they do on a daily basis and how theysee history, giving examples that arefamiliar to Japanese people. Having
learned it, the students began a language
lessen on how to give greetings,
introduce themselves and so on.

Ms. Yumiko Horas

Being referred to as the land of smiles
quite often, Thailand is a multiethnic
Buddhist country. To show affection
towards the nation, local
people start learning theimportance of greetings when
they are young children.
At the two-hour seminar,
the students learned gestures
to show gratefulness and somany other things that they
were able to share very fulfilling
hours.
Meanwhile, 15 students learned
Indonesian at the other seminar. Ms.
Yumiko Horas began it as she explained
the roots of the Indonesian language,
saying that it is the newest unified
language in the world. The students firstlearned personal name pronunciations inIndonesian, which has many similarities
with Japanese. Then, they were taught
basic greeting expressions they can use
when they meet someone for the firsttime, such as how to say their names,
birthplaces and things they like to do. A

179 people, JIFFA supporting members
and other presenters provided the latest
information.
The IT Committee conducted a survey
after the seminar, receiving many
comments that said that it was highlymeaningful and informative. Thanks tohelp from the presenters, a video on
demand is available on Vimeo for those
who could not attend the seminar.
The seminar was so highly rated thatthe committee intends to deliver arecorded version. Details are to beannounced.
The General Affairs Committee, whichorganized a similar event in September
2021, will consider holding seminars on
corporate social responsibility (CSR),
compliance and other subjects so thatmember companies can make the most ofthem in daily business routines.

video was played to teach the students
how Indonesian is different from manyother local languages, in whichconversations of local people were so
real that the students were able to feelthey had actually been there. The

lecturer gave so detailed lessons that theseminar came to an end too soon.
The Language Training Committee
conducted surveys after the seminars,
receiving positive feedbacks from manyof the attendees, who participated in theseminars for various different reasons.
Some said they would encourage otherpeople to join future seminars, whileother wanted to return to them.
The committee intends to holdseminars on other Southeast Asian
languages, hoping many people will takepart in the seminar.