Shipping Link

June 28, 2010 (LBO) – The permanent secretariat of the Asian Shippersâ€™ Council (ASC), the worldâ€™s largest shippersâ€™ body, has been located at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka, a statement said. ASC consists of 20 shippersâ€™ councils from 16 countries in the five regions covering Asia and Oceania.

Its permanent secretariat was transferred to Colombo from Singapore in September 2009 after the end of the islandâ€™s 30-year ethnic war in May.

The other secretariats of global shippersâ€™ bodies are situated in Brussels for EU and Washington D.C for North America.

The head office of the Global Shippersâ€™ Forum would be located in London at near future date.

Currently ASC is drafting policy papers with the competition commissions in member countries, it said in a statement.

An ASC member task force is studying the new UN initiated liability regime Rotterdam rulesâ€ to advise Asian governments when ratification is considered.

The council will actively contribute through its mandate to improve the efficiency in the global supply chain and will recommend policy directions in respect of, trade, transparency and matters concerning the transport industry and the environment.â€