I. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Mr. Richard Biter, USA, Chair of the Intermodal Task Force, and Mr. Kevin Kavanaugh, Canada, Vice-Chair, welcomed the delegates present and asked for introductions and business cards. The attendees included 22 delegates representing 11 APEC member economies: Australia; Canada; Brunei Darussalam; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Papa New Guinea; Republic of Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and the United States.

The Chair reviewed the agenda for the Miyazaki meeting with noted emphasis on the importance of this meeting in setting the future work agenda of the ITF.

In his capacity as Vice-Chair of the ITF, Mr. Kevin Kavanaugh acknowledged that there were a number of new delegates to the ITF. Accordingly, Mr. Kavanaugh provided an historical overview of the Congestion Points Study, the subsequent formation of the Intermodal Task Force in 1997 and the development of High Priority Tasks.

The following updates were given by economy representatives on the status of High Priority Tasks.

Objective #1:

Item: Identify key findings from the Congestion Points Study (1) Canada/Japan

Action: Findings and conclusions pertaining to intermodal transportation consolidated in separate discussion papers on intermodal freight transport (Japan) and intermodal passenger transport (Canada) and distributed to all member economies. Task Completed.

Item: Identify intermodal obstacles and potential solutions (2) Canada/Japan

Action: Final Reports entitled: ¡§Seamless Passenger Flow Survey Results and Recommended Best Practices¡¨; and, ¡§Common Recognition Concerning Intermodal Cargo Transport¡¨ approved at TPT-WG/17 and subsequently posted on TPT-WG web site. Task Completed.

Objective #2:

Item: Establish intermodal pilot project program (3) United States

Action: Several pilot projects have been identified and progress is being monitored, including the Thailand Rail Corridor Efficiency project. At TPT-WG/17, the Plenary approved the final report of the Transportation Shipping Harmonization and Integration Planning Systems (TSHIPS) project. Members were provided CD ROM copies of the report and urged to test the methodology and report back to the ITF on the results of the application. Task Ongoing.

Objective #3

No High Priority tasks identified under this objective.

Objective #4:

Item: Using APEC meetings, conduct forums addressing integrated, intermodal transportation planning (4) United States

Action: Interim meeting held in Vancouver, August 1998 and presentations made and discussions on integrated intermodal transportation planning. TILF funding approved for Intermodal Transportation Symposium which is now scheduled to be held in conjunction with TPT-WG/19 Brunei Darussalam. Task Ongoing.

Objective #5

Item: Create web site to exchange information on best practices and technologies (5) Australia/Canada

Action: Intermodal home page established on the TPT web site. Task Completed.

Objective #6

Item: Identify needed intermodal skills and develop required training programs (6) Canada

Action: Draft Final Report entitled: ¡§Identification of Needed Intermodal Skills and Development of Required Training Programs¡¨ has been submitted for discussion and approval at TPT-WG/18. Member economies are to submit suggestions for future follow-up work proposals to Canada in preparation for TPT-WG19. Task Ongoing.

Item: Organize Third Ministerial Youth Forum to focus on intermodal transportation skills (8) Canada

Action: Member economies agreed that it is desirable to have a Ministerial Youth Forum in conjunction with the forthcoming Ministerial meeting in Peru. However, because of the uncertainty of the Ministerial meeting date and the absence of Peru economy representation at the TPT-WG/18 ITF meeting, no action is being recommended at this time. The ITF encourages the host of future Ministerials to include a youth component. Task Ongoing.

Mr. Bernard Trevanion, Australia, presented a Concept Paper on Identification of Competency Standards for Perishable Goods Handling and Development of Training Programs. This Paper proposed a project that seeks to (1) identify the key skills necessary for efficient and cost-effective supply chain management for perishable goods in the APEC region with special reference to middle-level managers and handlers, and (2) establish a compendium of existing training programs in APEC economies that meet required competency standards for the efficient supply chain management for perishable goods as a basis for the harmonization and accreditation of appropriate training programs.

The ITF supported the Concept Paper and provided Australia with constructive suggestions which will be considered in a revised submission to be presented to the ITF at TPT-WG19.

Mr. Kevin Kavanaugh, Vice Chair of the ITF and project overseer, together with representatives from the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI), University of Denver and the Van Horne Institute, University of Calgary, gave a presentation on the final draft Report entitled: ¡§Identification of Needed Intermodal Skills and Development of Required Training Programs¡¨.

The report outlined the basic core competencies that persons seeking and/or holding positions in the field of intermodal transportation should possess. The basic competencies identified included: Understanding of Ethical Principles, Environmental Analysis, Communications skills, Systems Analysis skills, Knowledge of Computer Applications, Knowledge of Different Modes of Transportation, Managerial skills, Knowledge of technologies, and Knowledge of planning. In addition the report detailed the existence of four basic categories consisting of 32 specific skills needed for successful performance in the field of intermodal transportation. The report also outlined the gaps between the skills needed and the availability of the educational and training programs. The report identified that the largest gaps between needed skills and available educational and training programs were as follows: Identification of legal issues; Ethical analysis; Labor relations; Intermodal computer applications; Intermodal transportation experience; Communication skills, listening, and coalition building skills; Forecasting and futures analysis; and Policy analysis.

Consequently, in terms of intermodal careers, there is still an educational gap for skills needed at the entry level of intermodal transportation, i.e., when people make the leap from traditional modal transportation work to intermodal operations, planning, management, etc. That set of "entry level" (or "foundational") intermodal skills is still in shorter supply than some of the advanced intermodal skills development opportunities.

Following are the major recommendations of the Report: (1) the ITF should look at ways of developing a comprehensive model (template) that would guide the selection, identification, and implementation of needed educational and training programs and activities in various economies. (2) the ITF should continue assessment of the types of training programs offered and their effectiveness. (3) the ITF should analyze mechanisms for delivering these programs, and (4) the ITF should identify one or more economies for a potential pilot project. Such a pilot project would attempt (5) to develop a long-term comprehensive inventory document that delineates the content and sequence of a core body of knowledge that an intermodal transportation professional in any economy would need to master in an integrated and coherent way that could be used by both educational institutions and private concerns in developing appropriate education and training opportunities.

The Report was well received by member economies. It generated much discussion and was generally viewed as an effective tool to be used by APEC economies in developing an Intermodal Training Curriculum.

The ITF agreed to accept the report as Final (subject to an additional eight week time period for member economies to submit [John Mills, Transport Canada: millsjo@tc.gc.ca] additional information and/or corrections) and to submit it to the Plenary for acceptance. The ITF will also work with the APEC Secretariat to have this report printed and available to the public as an APEC publication. Lastly, Canada with the support of Indonesia, Australia, and Singapore, will review the report findings and recommendations, and submit a report to the ITF at TPT-WG19 on proposals for any follow-up actions.

At the 17th meeting of the APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG), the Plenary noted that the Intermodal Task Force (ITF) should consider its future work program at TPT-WG/18 on the basis of a joint discussion paper to be prepared by a subgroup consisting of Australia, Canada, People¡¦s Republic of China and the United States. This paper was prepared and subsequently presented for consideration.

The paper discussed a number of themes, tasks, and initiatives involving intermodal applications that could be undertaken by the ITF. After much positive deliberation it was agreed that the ITF future work program should comprise the following areas:

Harmonization

• Harmonization of Multimodal regulations and standards (including standardization of container sizes)
• Data standards

Technical Applications

• Opportunities for technology applications such as smart cards
• Electronic Commerce
• Demonstration project on end-to-end container tracing and tracking

Intermodal Benefits

• Further development of intermodal project benefit assessment tools
• Intermodal performance measurement and benchmarking in cooperation with the Ports Expert Group. (Monitoring and evaluation)

Passenger and Freight Interfaces

• Passenger concerns including conflicts with freight movement

Air Cargo and Maritime Land Connections

• Air Cargo issues
• Maritime inland connections

Logistics Management and Intermodal Skills Education/Training

• Logistics and supply chain management initiatives
• Training and accreditation

The ITF encourages member economies to look for areas of opportunities within these topics and present proposals to the ITF for consideration at TPT-WG19.

The ITF recognizes that there are many areas or themes that have common points of interest with one or more other working groups within the TPT. To this extent, the ITF welcomes opportunities to work with these other groups in support of a common agenda. During the course of TPT-WG18, the ITF Leadership engaged in joint discussions with the leadership of the ITS and E-Commerce groups and agreed that under the ITS Group leadership, to work with them to develop an end-to-end demonstration project to highlight ITS applications that can be presented at Third Ministerial meeting.

The ITF leadership also met with the leadership of the Maritime Initiative (MI) regarding Australia¡¦s proposal to merge the MI with the ITF. After discussing the issue between the respective leadership and subsequently with the respective group membership, it was mutually agreed that such a merger would not be in the best interest of either the ITF or the MI. Instead, the groups agreed to engage in a joint meeting at TPT-WG19 to discuss areas of mutual interest.

The ITF recommends that the More Competitive Transportation Industry Steering Committee recommend to Plenary:

1. That the Intermodal Transportation Symposium be held in conjunction with TPT-WG/19 Brunei Darussalam.

2. That the report ¡§Identification of Needed Intermodal Skills and Development of Required Training Programs¡¨ be accepted as final (subject to an additional eight week time period for member economies to submit additional information and/or corrections). Canada with the support of Indonesia, Australia, and Singapore, will review the report findings and recommendations, and submit a report to the ITF at TPT-WG19 on proposals for any follow-up actions.

3. To endorse the Concept Paper on Identification of Competency Standards for Perishable Goods Handling and Development of Training Programs which is under consideration of the Steering Committee on Human Resource Development.

4. To endorse the proposed ITF future work program.