CEVA in strategic alliance with IMS Worldwide for FTZ services in the USA

June 04, 2018: Supply chain giant CEVA Global Logistics has entered into a strategic alliance with IMS Worldwide (IMSW) to offer the benefits of Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) services to customers in the USA.

In addition to this, the partnership allows alliance to offer cutting edge e-commerce solutions and further expand the footprint in air cargo forwarding.

As part of this deal, the focus is on the development of a sophisticated Zone Managed Services offering that is rooted in compliance, efficiency and experience.

Based on an in-depth analysis of the customers’ supply chains, CEVA and IMSW can offer to integrate certain activities into FTZ environments and therefore achieve improved efficiency and substantial savings in terms of duties or import fee reductions as well as cash flow improvements through reductions in working capital.

The combined collaborative alliance with CEVA and IMSW, a leader in the FTZ consulting and operations in the US, allows CEVA to enhance, grow and expand their current FTZ offerings to all of their Ocean and Air gateways in North America as well as utilise their extensive Contract Logistics expertise and footprint to offer further benefits to their customers within the FTZ.

Jerome Lorrain, CEVA’s chief operating officer for Global Freight Management said: “Our continuing effort to streamline our customers’ supply chains, squeezing every bit of costs out of the logistics process, is greatly aided by this alliance with IMSW, which is considered one of the top FTZ experts in the country. We have worked with them for over 12 years now, and a stronger, more integrated approach is going to be a great addition to our import and contract logistics operations.”

Trey Boring, senior vice president of IMSW, and past chairman of the NAFTZ Association, which represents the FTZ industry commented: “We are excited about this Alliance as IMSW has been looking for the right partner to grow our current Managed Services business, and CEVA has great reach into Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Together we feel this combination is second to none in the industry.”

The FTZ programme started in the US in 1934 and is in use across all states, particularly at large gateway points such as Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, El Paso and New Jersey, etc. An FTZ allows federal taxes and fees to be lowered, eliminated or even exempted from payment.