Guangdong delays stringent labour law, lets cities make rules

FACTORIES in the Pearl Delta do not need to meet the rigorous demands of the new PRC Employment Contract Law after the Guangdong provincial government decided put off province-wide implementation, reports Hong Kong legal journal China Law & Practice.
Instead, provincial authorities will allow the cities facing the global economic downturn, Shenzhen and Dongguan among them, to issue their own labour rules in such a way as not to deter business or increase costs which have risen sharply.
After an unspecified trial period, Guangdong said it will consider issuing provincial regulations, said the legal journal. Guangdong manufacturers have welcomed the move because strict implementation risks higher costs, which if passed on, will discourage exports.
"By allowing cities to continue to apply existing rules, the Guangdong government aims to at least help enterprises to pass their critical economic difficulties," said, Fangda Partners attorney Jay Chen.
The national Implementing Regulations for the PRC Employment Contract Law were issued September 18. Thus far, only Guangdong has made an official announcement regarding implementation.

Top China researcher sees newbuilding orders fall 60pc in '09

NEWBUILDING orders in China will fall 60 per cent in 2009 as prices drop 30 per cent from their 2010 high, says Beijing's China Shipbuilding Economy Research Centre's chief analyst Bao Zhangjing.
Mr Bao told the Asia Ship Finance and Leasing Forum in Shanghai that he saw a modest recovery in 2011 when shipyards would start to reload capacity, but said that would not start before 2012 when orders returned to a 100 million deadweight ton level. "Owners will not order as long as they believe prices will fall further," he said, adding that orders have already dropped 14 million tons in August to less than 1 million in November, and will again drop 60 per cent next year from this year's 150 million tons. He expected a continued decline in 2010 to 50 million tons.

Panama Canal Authority takes bids for dry excavation project

THE Panama Canal Authority (ACP) says it has officially received a total of six bids for the third out of four dry excavation contracts to be awarded under its Canal Expansion Programme.
The next step now is to review the submissions with a view to determining a winner of the contract before the end of this month, in order to move ahead with the next phase of expansion works, which "remains on track," according to a statement issued by the ACP.
The scope of work for this latest dry excavation contract is said to encompass the excavation, removal and disposal of 8 million cubic metres of material, which will further reduce Paraiso (Paradise) Hill from 46 metres to 27.5 metres above sea level.
It also calls for the construction of approximately 2.5 kilometres of access and the clearing of 190 hectares of land bearing munitions and explosives of consideration (MEC), remnants from former US military training in Panama.
When all four of the dry excavation contracts are completed, the works would have created a "critical" access channel linking the new Pacific locks with the Canal's existing Gaillard Cut, which is the narrowest stretch of the Panama Canal.
Similar to the first and second dry excavation projects, the third contract will be awarded to the firm with the lowest-priced bid that meets all of the requirements stated in the request for proposals.
"With the prices offered today by the bidders for this contract, the Canal's expansion programme remains on-track and on-budget," said executive vice president of Engineering and Programme Management Jorge Quijano.
"The third dry excavation contract is an essential intermediate step in the creation of the Pacific access channel, and we are pleased with the interest shown by the competing companies. We look forward to reviewing the documentation of the winning bid and welcoming another partner to the Canal Expansion Programme."
Ultimately, the expansion project will build a new lane of traffic along the Panama Canal through the construction of a new set of locks to double capacity and allow access to more traffic and longer, wider ships.

MOL resumes independently-operated service to Southampton

THE arrival of the 8,100-TEU MOL Cosmos at the UK Port of Southampton has marked a return of MOL-owned vessels calling at the port after a break of several months. In the interim period, MOL had been offering services into Southampton in partnership with The New World Alliance carriers.
The MOL Cosmos is currently operating on the Japanese shipping line's South China Express Service that also makes stops at the ports of Zeebrugge, Hamburg and Rotterdam before heading back to the Far East via the Suez Canal, as the vessel is too large to transit the Panama Canal.
"We are delighted to welcome the captain and crew of the MOL Cosmos on her maiden call to DP World Southampton. As one of our oldest customers, I am especially pleased to welcome MOL back to the terminal and we look forward to servicing MOL ships in Southampton for many years to come," said Campbell Mason, managing director of DP World Southampton, in a company statement from the terminal operator.

Long Beach and LA ports give green light to projects

LA and Long Beach port officials are giving the green light to US$2 billion plus valued-projects in the belief that it will result in economic stimulus despite cargo slowdown and unemployment increases, reports Los Angeles Times.
"After years of robust growth, we have a chance to take a breath and concentrate on some infrastructure projects," said Richard Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach. "We can stimulate economic growth, put people back to work and position ourselves for the turnaround."
There is high resistance to Geraldine Knatz the executive director of the Port of LA's plan for a new cruise terminal at its Outer Harbour said to create 7,300 direct jobs and 17,700 indirect construction-related ones, and 438 permanent jobs over the five to seven year building period.
With union dockworkers scrabbling about for work as many cargo ships go idle and more join the unemployment queue the timing is a point of contention. Latest figures for eleven months of 2008 show a drop of 5 per cent to 7.3 million TEU at Port of LA, and 6 million TEU at Long Beach, a 10 per cent decrease. Rate cuts to less than $600 per FEU from highs of $3,400 in 2007 shows a picture of an industry in retrenchment.
The tourist sector say that the location of the 1960s facility makes for entrance only in reverse and an unglamorous arrival with its view of an industrial port scene and its attendant grime and fumes. Latest figures from Cruise Lines International Association rank Los Angeles fourth with a meek 6 per cent in cruise embarkations share.
"People have this image of how their ship will arrive in port, the wind in your hair, streamers flying, maybe a bottle of champagne, and here in Los Angeles you arrive creeping along in reverse. It's pretty hard to put your best face forward that way," said Judy Parker, VP for Worldview Travel, a travel agency based in California, Florida and New York.
Long Beach plan to combine its two existing terminals in a 10 year, US$750-million investment plan with green initiatives to combat the pollution problems by electric grids for vessels and a switch-off rule for diesel engines.
Port officials long term vision is in light of the ports ability to be prepared for an upturn and to avoid a 2004 'boom' situation when vessels were queuing up and unable to unload cargo, added the report.

Consumers want brand clarity

By Adam Stephen

Organic consumers want a simple labelling system for produce.Currently there's no uniform label for organic produce, and consumers are confronted with different labels depending on which company certified the product.An Organic Federation of Australia commissioned Newspoll survey found over 70 per cent of regular buyers just want to see the words 'certified organic' on the produce.OFA chairman André Leu says the industry needs to take on the advice. "Everywhere where it's been put in, for instance when Germany did it, organic sales skyrocketed. In the USA they just have one logo and the same thing has happened there. What happens is, when consumers know one logo, it makes it very easy for them to have confidence in the product that this product is a genuine certified organic product."
In this report: OFA chairman André Leu

Transport industry tax to hit farmers and possibly consumers

By Mary Goode

Any extra money farmers are saving with cheaper fuel could be eroded by a new trucking tax.It's called the Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill .It's passed through Parliament, and will mean truck owners will pay an extra one-point-three cents a litre, or around 15-thousand dollars a year. It's effectively a tax increase from 19 cents to 21 cents a litre.And while it doesn't sound much, with the large amount of kilometres truckies do, those extra cents soon add up.Luke Fraser from the Australian Livestock Transporters Association says it's a good tax - because it'll mean better roads and more efficient travel.He says the pay day has come for our regional and rural roads.Mr Fraser says while this will mean more money for roads - the costs will be passed on to the customers - which in rural areas will mostly be farmers.But the question is - will producers be stuck with those costs or can they pass them on to the consumer?Greg Brown from the Cattle Council of Australia says farmers won't be able to pass on the costs, because farmers are price takers and not price setters.He says it's not in farmers' power to change that.John Cummings is chairman of the National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia .He says the tax must be passed on, because farmers can't be expected to foot another bill. Mr Cummings believes it could help push meat prices up 10 to 15 per cent, that's including the price hikes that farmers are already experiencing."No doubt, there is no doubt that in Australia, the producer is the least who can afford any increase in costs," he says."So we would assume that these must in the end be passed on to consumers."
In this report: Luke Fraser, Australian Livestock Transporters Association; Greg Brown, Cattle Council of Australia; John Cummings, National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia