• Chairman’s Corner
• Air China investment in Beijing and Shanghai airports
• Russia introduces new customs regulations
• USA and Thailand sign agreement on irradiation usage
• Austrian Airlines offers direct service Vienna to Erbil, Iraq
• Arrow Air expansion plans
• President Bush proposes airport ticket tax increase
• News from Philippines customs office
• Delta Airlines aiming to add service to Africa
• US-Vietnam container trade soars
• Shipment of the month
• Anniversaries
• Winner of the month
• Chairman’s Corner

The first quarter of 2006 has proven to show continued growth over 2005 for the EMO Group. The Asian, European, Latin American and South African markets have all increased traffic. The US economy remains robust and in Germany (still our single strongest market) there are clear signs of a new consumer and industry confidence. Caution is needed though with a very volatile US$ and (again) rising oil prices.

We have opened an additional office in Laredo, Texas to be able to better service the Mexican market. This office works closely with a Mexican broker for both import and export shipments. The office is managed by Juan Antonio Garcia who joined us from Schenker and reports to Regional Manager Walther Borchers. Both Laredo and El Paso, TX support our network with Mexico traffic.

More new offices in the US will follow in the course of this year. Stay tuned.

As mentioned previously, India has become an important market for Emo Trans too. We are planning to establish a permanent Route Development Manager in India in the near future. The industrial growth of the subcontinent is spectacular and we are ready for the challenge.

The EMO Global Network meeting is taking shape. The meeting will be held at the Paradisius Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from April 25th to April 28th.

In addition to our Network partners from around the world, we expect a number of Government officials from US Customs and the Transportation Safety Agency (TSA) to give us presentations on security issues and regulations.

With security an ever rising concern in our transportation industry, these are contributions we greatly appreciate. Both EMO-TRANS and ETB, our Customs Brokerage Division, are certified members of C-TPAT as we are members of the TSA program as well as the electronic AES filing procedure.

There are sad news from Chile. Uwe Wiechern, a friend and partner, the man who inspired us to open EMO Chile in 2004, passed away on March 30th after a long bout with cancer. Uwe had just recently returned to his hometown of Hamburg for more medical treatment and to be closer to his family. The entire EMO family mourns his passing. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family.

Manuel Espina, also a co-founder and partner of EMO-Trans Chile has taken charge of our operation in Chile.

All the Best
Jo Frigger
Chairman & CEO

Air China has decided to invest more than $431 million in Beijing International Airport over the next two years. Air China will setup an 80,000 m2 cargo zone at the airport, including a terminal that can process 500,000 to 600,000 tons of freight annually.

Besides the new international terminal under construction, planning has begun for a third runway. Air China’s investment at the airport will expand its cargo operations, engineering & maintenance programs, as well as its catering and IT services. It currently bases 97 of its 160 aircraft at Beijing International.

The Xinhua New Agency reports that the airline also wants to develop Shanghai into a cargo center and international passenger gateway, while expanding its regional hub in Chengdu in the southwestern Sichuan province. Air China recently spent $37 million to enhance cargo and passenger operations in Shanghai. The Chinese aviation industry expects to maintain 12-15% growth over the next three years before a slowdown begins in 2010.

EMO Trans is well represented in many cities across China and our network is growing constantly in that region. Please entrust us with your cargo to/from China.

Russia has introduced new customs regulations requiring exact specifications of commodities on air waybills. Consolidations must have precise descriptions of goods attached to the air waybill. Elsewhere, the BBC reported that several regional carriers in Russia plan to join forces to create a major new airline. It will be based in Krasnoyarsk, which has potential as a hub.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service traveled to Thailand to sign a joint Framework Equivalency Work Plan (FEWP) that paves the way for the use of irradiation to safeguard imported fruits and vegetables against quarantine pests. This signing makes Thailand the first country to reach a mutual agreement with the United States regarding the use of irradiation.

APHIS has initiated the rulemaking process to allow the importation of six irradiated fruits from Thailand: mango, mangosteen, pineapple, rambutan, litchi and longan. In reciprocation, Thailand will allow the importation of irradiated U.S. agriculture commodities such as citrus.

USDA’s irradiation regulation has been in place since 2002. The regulation recognizes irradiation as an accepted quarantine treatment and sets established guidelines for its use. The regulation requires that the United States and each foreign trading country adopt a mutually approved FEWP. This work plan is the first step in the process and establishes the mutual recognition of the general conditions for each country to allow for the trade of irradiated agricultural commodities.

In recent years, irradiation treatment has become the most promising, single-treatment quarantine alternative to methyl bromide. APHIS and the International Plant Protection Convention, as well as many other international organizations and countries, agree that irradiation of fruits and vegetables is a safe and effective form of treatment for the elimination of pests and does not pose a threat to human health.

Austrian Airlines is to inaugurate A319 services from Vienna to Erbil in Northern Iraq says Austrian vice president cargo Franz Zoechbauer. There will be three flights a week.

With the introduction of the new route to Erbil, “we are creating a connection that is essential for the economic redevelopment of Iraq”, says Austrian Airlines.

Arrow Cargo is the largest US-registered all-cargo carrier based at Miami International Airport. With a fleet of five DC10-30 and five DC-8 freighters, the airline offers more than 50 scheduled all-cargo services each week to 20 destinations throughout Central and South America and the Carribean.

Arrow will be adding more DC-10 freighters this year to increase cargo space.

President Bush latest budget proposal seeks to raise airport ticket taxes by $1.3 billion to cover increased security measures, but the industry is opposing the budget proposal. Critics, including the Air Transport Association, say the measure would hurt low-cost carriers because they would likely not be able to pass the cost along to passengers.

The Bureau of Customs in the Philippines has adopted a new pre-clearance system to allow the release of express air cargo during weekends or holidays at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the country’s Subic Bay facility.

Under the scheme Customs will release express air shipments to consignees even if duties and taxes are still to be paid. In return, the carrier has to lodge a deposit of at least 2 million pesos ($38,395) with a Customs-accredited bank.

All cargo will, however, continue to undergo physical examination and will only be released after a Customs officer has determined the duties, taxes and other charges to be paid.

Delta Airlines has announced plans to introduce new scheduled services from its Atlanta hub to Africa starting in December 2006. The company said if the new routes to Dakar in Senegal and Johannesburg in South Africa are approved by the Dept. of Transportation (DoT), it would become the only US carrier to be able to offer scheduled services between the US and the African continent.

In the past, Delta has marketed service from the US to South Africa through a partnership with South African Airways. The new service would be offered using Delta’s own B777 aircraft. Delta added that it plans to offer more flights between the US and destinations in Europe, India and Israel during the course of 2006.

Separately, Delta has also said that it has received US DoT approval to add non-stop flights between the US and a seventh country in South America, with new daily service between Atlanta and Quito, Ecuador with continuing service to Guayaquil.

Container trade between the US and Vietnam has been the fastest growing among Asia-Pacific countries over the past decade, growing even faster than US Trade with China.

Indeed, US ports’ container traffic with Vietnam increased 45% a year during 1994-2004 after Washington re-instituted diplomatic and trade relations with the southeast Asian nation in 1994 and granted it temporary Most Favored Nation (MFN) status in 2001. As a result, Vietnam became the 10th leading trading partner with 10 US ports accounting for 95% of the container traffic:

Los Angeles (40%), Long Beach (17%), New York (9%), Seattle (7%), Oakland (6%) and Savannah (5%), Norfolk (4%), Tacoma (3%), Charleston (2%) and Miami (1.5%)

According to the US Maritime Administration, the 2004 top 10 liner imports from Vietnam to the US in terms of dollar value were wearing apparel (51% of total imports), fish (12%), footwear (11%), furniture (6%), and fruits/vegetables/nuts (5%), followed by coffee, all electrical/electronic equipment, textiles, spices and all metal manufactures.

By comparison, the top 10 US liner exports to Vietnam in 2004 were more varied: cotton, machines/machinery, iron/steel products, plastic resin, all electric/electronic equipment, logs/lumber, motorized vehicles, milk products, manufactured paper and internal combustion engines.

15 years: Donna Esposito, Erin Maloney – Freeport, NY

5 years: Jean Paul Espinosa – Miami, FL

Thank you to all our committed employees! We appreciate your hard work for all of these years.

The Gift Certificate for Starbucks was won by Steve Carter. Congratulations!!!

Next month’s drawing features a “Gourmet Food gift certificate”. Please let us handle many of your shipments. As always, each one will be entered into our monthly drawing.

“I never notice what has been done. I only see what remains to be done”
Madam Curie

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Gisela M. Beckermann
Regional Manager
Northern California , Northern
Nevada and Pacific Northwest

Tel: (650) 697-0646
www.emotrans.com

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