UPS has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Shenzhen Customs authority to seal theterms of their partnership for the UPS intra-Asia hub that will soon be completed to become
operational in the first quarter of 2010.Under the MOU, Shenzhen Customs will offer a full suite of customs services at the UPS hubincluding 24/7 customs clearance to handle international cargo and express shipments. It will alsohelp set up a bonded warehouse. In addition, UPS and Shenzhen Customs will jointly develop a riskmanagement system to enhance and increase the efficiency of customs clearance processes whileensuring rigorous supervision, UPS said in a statement.
Apart from the customs operations at the hub, the MOU also enables express cross-borderclearance at the Hong Kong/Shenzhen highway port for UPS vehicles heading towards or exiting thehub. This will help reduce travelling time and costs when connecting with the Hong Kong airport.
“We believe the new hub will greatly boost export developments in the Pearl River Deltaregion and increase the total volume of freight transportation and employment level,” said ShiFushen, Deputy Director General, Shenzhen Customs Provincial HQ. “As the UPS hub will play asignificant role in the economic development of the region, we believe it will also boost thedevelopment of Shenzhen’s air freight industry. We will fully support UPS’s development inShenzhen.”
Recognised as one of the key construction projects by the Shenzhen government, the UPSShenzhen Intra-Asia hub has been given priority by Shenzhen Customs. A working team has been set upby Shenzhen Customs to support the hub’s development in the area of customs clearance. Both partieshave worked closely in the planning and construction phases of the project contributing greatly tothe progress of the hub, UPS explained.
The $180 million UPS Intra-Asia Hub broke ground on October 24, 2008 and will initiallyemploy more than 400 people. In addition, the strategic location of UPS’s Shenzhen Intra-Asia Hubwill enable shorter transit time between burgeoning Asian trade lanes. The initial sorting capacityof 18,000 items per hour at the hub is expected to double to 36,000 items per hour in the future,UPS added.
