UCS | News

The London 2012 Games are fast approaching and the city will inevitably be a lot busier than usual at that time.

As some journeys and locations will be affected at certain times, a new Get Ahead of the Games website has been launched, to help you to avoid travel hotspots. This has:

An interactive map showing the impact on travel
Details of key affected stations
Information on the Games lanes, the Olympic Route Network (ORN), the Paralympic Road Network (PRN) and how road restrictions may affect you
Days and times of events
Travel tips to help you get around in London

For more information, visit GetAheadoftheGames.com

Additional Holidays in February

Please see the attached pdf above for details of additional holidays in February and contact our customer services department if you should require any further information.

Please be aware of the following changes with exports to Syria which take affect immediately:

An EU wide prohibition on the sale, supply, transfer or exports of
Equipment or software used by the Syrian Government to monitor or intercept telephone or internet communications unless already approved by the ECO.
Provision of technical or financial assistance to provide service to intercept telephone or internet services.
Equipment & technology used in oil & gas production.
Equipment , Technology & assistance used in electricity production
asset freeze on banking & financial services

Due to snow and ice in Corsica and South-East France, road travel has become difficult with potential delays in the following areas:

15/20/63/12/43/03/46/71/26/69/05/38

Please contact our customer services department should you require any further information.

Holidays for February in Asia & Australasia

Please be advised there are national holidays in certain parts of Asia & Australasia throughout February.

Please see the attached pdf above for details and contact our customer services department if you should require any further information.

There will be a general strike within Belgium starting on Sunday the 29th January at 22:00 which will continue through to Monday the 30th January at 22:00. This will affect all public services and there will not be any deliveries on these dates.

Please contact our customer services department should you require any further information.

Please note there are transportation strikes in Italy on the 26th & 27th of January.

Thursday the 26th January - 24 hour train strike

Friday the 27th January - 24 hour general transportation strike

Thursdays train strike will not affect services, however Fridays strike involves planes, trains and local transport which will be on strike for 24 hours. As a result, deliveries and on-forwarding will not take place on Friday the 27th and may result in a backlog of material when services resume on Monday the 30th. Please contact our customer services department should you require any further information.

China celebrate the Lunar New Year Holiday from the 22nd, to the 28th of January, but some companies like to celebrate from as early as the 20th. Consequently, please be aware that deliveries during this period will likely be incomplete until Monday the 30th. Please contact our customer services department should you require and further information.

As of January 1^st 2012, as part of revised procedures by the Saudi Customs Authority relating to the inspection of shipments coming through express carriers, shipments will go through these processes:

The customs requirements (covering shipments with a commercial value of $100 USD or more) are:

§ The actual consignee, or final receiver, is required to be identified as the Importer Of Record (IOR)

§ This change also entails requires that all goods with a commercial value above $100 USD must comply with formal customs clearance processes for all imported shipments. Imports to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will require the following:

§ A copy of the importer’s Company Registration (Commercial Registration) for all imports under a company name over $100 USD. Commercial Registration number should be quoted on the DHL Express waybill in the VAT number field if available at the time of export.

§ For goods going to Dhahran (Eastern Province) over $13,250 USD, or $2,500 USD for Jeddah (Western Province) and Riyadh (Central Province), a letter printed on the importer’s company letterhead authorizing the DHL Express broker to clear shipments on their behalf. Note: the letter can be produced to cover clearance of either individual shipments or all shipments for the company for a period of up to 1 year. DHL Express will only need this once per year from each importer.

§ For all personal imports over $100 USD, a copy of the personal identification card for Saudi and Foreign nationals. ID number should be quoted on the DHL Express waybill in the VAT number field if available at the time of shipment pickup (this is a 10 digit number).

§ A CRF (Clean Report of Findings/SASO) from an accredited inspection company in the country of origin for certain goods and commodities above $100 USD.

§ A certificate of origin for all items over $13,250 USD or $2,500 USD for Jeddah and Riyadh, certified by the chamber of commerce (or equivalent) in the origin country.

To ensure that your shipments are processed smoothly through customs clearance, it is important that the necessary documentation is provided with your shipment to Saudi Arabia.

Please contact our customer services department if you should require any further information.