Milan – Among Italian exporting companies, the use of terms other than ex works is failing to gain ground. In fact, 58% of the total still chooses this Incoterms clause – which essentially leaves all responsibilities and decisions regarding logistics and customs formalities in the hands of the buyer – (compared to 24% who opt for CIF and 12% for FOB), according to the figures recalled by Alessandro Panaro, head of Maritime & Energy at Srm during the CONTAINER ITALY Business Meeting held on Friday in Milan.
However, what has progressed over the years is the level of awareness that the companies themselves have developed on the topic and on the advantages that other terms could guarantee them. This was highlighted by Marco Zollia, Director of sales & marketing at Trieste Marine Terminal, during the conference, who to foster this evolution first suggested that freight forwarders transform from simple “transport organizers” into true “corporate consultants”, with a different structuring of the remuneration for the services offered as well.
This, however, with the awareness that to generate a transformation, a push at a higher level is necessary.
“It is not easy for a company to make this transition, even for those that bring Italian brands to the world but are then medium-sized,” the manager emphasized, referring to the interventions heard earlier. “There must be someone who has an interest at the national level to do it. Confindustria, and on the other side Confetra, but there must be an entity that can handle the coordination, like the Ministry.”
A small-scale experiment, however, is already being studied in Friuli Venezia Giulia, where operators – he explained – under the aegis of the local Confetra and Aspt-Astra, the freight forwarders’ association – will submit a formal request to the Region to make the transition to other terms tax-deductible – “to what extent we will see”. “Without this type of incentives, it is difficult to imagine companies taking on this burden.”
In short, the ball on this issue, so central to Italian logistics, must pass to the public sector. “Also because otherwise, what does the State invest in logistics and infrastructure for, if it is not the Italian companies that benefit from these investments?”
F.M.
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