Most of the U.A.E shipping activities are dominated by Rashid Port of Dubai. However among all the small and large ports of Dubai as well as the leading ports of the U.A.E the shipping capacity of Port Rashid is the most efficient. In terms of size Dubai container facilities of Port Rashid is comparatively smaller than the Jebel Port but it is one of the most modern ports. Another advantage enjoyed by Port Rashid is its strategic position.

On the other hand the Jebel Port which is much larger than Port Rashid is popularly known as the Mina Jebel Ali port. The Jebel Ali Port was constructed towards the late seventies and is located approximately thirty five Kilometers towards the south west of Dubai. The harbor here is tagged as the largest man made harbor of the world, with the port being considered as the biggest in the Middle East.

The Jebel Ali Port is the most visited port of the world because of the depth of its harbor and its facilities. If you are into shipping then you can get the best Dubai container facilities here.

Dubai ports have world-class facilities and have been ranked as the 9th Top Container Port of the world. Dubai port world was set up in the year 2005 to manage its ports and has since emerged as the best of the lot in the entire region and has also been able to make its presence felt worldwide. It proved to be a successful corporate integration between Dubai Ports Authority and Dubai Port Internal Terminals and has thus helped augment Dubai container services.

The man made commercial deep water port, Mina Rashid port, provides passenger and Ro-Ro facilities. There is a large dry dock facility in the Persian Gulf which is the only one in the region and is adjacent to the Mina Rashid port.

Any services related to ship and air chartering, ship brokering, project forwarding and heavy lift transportation can be availed from the various Dubai shipping agencies. You can also get self-propelled semi-submersible vessels, tugs, barges, general cargo vessels, landing craft, supply boats etc if the need arises so.

There are professional shipping companies specializing in services like commercial operations, Dubai container services, ship management, ship supplies, agency services etc. There are others who provide carrier feeder services that are linked to trans-shipment ports and they have their own fleet of vessels headquartered in different countries or locations.

Apart from availing ISO tank containers under Dubai container facilities, shipping agencies also offers liner services, vessel husbanding, project cargoes, and freight forwarding including logistics and distribution, cargo services, towage and lighter age, insurance, travel, and general trading covering all the major cities of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan etc.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ramapati_G_Singhania

Shipments which do not comply with Importer Security Filing requirements are subject to a $5,000 penalty per occurrence.

Since January 26, 2009 all ocean cargo bound for the United States are subject to an importer security filing requirement 24 hours prior to loading of the cargo container in the foreign port. This additional cargo information will assist CBP to determine, screen and asses' potential threats risks.

The new 10+2 importer will place the burden of compliance onto the importers and ocean carriers. Obviously this will impact the logistics of your supply chain. The importer will be solely responsible and liable for filing ten data elements in the importer security filing ISF. They may hire a third party (U.S. Customs Broker or Freight Forwarder) having access to U.S. Customs Automated Broker Interface (ABI) or Automated Manifest System (AMS).

A duly authorized Power of Attorney is highly recommended. It is important to know that only Customs Brokers are bound by privacy requirements thru the Code of Federal regulations. For Shipments with a U.S. destination (includes FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) and IT (In-Transit)) the ten data elements required by importers report.

For Transit of Foreign Cargo covering freight remaining on board the vessel (FROB), Immediate Exports (IE) and Transportation and Exportations (T & E), the five data elements required to report.

CBP has allowed a one-year period of "Flexible Enforcement" and thru informed compliance to smooth the learning curve for importers and carriers adapt to the new requirements without the threat of fines. Unfortunately this one year period will be expiring on January 26, 2010. Shipments which do not comply with ISF requirements are subject to a $5,000 penalty per incident.

To prepare for and avoid any potential fines, as a custom broker expert, I strongly suggest that first consult with your custom broker or logistics service provider and consider implementing procedures that specifically address the ISF requirements. Early participation can be a mitigating factor in the future.
There are several ways to accomplished these but make be sure that it is address properly, taking into account the culture of your company.

Finally monitor compliance for ISF requirements. You can request this report from your custom broker or thru CBP's web portal.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francisco_Ramirez

In my recent article about investor protection and financial market size, I emphasized the world's financial system being made up of a cluster of market-based and bank-based financial systems. I reiterated that whilst the U.S. and U.K. financial systems are predominantly market-based, that of Germany and some other European countries are bank-based. Now, whatever system is dominant in a country, market-based and bank-based systems form the main source of financial capital for investors, governments and individuals.

In other words, the interaction and integration of the two systems is what constitutes the financial systems of countries. The extent of their integration has promoted the situation where any failures or setbacks in one system permeate the other system. During the recent economic downturn, the world witnessed initially the failure of the market-based financial system of U.S. which had a spillover into the bank-based and market-based financial systems of the rest of the world. This confirmed the inseparability of market-based and bank-based financial systems and the global nature of the financial system.

Quite recently, there has been much talk about the urgent need to protect investors, customers, markets and banks with regards to both types of financial systems through government intervention. Government intervention is primarily to deal with what is called "agency" problems in finance and economics. Unfortunately, even as immaculate protection of these entities is impossible and unfeasible, inordinate protection can lead to inefficiency of the financial system, or what is called "deadweight" in economics.

Agency problems are inherent of financial system and it is not possible to completely eradicate them. Government regulations may improve transparency in the financial system and help also restore confidence in a country's global competitiveness, but it cannot abate completely the agency problems which emanates from the discrepancy between the management's self-interest and investors or stakeholders interest. Now, the federal government's expansion of power through regulations into the management of a country's financial system in order to deal with agency problems has its ramifications. The regulations may be towards the avoidance of the repeat of the financial meltdown and the rooting of potential "Madoffs"; however, care should be taken to avoid the production of "mechanical" managers and curtailing of "innovative" managers. For the proper functioning and sustainability of the world financial systems, there is the need for strong ethical moral innovative managers and not ethical moral mechanical managers. Ethical moral innovative managers are endowed with unlimited power and they would act in the interest of majority of stakeholders in the presence of external stimuli influence.

Contrarily, mechanical managers are those with limited discretion and who take decisions in response to problems based on an external stimuli or influence. As a matter of fact, mechanical managers do not have the freedom to make decisions that are in conformity with their own interests and that of the investors or stakeholders. Thus, an action plan by governments in the form of regulations should avoid providing a stringent documentation of regulations encompassing what managers, CEOs and those in higher authority should do or not do. This is because it would impede the existing deregulation in the world's financial system.

Most importantly, the regulations should avoid telling the managers what they should do. Such an action plan has the potential proclivity towards the production of mechanical managers. Meanwhile, any government pursuit of extra transparency which is very important in a market-based bank-based systems should be applauded and commended as it would offer an appreciable level of protection for investors, markets, banks and stakeholders in general. The regulations should seek to prevent scandalous activities, promote compensation of managers tied to earnings and stock price methodology whilst preventing socialistic tendencies of government's ultimate interest and control of the systems. Judiciously, the trajectory of government's intervention should be towards transparency, accountability (that is better accounting disclosures) and probity to ensure sound financial practices in an atmosphere of flexibility in financial operations. Anything more than this, infringes on economic or financial freedom of the system.

The days when companies in the financial system paid huge sums to managers, CEOs without regards to earnings and stock prices are over. The future demands ethical moral innovative managers to promote transparency, accountability and probity in the financial system and to prevent a repeat of the meltdown. Now, too much legitimate power from the government can exacerbate the situation by turning innovative managers into mechanical managers. This is prevalent in most socialist and communist countries. These managers can be effective and efficient if they can collaborate with the government on the regulations whilst both parties make conscious effort to avoid the production of mechanical managers. Technically, efficiency and effectiveness is what distinguishes an innovative manager from a mechanical manager. For it is possible to be efficient without being effective and vice versa. By definition, efficiency is a measure of how well or productively resources are used to achieve a goal.

Effectiveness is a measure of the appropriateness of the goals an organizational entity is pursuing and of the degree to which the entity achieves those goals. Mechanical managers may have effectiveness because of complete subjection to governmental control but lack efficiency due to absence of creativity and innovativeness. They may operate under too much of government control and so lack the freedom to be innovative or creative. Such managers cannot reconcile organizational goals with government regulations for efficiency. Consequently, they are not able to use the resources productively to achieve organizational goals. Production of mechanical managers has often resulted in wastage of human or intellectual capital over the years in several countries.

In spite of the efficacy of ethical moral innovative manager's positive impact on a financial system, there are associated negative dimensions. First, the setback in the government's regulations with respect to innovative manager's production is creation of utilitarianism-oriented systems -- a system with principles that advocates for the greatest good of stakeholders -- in that it supports the option that provides the highest degree of satisfaction to stakeholders. Secondly, this principle focuses on the results of our actions and not on how we achieve those results. The fact is that stakeholders have wide ranging needs and values and it is almost impossible to satisfy all these needs and values. If utilitarianism is to hold in this case then these innovative managers may be compelled to engage in unethical behaviors and decisions to attain results that seem ethical to some stakeholders (for example the government and some people of higher authority).

Thus, what is ethical is relative with regards to stakeholders. This is also analogous to a contravention of the "public choice" theory in that the government's interest may not be the interest of the majority of stake holders. If the government seeks to regulate the financial market it would have to enact policies that are not totalitarianism-oriented but somewhere in-between egalitarianism and utilitarianism.

Egalitarianism principles advocate equality among all peoples socially, politically, economically and civil rightly. There are various forms of egalitarianism which includes gender, racial, political, economic, religious and asset-based. However, economic and asset-based egalitarianism would be of prime importance in the financial system. Egalitarianism is hard to achieve now because the economic inequality gap based on Gini coefficient analysis worldwide continues to widen due to the recession. This is also precursory that economic inequality is insurmountable in future. Though utilitarianism is dominant now, the best shot of government intervention is to produce policies that are in between the two principles. Why? Because utilitarianism has failed the system and there is the need for modification. Indeed, the recent financial meltdown is the result of utilitarian principles that have prevailed in the financial system. That is to say governments were focused on the results or positive outcome in the financial system and not on how the results were achieved. Consequently, the "smart" guys in the room took advantage of the situation and produced the worldwide financial mess.

Another underrated defect of government regulations is curtailing of financial innovation. Unfortunately, any unreasonable regulation may also create an incentive for banks or financial sectors or "gurus" to get around the regulation if it is unfavorable for business. They argue that it is financial innovation that has brought products like credit cards, debit cards, CDs, ATMs, internet billing, automatic banking transfers and determination of variable rates for transactions (mortgages, loans e.t.c). Thus, there is the tendency that government regulation that seeks to put a cap on how banks or financial institutions do business with clients would create an incentive for these institutions to act otherwise. These institutions would look for ways to get around it indirectly producing unpleasant financial innovations such as uncalled for penalties, unjustified fee charges and interest rates, bonuses and the likes whilst maintaining or declaring the needed profits. For example, one should not be exasperated if rates on ATM transactions increases as a result of a government regulated financial system.

Another example could be the conversion of fixed rates into variable rates on loans, credit cards, unjustified declaration of bonuses for managers, CEOs based on market oriented explanations. All these are forms of unpleasant financial innovations which is possible under a regulated system. The fact is that the financial institutions are constantly seeking for ways to improve services as well as earn larger profits by lowering the cost of doing business and increasing the returns from their transactions. These institutions assert that they need financial capital to support their huge investments and assets and would try to get around these regulations in order to stay in business and do that.

These developments lead to two questions. Is the world to be worried about regulations? No. Is the world to be worried about the repercussions? Yes. The world is not to be worried about regulations because it would seek to promote transparency, accountability and probity. However, the world is to be worried about the repercussions because of the response of the financial system to the government regulations if the regulations are unfavorable and most importantly infringes immensely on financial freedom and innovation of the system.

In conclusion, the government regulations should seek for transparency, accountability and probity and not an imposition of stringent measures on the financial system. The government should redefine these terms of transparency, accountability and probity for the sector without inhibiting favorable financial innovation or creating an incentive for unpleasant financial innovations. Redefining transparency, accountability and probity should produce a documentation of guidelines and regulations established by consensus. Such redefinition would cause the financial sector to be cautious in their transactions knowing that at the end of the day transparency, accountability and probity would have to be met. There is the tendency for collusion with contention resulting in a situation that forces the two parties into what is called "Nash equilibrium" in economics where there is an incentive for one party to default. In this wise, the documentation should include a frame work that prohibits contention and promotes collusion besides any unwanted spillovers to stakeholders. Let's not forget the proverbial saying that "when two elephants fight, it is the grass and the ground that suffers."



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charles_Ampong

If you don't understand the principles of CE marking, you are inclined to rely on what your suppliers or customers tell you. But is what they say correct? And because you don't you want to trust that the certification route proposed by third party test laboratories or certification bodies is really in your best interest. But are you sure there isn't a faster or more cost effective solution? Do you feel you are driving your company's CE marking project? Or do you feel you are taken for a ride?

For example, do you know the biggest CE certification myth? The one that made a lot of companies waste a lot of money

Let me unravel the biggest myth in CE marking:

Myth: "To get CE marking, products must be tested and certified by a third party certification body".

Huh? What does that mean, "myth"? Does it mean that in CE certification no third party certification body must be involved?

That's right. In almost 90% of the cases, the CE marking regulations allow products to be self-certified for CE marking. In other words, you can do the CE marking yourself and you are not required to have the product certified by a third party certification body. Isn't that amazing? Obviously, CE marking self-certification can save you a lot of time and money.

You haven't read that on the websites of test laboratories and certification bodies, have you?

I didn't think so.

But I do think that you may still have a many questions about CE marking. Questions like:

"How do I do CE self-certification? Which requirements apply? Who is responsible for the CE marking? Where can I find the requirements? How do I conduct the conformity assessment? Where do I register for CE marking? What kind of paperwork do I need to complete and how do I do that? Where do I start and where do I go next?" These questions can make you feel insecure about doing CE self-certification. You may ask yourself if you are qualified to do CE self-certification.

Doesn't certification require a special education or many years of experience?

No, you do not need a special education to do CE certification. And don't forget you and your colleagues have a lot of expertise about your company's products. More than any third party certification body. And with the right tools, the CE marking assessment is not complicated. Let me show you how that works.

First, let's look at what a certification body does. A certification body verifies the compliance of a product by conducting a conformity assessment. It also ensures that the technical documentation sufficiently supports product compliance. And when the certification body is convinced of product compliance, it issues a certificate to confirm this.

In order to be able to give this confirmation, the certification body's assessors not only need to know the product requirements, but they also need to have a thorough understanding how the requirements apply to a great variety of products. Actually, the biggest challenge for a certification body is related to getting and maintaining its expertise for many different products.

With self-certification you don't have that problem

You only have to focus on your products. And while a certification body needs to spend a lot of time learning about your product, you already have that expertise. For that reason you can focus on understanding the requirements that apply to your products, and how you must perform the conformity assessment to ensure product compliance. In other words, you can concentrate on understanding what you need to get CE marking with self-certification.

What do you need to get CE marking with self-certification?

I've identified THE FIVE KEY INGREDIENTS that are essential for success in CE self-certification, but are missing from every CE marking course, books and websites I've checked out.

Very simply, the reason many people don't succeed in CE marking is because they're missing one or more of these key ingredients:

KEY INGREDIENT # 1: Understanding what the CE marking is really all about.

This is where at least 90% of the people who fail in CE marking miss the boat. They spend thousands of dollars and burn countless hours going down dead end streets and blind alleys because they're missing this information. As far as I know, there is no other place to go to get all the content I will share with you.

KEY INGREDIENT # 2: Knowing how to find and pick the right directives and standards.

This is the single most important step in CE certification. Get it wrong and your products may be banned from the European market. And all your effort would be in vain. That is why I will personally help you to determine the applicable directives and standards.

KEY INGREDIENT # 3: Following a path with comprehensive steps that gets you started and leads you to your destination.

KEY INGREDIENT # 4: Getting set up with the right tools

Over half the questions I get from companies have to do with tools, which ones to use and how to use them. I will put the right tools in your hands to get you started and to help you complete the process.

KEY INGREDIENT # 5: Getting access to support

With comprehensive instructions and good tools you can achieve your goals. But there will be times when you'll want to touch base with an expert who will coach you and support you. With my solution that is included.

Do you want to know how I will empower you to do the CE marking certification yourself and save thousands of dollars on certification costs?

Remember, you can continue to burn hours searching on the Internet, only to find information that is fluffy, incomplete and totally scattered. You can choose to trust that the costly services proposed by third party test laboratories and certification bodies are really in your company's best interest.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Han_Zuyderwijk

An international freight forwarder is one of the most valuable assets to any export-import business, and a good one is worth every penny of the price you will pay for their services. It isn't enough to find a product to sell, establish reliable vendors, and maintain a trustworthy payment processing plan. You must also worry about what happens to the products you import and export after the transaction begins. After all, proper freight forwarding is the main link in the chain of a healthy export-import business relationship. If this all-important step is not handled adequately, then the rest of the transaction process breaks down.

So before you decide to take everything on yourself, keep the number of a good international freight forwarder handy and avoid the headaches, hassles, and oversights that can doom your business before it even gets started.

Here are five ways an international freight forwarder can help:

Customs clearance: Red tape is a harsh reality of the export-import business. No matter what product you choose to sell or purchase, there are a different set of rules that you can never be completely sure of if you are also handling marketing, client relations, and fulfillment. International freight forwarders specialize in knowing the specialties. They are aware of any documents that need to be provided, and they are aces at handling the particulars.

Payment transactions: Hopefully, you have reached an appropriate agreement with your vendors and a reputable financial institution who will provide you with a letter of credit for each transaction. Once this has been established, your financial institution will probably require certain forms of documentation, such as a bill of lading, to endorse the transaction. An international freight forwarder can make sure that your documentation will meet the requirements of any reputable financial institution, thus ensuring that you get your money or your product without any hitches.

Insurance: Insurance is an essential part of the transactions that your business takes part in. But where do you possibly begin? You don't want to pay for unnecessary policies, nor do you want to overlook essentials that can keep you protected throughout the process. An international freight forwarder is able to guide you in the right direction to make sure that the coverage you keep is the only coverage that you need on all items and all transactions.

Inventory management: An international freight forwarder is close to your freight. Who better to help you in tracking your inventory? If you do not drop-ship every single item that you sell, then you will inevitably need to keep inventory to ensure a proper, timely transaction. That's where a reputable freight forwarder can help.

Logistics solution: It doesn't matter the risk, nor the rewards, you will always want to keep track of your transactions from the time of shipping to the time of delivery. After all, you want to keep your customer informed, and if you are the customer you want to stay informed. An international freight forwarder can keep you up-to-date on all activity through fulfillment, so that everyone is protected, no matter what.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_W_Chow

Beer industry news and analysis shows that Anheuser-Busch and InBev have merged to promote increased growth. In so doing, according to the InBev press release, they have created the global leader in the beer industry, as well as one of the world's top five consumer product companies. The same document also describes the merger as serving the best interests of all parties involved, both businesses and consumers. Part of the new company's explanation of that claim speaks to one of the above-discussed motivations for mergers and acquisitions: gaining access to new local markets. The company press release is careful to point out that there had been "limited geographic overlap" between the two companies as separate entities. Given the particular details of the Anheuser-InBev merger, this may, in fact, have been an asset in avoiding the government interference that has been identified as the major obstacle to M&A. If the press release is to be trusted, all Anheuser-Busch breweries are to remain open in the United States, where forty per cent of the revenue of the new, integrated company is expected to be generated. There is, therefore, no perceived threat to any segments of the U.S. economy, and concordantly no political resistance within that locality.

More broadly, the merger significantly expands the geographic diversity of each of the companies individually, making it an industry leader in the top five world markets. In China, the presence of each company complements the other, with InBev strong in the southeast of the country and Anheuser-Busch in the northeast. As one company, then, they may be in a position to somewhat circumvent would-be resistance to foreign brands in the Chinese market generally. Also, the ten markets where InBev is the local leader in the beer industry are markets where Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand is weak.

In light of the strongly positive financial expectations for the merger, both generally and in particular markets, it seems very unlikely that there should be any negative impacts on supporting industries, to say the very least. And that is to say nothing of the banking and credit industries that are involved directly in the merger, as opposed to in day-to-day operations. An analysis of the forty-five billion dollars in debt that have financed the transaction, those several financial institutions stand to gain substantially on the large investments they have made in the merger. In that respect, such investments constitute additional illustrations of the affect of M&A within the beer industry on related industries and the economy more generally, one of the key concepts of this study.

Of added significance to the study at hand is the commentary of InBev CEO Carlos Brito, who is quoted at some length in the company press release. He says, in part: "Together, Anheuser-Busch and InBev will be able to accomplish much more than each can on its own. We have been successful business partners for quite some time, and this is the natural next step for us in an increasingly competitive global environment." This seems to strongly imply a sort of near-inevitability of the current merger, for several reasons. Firstly, if the individual companies simply cannot accomplish what the combined company can, that suggests that the eventual merger is the endpoint of the individual development of the original companies, and that they cannot be further streamlined or expanded through internal improvements. This merger, then, presumably results not only from the culmination of those developments, but also the exhausting of possibilities for collaboration of separate entities. Then, perhaps that is so only due to present circumstances, but Brito seems to suggest that those current circumstances are ones of increased global competition, and a greater necessity of high market share and so forth for companies that would continue to increase profit margins and gain in success.

Peter Swinburn succinctly describes a definite element of the current circumstances of the global beer industry, saying that "Consolidation started 10 years ago and probably has 10 more to go before it winds down." He then proceeds to a higher level of detail, identifying ten top brewers, as of 2004/2005 who were vying for dominance, and projecting that as the deals become more large and complex, antitrust issues will get in the way. Swinburn also names the top ten global markets, pointing to China as the largest, followed by the United States, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Africa, and Spain. Knowing that China ranks first, and that it presents very high profit margins for international companies, makes the information about that locality with respect to the InBev/Anheuser-Bush that much more significant. However, Swinburn was, of course, not discussing the industry in terms of that merger but that of his company, Coors, with Molson.

About that particular topic, and the subject of consolidation in the beer industry as a whole, Swinburn seems rather less optimistic than those at the helm of the InBev-Anhueser merger. He does, however, recognize a geographic advantage in his company's merger, in that it secures forty-two percent of the Canadian market. But this was a necessary gain, in his estimation, because Coors had held a quite small share of the United States market. That in mind, Swinburn emphasizes that steps must be taken to give the merged companies a greater global presence. It stands to reason, however, than some of the obstacles to optimism in his case may be these loose ends of development. In that Coors has not improved the efficiency of its brewery or found ways to reduce high distribution costs, it may be argued that the company had not reached the endpoint of lone development that would have M&A the best course toward increased profitability. Of course, as Swinburn does indicate, the access to Molson breweries provided by the merger helps to counteract these problems, but still it can be said that they must ultimately be addressed on their own terms, to truly maximize the company's competitiveness.

And Swinburn makes it clear that being highly competitive and distinctly global is of the utmost importance to players in the beer industry. He states that the overall market for the product is virtually stagnant, but that there are dramatic shifts within the industry, according to competition between particular companies and growth within new local markets. It is in that environment that it is so crucial first to grow a company's efficiency and profitability through all reasonable internal measures, and then to further expand exposure to and engagement with various markets through external growth, as by mergers and acquisitions, or else through horizontal integration, taking up a share of the market for other consumer goods.

In any event, government reaction to fundamental business practices or their particular examples is central to their basic success or failure. Specific such reactions and their consequences will be case-by-case, and many have several potential motivations. Ian Katz writes of the case of the Brazilian merger between Brahma and Antarctica, forming AmBev that the consequences of government treatment of such mergers extend well beyond the Brazilian beer industry, and again beyond issues of supporting industries, touching upon concerns for the very economic future of the country. As he puts it, decisions about the brewing industry, where consolidation is so prominent an issue, can set a precedent for whether Brazil seeks to promote internal competition or allow the formation of large local companies that can withstand foreign companies seeking to gain increased exposure to Brazilian markets.

Katz analysis shows that other segments of the Brazilian economy have seen corporations from the United States and Europe rise dramatically in their markets and readily absorb small local companies. Naturally, there is a strong impulse for similar such acquisitions in the beer industry. These infusions of foreign capital are positive in one sense, but cripple the possibility of strong local owned competitors, not to mention multinationals. If retention of local ownership is considered desirable, consolidation of this sort is the only definite way to accomplish it. As with beer, so with the economy generally.

Katz's use of analysis makes this latter point clear, but he does not address the way in which the promotion of mergers within the beer industry, or other individual industry, with this manner of motivation, can affect the same end in other, supporting industries. Locally owned consumer-goods industries can support locally owned raw-materials industries, particularly if government influence on the matter extends to providing added incentives for mutual support of local industries. Consolidation in the beer industry within an economically developing locality can lead also to consolidation of supporting industries in the same locality as they compete for a larger market share of the dependent industry.

The key point in all this is that, counter-intuitively, government involvement in M&A, under certain circumstances, can contribute positively to consolidation moves, from the perspective of the given companies. This is, however, unlikely, to say the least, in highly developed nation, where multiple companies already maintain a strong local and international presence. In developing situations, however, as in Brazil, there is a definite motivation for foregoing anti-trust regulations. Katz indicates, though, that the reality is that there may be positive or negative consequences of so doing for a given locality. While it may impede foreign competitors, a strong union of local companies could conceivably present a markedly attractive buyout option for even stronger competitors, and thus defeat the very purpose of permitting the merger in the first place. And where one set of consequences is positive and another negative for a given locality, the opposite often applies to foreign competitors. But while government motivations may drastically differ based on applicable socio-economic circumstances, the role and direct consequences of mergers in fundamentally the same in all similar cases.

To both extend the discussion of Brazil and to return to the case of InBev and Anheuser-Busch, it was indeed the case that the merger of Brazilian breweries drew attention from still larger North American companies, when Interbrew sought to merge with AmBev, forming InBev, which became the second largest brewer in the world. At the time, Damien Reece reports, Anheuser-Busch was also expected to make an offer. The rapidity of these developments and the numerous layers of them should do well to demonstrate the dynamic nature of the global beer industry in recent years. But Reece continues in the report that Anheuser-Busch, at the time of the AmBev-Interbrew merger, was taking "a highly conservative approach to mergers, especially outside its domestic boundaries." Speculation only about the merger between the two players then clearly expressing interest, however, was sufficient to drive up stocks of each of the other large brewers by two to three percent, reflecting the increasing market share and profit margins that come with consolidation just in the industry itself.

The reasons for and consequences of Anheuser-Busch's resistance to mergers at the time ostensibly warrants some speculation. Considering the above implications of Carlos Brito's comments about the most recent merger, there is some cause to believe that Anheuser-Busch was then aware of being at a point in its development that was fundamentally inwardly-focused, and that the company was decidedly seeking to maximize the market share of its own independent company and increasing its sales, efficiency, and profits within its own market before broadly considering the option of mergers. On this supposition, it was fine management on the part of the Anheuser-Busch company, in that it fully recognized the ideal circumstances of an effective and fully warranted merger of large companies. That assessment is presumably supported by the reality of where Anheuser-Busch stands at present, in the midst of merging with another strongly leading company in the industry, which has already benefited from a reasonably long series of mergers, while not dramatically over taking the more lone-wolf company. On the other hand, perhaps Anheuser-Busch ought to be subject to some criticism, if it can be said that it has not entered negotiation over the current merger in the strongest position, and that that is the fault of its prior resistance to undertaking mergers pro-actively.

That is not to suggest that there are no negative consequences of mergers of such type, the avoiding of which is laudable. That is always the case, though the business implications of harm affected on local communities and the like are not frequently significant to financial or other business considerations. Fred O. Williams speculates about some of the potential consequences for the local Buffalo, NY area, and for the nation more broadly, both being accustomed to the independent, U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch. He is cautiously optimistic that the newly integrated company will not change much in the U.S., noting that they plan to keep all current breweries up and running. He does, however, levy some concerns that the more specific locality's headquarters could be under threat from the transition, along with not only its handful of jobs, but also the marketing and sponsorship within the region that had consistently grown out of that central corporate presence. The broader concern, however, is the potential for an across-the-board increase in beer prices, as competition decreases with consolidation. In almost the same breath, though, Williams repeats the companies' claims that the geographic separation between the two companies will strongly mitigate concerns about the significance of such a change for consumers.

Elsewhere, though, there are consequences that are less speculative. The Cuban market, Vito Echevarria, points out, is a legal issue for the merger between the European In-Bev and Anheuser-Busch, with its headquarters in America, which has strong trade restrictions on Cuba. Therefore, "a merged business based in the U.S. would be legally unable to manage its holdings in Cuba." InBev is expected to cease operations in Cuba to avoid those issues, and it notes that Cuba counts for less than half of one percent of overall volume. This does not translate to similar figures from Cuba's perspective, though, in which InBev employs 570 full-time workers and forty-four percent of the market share of beer sales. This has obvious consequences for the sensitive Cuban economy. Less obviously, InBev's retreat from Cuba will leave a vacuum, which might be filled by another foreign, and non-U.S. based company, or by a consolidated local company. In any event, this is a rare instance in which consolidation may lead directly to a weakening of consolidation elsewhere, and broader global restructuring may follow.

John Halasz is a former writing teacher and currently a professional writer and internet marketer. He has written SEO articles and ghostwritten novels, books, and scholarly articles.

A Canisius College graduate, he went on to the University of Buffalo for his teaching certificate in English writing, earning a 3.934 GPA before going on to teach in Brooklyn, NY.



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