Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jun 20, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jun 20, 2005 |
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Logistics
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Shipping Columns - On the move US Customs' Container Security Initiative — Jawaharlal Nehru port to be boxed in first Santanu Sanyal
Once the Declaration of Principles is signed, an office of the US Department of Homeland Security will be set up at the JN port which, complete with the two terminals and a third under construction, is the country's largest container handling port. The throughput was 2.37 million TEUs in 2004-05, up from 2.14 million TEUs in 2003-04. New Delhi had had reservations that CSI, under which US officials are posted in foreign ports, would affect the country's sovereignty. Washington is understood to have assured New Delhi that this would not happen. Washington is also believed to have agreed to consider favourably India's request for allowing posting of its own Customs officials in Ameican ports. There have been seminars and meetings highlighting the benefits of the US-initiated port security control measures. Programmes such as the CSI, the Customs-Trade Partnership Agreement (C-TPAT) and the Megaports Initiative are intended to screen suspicious shipments before they reach the US shores. Under these programmes importers; carriers covering various modes of transportation such as road, rail, inland water transportation, air, third-party logistics service providers, non-vessel owning common carriers, shippers, and their associations; port authorities; terminal operators; freight consolidators; ocean transporters; consultants and every agency involved in a shipment will be set deadlines to upgrade, still voluntarily, their security standards. Interestingly, the US Department's Homeland Security's anti-terror programmes at domestic and foreign ports have come under sharp criticism in the US itself. The port security measures are flawed and the procedures have created vulnerabilities and loopholes for terrorists, according to reports published in Journal of Commerce in the US. The vulnerabilities are due to various reasons including the limitation of the government to conform to prescribed norms within the deadline. An estimated 9,000 US importers have submitted applications for the C-TPAT, but the US Customs verified only around 12 per cent of 5,000 that have been cleared for security. Which means clearances have been granted to thousands of companies without determining whether they have really improved their security arrangements or not. According to one estimate, the US Government has reduced domestic inspections of cargo coming from 36 foreign ports and several thousand importers have been certified under preferential security clearances. Clearly, on many occasions the authorities concerned opted for fast-track approvals, perhaps to minimise the hassles of the extensive security screening process. Various US agencies too are believed to be at unhappy with loggerheads over the port security issue. For example, as has been reported in Traffic World, the Government Accountability Office, which is the chief internal watchdog, has criticised the US Government's Megaports Initiative aimed at equipping foreign ports with radiation detection equipment for failing to make much headway in foreign countries. Under the Megaports Initiative, the US Government's Department of Energy negotiates and pays for the equipment for installation in foreign ports to check nuclear threats before the consignments reach the US shores. In two years, the Department of Energy has spent a huge amount but the programme covered only two ports — one of them being primarily serving passengers. Eventually, the host country is expected to pick up the cost of operating the equipment. But in spite of the apparent benefits to the host country, the programme is meeting resistance. Even the progress in regard to ports identified as high priority by the authorities concerned is believed to be less than satisfactory. One reason for this, of course, is that negotiations take time. Also, there are logistics problems. For example, a suitable location has to be identified for the installation of the sensitive equipment to protect it from the corrosive seawater. According to ABC News, the new drive-through machines being installed at a cost of half a billion dollars cannot detect enriched uranium that poses the biggest threat. CNN has quoted Congressional investigators as saying that at least two of the government programmes designed to prevent terrorists from smuggling weapons of mass destruction into the US are under-performing. Another criticism is that the US Government's excessive reliance on technology and equipment in preference to human resource as the answer to port security. What can technology do in the absence of a dedicated well-trained manpower, ask many. Also, not all Americans are convinced that the US has not overstepped its limits in the name of maritime security. After all, the security measures being prescribed by the US agencies for the host countries are costly to implement as these involve not only installation of expensive equipment but also compliance with various procedures and systems involving extensive training and therefore investments. Who is going to pay for all this? Port security is a complex issue. First, no two ports are alike. Some ports are large and sprawling with port's own facilities interspersed with private facilities thus increasing the difficulty of access control. Some ports are located in or near metropolitan cities and are often intertwined with urban infrastructure. It is almost impossible to work out a comprehensive security scheme that would suit all. Also, crackdown is the last thing to make ports safe.
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