PHILADELPHIA, January 21, 2004 —BDP International, a leading global logistics and transportation services company, following a recent seminar for clients, trade allies and employees, has released guidelines to the new Free Trade Agreements with Singapore and Chile, which went into effect January1.

Exporting to and importing from these countries are now less costly, particularly exports to Chile, which were subject to a six percent tariff. Most U.S. exports to Singapore have been entering the country duty-free, but now products from Singapore can enter the U.S. free or with reduced duties. Most goods from Chile enter the U.S. duty-free, but now even more will enjoy duty-free status.

“It all sounds simple enough, but free trade with Chile and Singapore isn’t free of red tape,” cautioned Michael Ford, BDP’s vice president for regulatory affairs. Ford explained that the reduced duties apply only to originating goods, as with the NAFTA agreement with Canada and Mexico. Trade with Chile and Singapore must satisfy a tariff shift, regional value content or both to be deemed originating. Unlike NAFTA, however, the U.S. agreements with these countries are separate, and the rules of origination differ not only from NAFTA but also from one another.

Under the terms of the new agreements, regional content value is calculated using adjusted value and the build-up and build-down methods, compared with NAFTA, which uses transaction value and net cost. For the chemical industry in particular, there is a complex chemical-reaction override to the tariff-shift rules, Ford noted.

Ford went on to provide updated guidelines for trade with Canada and Mexico, as well:

• Centralize Certificate-of-Origin preparation.
• Train designees in the various Free Trade Agreements.
• Request FTA certification on domestic purchase orders.
• Determine origination for your products proactively.
• Anticipate an audit from the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), by maintaining files of all documentation.
• Have certification in hand when claiming FTA benefits.
• Plan to change your organization’s processes and systems when CBP updates regulations on US imports.
• Involve all stakeholder departments within your organization, to help make correct determinations of origination under each FTA.

About BDP
BDP International is one of the leading privately held freight logistics / transportation management firms in the U.S. It operates freight logistics centers in more than 20 cities throughout North America and a network of subsidiaries, joint ventures and strategic partnerships in 140 countries. The company serves more than 4,000 customers worldwide. Clients include Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Heineken USA, Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, Osram Sylvania, Rohm & Haas, Trek Bicycle, and others. BDP provides a range of services, including ocean, air and ground transportation; 4PL lead logistics process analysis, design and management; export freight forwarding; import customs brokerage and regulatory compliance; project logistics; warehousing/consolidation/distribution; and Internet shipping transaction/tracking management systems.