Please note that most offices in China will be observing the Chinese New Year, also known as the Chinese Spring Festival, beginning this week.

Our offices in China will be closed from February 6th until February 12th - resuming work on February 13th.

This time last year it was possible to call an ocean carrier on Tuesday to book a container for a Friday sailing; however, this is no longer the case. Exports from the USA have dramatically increased over the last several months, which significantly contributes to overbooked vessels and limited equipment availability.

We would like to encourage our customers to arrange their export bookings approximately 4 to 6 weeks in advance. Many carriers are already overbooked and some are booked full until March 2008. Making your bookings in advance allows IFF to locate the proper space and equipment for your shipping needs.

Please contact IFF immediately if you need to make a booking or have any questions regarding this announcement.

Effective January 1, 2008 - the following changes are in effect for Hazardous/Dangerous Goods Declarations:

• The UN number must be preceded by the letters "UN"
• The Proper Shipping Name, including the technical name enclosed in parenthesis, is applicable.
• The primary hazard class or the compatibility group letter is applicable. The words "Class" or "Division" may be included preceding the primary hazard class or division numbers.
• Subsidiary hazard class or division number(s) corresponding to the subsidiary risk label(s) are required and shall be entered following the primary hazard class or division and enclosed in parenthesis.
• Where assigned, the packing group for the substance or article may be preceded by "PG" (e.g. "PG II)
• The five elements of the dangerous goods description specified above shall be shown in the order listed above with no information interspersed, except as provided in the above new declaration requirements

If you are shipping hazmat material or have questions regarding this announcement, please contact your IFF customer service representative.

Here's a picture from our surprise winter weather in January 2008. We don't get snow too often in the Southeast - we even had enough to build a snow man! It was a rare treat for us!