The 2012 Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference organized by The Journal of Commerce will add a full-day track on refrigerated container transport to address the growing trade in perishables and other temperature-sensitive cargo moving between Asia and North America and issues surrounding the shipping of goods.
The track, on the second day of the TPM event in Long Beach, Calif., March 6, 2012, comes amid growing attention to the export of U.S. agricultural goods to Asia. Farm products from beef to grains have helped push U.S. exports to the Pacific Rim beyond the volume the U.S. exports to Europe and the Pacific trade was a major focus of this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
“Asia is critical to achieving my highest priority: creating jobs and opportunity for the American people,” President Obama said in Australia.
That trade has gained growing attention recently because of the controversy surrounding the apparent faulty maintenance of refrigerated containers in Vietnam. Explosions in containers authorities have said were serviced at a Vietnam port have killed three people in other countries, leading to a worldwide search for other containers considered at-risk.
The TPM event, part of the growing focus on refrigerated transport under The Journal of Commerce’s Cool Cargoes business line, will also address the Asia export trade, where attention to tainted products out of China in recent years has brought new operators and new disciplines to the business.
