Senior executives from leading global shipping companies and industry groups recently met World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to discuss the growing operational and economic challenges to global goods trade.
While global supply chains have demonstrated resilience, they pointed out, efforts to identify and rely on alternative maritime routes amid disruptions particularly in the Gulf region and other chokepoints are driving up costs for shippers and ultimately for consumers.
With some alternative land-based routes and ports already saturated, the representatives explained, shifting cargo away from maritime routes presents significant limitations and imposes increasing costs. For example, it can take around 70 freight trains to match the capacity of a single container ship.
Given that it carries over 80% of global trade by volume, Director-General Okonjo-Iweala emphasised the critical role of maritime transport and called for strengthened co-operation between governments and the private sector.
Industry representatives also highlighted operational bottlenecks, including customs delays linked to multimodal logistics and the use of alternative corridors.
In response, the Director-General stressed the importance of full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and other facilitation measures, such as digitalisation of customs procedures, timely information-sharing and restraint in the use of trade restrictions to support supply chain resilience and stability.
