Airline

April 2003

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will grant first new International Airport at Haneda will be boosted by 14 to 391 as of July 18, the first increase since July 2000. Increased efficiency in the air traffic system allowed the government to grant the new slots, which will be preferentially distributed among new market entrants to Haneda airport. The ministry will first distribute the slots to Hokkaido International Airlines Co. and SkyNet Asia Airways Co., which have requested their use, and then provisionally award the remainder to Japan Airlines System Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. Efficiency gains in the air control system have reached their limit, and Haneda will not be able to accommodate any more slots unless a fourth runway is built. (April 23, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

The government is taking deregulatory steps to enhance the efficiency of customs procedures for importers and exporters. Prodded by growing complaints from businesses about the hassle they are forced to suffer whenever they conduct international transactions, the Finance Ministry has finally decided to take action. Japan is also losing its competitive edge as a major hub for goods transport because other Asian countries have already adopted measures to ease customs procedures. It takes three or four days to clear goods through customs in Japan, or about three times longer than in most other countries, which adds to storage costs. The Finance Ministry has opened the customs clearance business to foreign companies, so domestic agents designated by overseas firms can handle imported cargo at Japanese seaports and airports. Such deregulatory measures have already been implemented in China and South Korea; U.S. parts suppliers can hire American transport firms and customs agents to speedily deliver their goods to manufacturers in those countries. In Japan, the Finance Ministry did not allow foreign agents to enter the business for fear of losing income from customs duties, a restriction which hurt the competitive edge of domestic companies. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Japanese exporters are shipping goods to North America via South Korea. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of containers shipped to and from Japan via Pusan, South Korea, jumped 31.6% in 2001, with most of the cargo passing through the port of Kobe. In many cases, goods carried by smaller vessels from Hiroshima were reloaded on larger ships at Pusan. Japanese customs houses do close, in principle, at midnight and on weekends and holidays. This forces many Japanese shippers to reload their goods on larger vessels at ports of neighboring countries. To avoid this inconvenience, the Finance Ministry intends to begin round-the-clock customs service at seven ports, including Hakata and Kobe, from July. The Transport Ministry has also begun using information technology to inform truck drivers about the progress of customs procedures at Hakata port through Internet-capable mobile phones. "Use of IT and round-the-clock customs operations will make it possible to complete procedures in just one day," according to the Ministry. However, hourly charges about 7,800-8,300 yen will be required when cargo is handled outside of regular hours. The fee is much higher than that of Britain or the Netherlands. Recent deregulatory measures, therefore, leave further room for improvement if Japanese companies are to survive intense competition in the transportation sector. (April 3, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)