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The International Trade Committee of the European Parliament today voted that the European Union must make the use of “made in” origin labels mandatory on goods imported from third countries mandatory.

East Coast ports maintained their lead in containerized exports in the first nine months of 2012 and increased their share of import and export markets. And they did so despite shipper concerns at the end of September over a potential strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association and a related shift of some cargo to ports on the West Coast and Canada.

The dredging process for a new side channel leading to east Port Said in Egypt has started, according to Inchcape Shipping Services.

The Grimaldi Group this week laid the foundation stone for the new Grimaldi Terminal Barcelona at the Muelle Costa in the Port of Barcelona in Spain.

Ireland, which took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on Jan. 1, has made trade one of its top priorities, according to the European Parliament.

The European Union will co-finance, with more than 2.2 million euros (about US$2.9 million) from the trans-European transport network program, studies analyzing options to improve rail connections to France’s Port of Dunkirk...

The Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency have ordered Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner grounded in the wake of battery fires, The Wall Street Journal reports.

AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, today reported profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $262 million, jumping $1.4 billion from 2011’s net loss of $1.1 billion.

The Port of Los Angeles broke ground Wednesday on the West Basin Rail Yard project that will serve as a staging yard for railcars and free up land for construction of an on-dock intermodal transfer yard at the TraPac terminal.

United Arab Shipping Co. has revised its France origin terminal-handling charges on U.S. imports, effective Feb. 15.

U.S. Lines will implement a bunker surcharge for northbound dry and refrigerated cargo from Australia and New Zealand to the U.S. East Coast, eastern Canada and the Caribbean, effective Feb. 15.

Israel’s Haifa Port reported its container traffic in 2012 was 1.38 million 20-foot-equivalent units, an 11.5 percent increase compared with 2011 and a record high for the port.

CaroTrans has added a new weekly less-than-containerload export service from San Francisco to Japan.

Novoroslesexport, a subsidiary of Russia-based Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port Group, has received delivery of two new Liebherr LHM 550 cranes, with lifting capacities of 104 metric tons (about 115 tons).

In his 2013 policy address, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive CY Leung announced that the government will consider introducing new legislation to require marine vessels to switch to low-sulphur diesel in Hong Kong port...

Pirates attacked 297 ships in 2012, a five-year low and a 32 percent decrease compared with 2011’s 439 ship attacks, according to a global piracy report by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau.

Hong Kong-based container ship lessor Seaspan has signed contracts for the construction of five 14,000-TEU container ships at Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has signed an agreement with Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF Railway announcing BNSF’s voluntary revision of several personnel policies.

Trade Tech, which supplies cloud-based solutions for the logistics industry, announced that its electronic filing solution has been authorized by Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System, the Japanese government’s trade and customs clearance service, for Japan’s Advance Filing Rules that will go into effect in March 2014.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has notified Congress that the Obama administration plans to enter into negotiations for a new trade agreement on international trade in services.

Ship management company TOTE Services, a division of Princeton, N.J.-based TOTE, has announced that its president, Jorge Aguirre, will retire on Jan. 31.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing has applauded Walmart’s announcement that Walmart and Sam’s Club plan to buy an additional $50 billion in U.S.-made products over the next 10 years.

Joseph A. Dorto, CEO of Virginia International Terminals, will retire on March 31, after 34 years with VPA.

Maersk Line will implement a general rate increase from India to Latin America on Feb. 1.

Canadian National Railway’s plan to build an intermodal terminal in Indianapolis with the Indiana Rail Road Company fits into the former’s broader effort to give shippers using its top Asian gateways access to new markets.

Finnish crane company Konecranes has introduced the SMV 4531 TB5 HLT, a hybrid reach stacker for container handling, with a lifting capacity of 45 tons.

A.P. Moller-Maersk, owner of ocean carrier Maersk Line, said the container shipping industry needs to hike rates by $300 to $500 per box on the Asia-Europe trade lane to yield profit, Bloomberg reported.

The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles managed to increase their container volumes slightly in 2012 from a weak 2011...

Japanese airline All Nippon Airways temporarily grounded its entire fleet of 17 Boeing 787 Dreamliners on Jan. 16 in Japan after smoke was observed on one of the jets in flight and the pilot made an emergency landing...

Container transportation company APL is introducing a new weekly service between Germany and Poland.