Important information from Coppersmith

CSMS# 55505234 – Deploying on March 18, 2023, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Alert Enhancements will require three new validations to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for goods that may be coming into the United States from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. 

The validations are as follows: 

Postal code will be a required field.

• Users will receive an error message if the postal code provided is not a valid Chinese postal code.
• Users will receive a warning message when a XUAR region postal code is provided.

Coppersmith wants our customers to know that this means everyone who imports from China must have their shippers’ and suppliers’ zip codes in China on their invoices, or we cannot clear Customs.

TPM Talks Ocean Freight

The buzz out of the Trans-Pacific Maritime (TPM) conference focused on the future of ocean freight logistics under the theme of “picking up the pieces” – a bit of whimsical wordplay about the disruption, inflation, and collapse of ocean freight rates, services, and the uncertain future.

Unprecedented volatility was the standard description for the way ocean rates bounced skyward after flawed projections caused carriers early on to blank sailings when they expected lockdowns to keep people out of stores. They weren’t wrong – consumers did stay out of stores, choosing instead to hop online and shop non-stop for months.