US security law could hit poor countries

Dubai: Poor countries may lose exports to the US if Congress passes a bill requiring other countries to screen every America-bound cargo container, shipping industry experts said.

A disorder may also follow in world shipping if other countries start imitating US-style port security measures.

"I am curious as to what the US ports are going to do if other countries require them to inspect every container before it is ship-ped to Dubai, Europe or Asia," said Britain-based shipping analyst Fred Doll, reacting to the proposed bill that would require foreign ports to screen every container on US-bound ships.

"From a theoretical point of view, if it is a good idea for the US to require containers to be inspected then it is a good idea for other countries to require it too," Doll said.

Smooth flow

Big port managers and rich countries may eventually find ways to follow new US-imposed security rules in order to ensure smooth flow of commerce.

However, the results may be serious for poor countries that want to export goods to America but may not have enough money to invest in new security equipment, said Neil Davidson, a container port expert at Drewry Shipping Consultants in London.

"There will be some winners and losers. More likely wealthy countries that can afford to make this happen would benefit at the expense of poorer countries," Davidson said.

Since the September 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington, Americans fear they could become a target of a nuclear or chemical weapon that terrorists might smuggle into the US in a container.

Washington has already deployed its Customs agents at several key foreign ports to selectively examine high-risk containers before they are loaded onto ships sailing for the US.

It has roped in several strategically-located ports across the world into the US 'Container Security Initiative (CSI)'.

The initiative launched in 2002 has been adopted by major container terminal operators like DP World, APM Terminals, PSA and Hutchison Whampoa.

The US Customs inspectors are armed with radiation monitors, chemical detectors and other equipment to check for dangerous cargo. But this measure is not seen as an obstacle to trade because it focuses only on suspicious containers without calling for every box to be screened.

"That initiative is in place and working well. It seems to be an effective system," Davidson said, adding that the focus of increased security should be risk assessment and intelligence.

Opposition: Brussels attacks plan to scan vessels

A US plan to have all shipping containers scanned for security reasons would disrupt trade without diminishing the terrorist threat, the European Union said on Thursday.

In a strongly worded statement, L¡szl Kov¡cs, the European customs commissioner, said the unilateral action would force Europe's taxpayers to foot the bill for US security.

Kov¡cs said: "Experts on both sides of the Atlantic have already considered this measure to be of no real benefit when it comes to improving security while it would disrupt trade and cost legitimate EU and US businesses a lot of time and money." The Congress passed the bill last week.

While EU ports would suffer, Asia would be worse off. Giant hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong deal with tens of thousands of containers daily.

While 1.8 million containers were sent from Europe to the US in 2006, according to London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants, there were 13.7 million from Asia.

Kov¡cs said the US had acted unilaterally before co-operation between the two blocs had been tried. "I also regret that the USA did not await the results of the pilot actions that the EU and US customs are about to launch before pressing ahead with this piece of legislation."

- Reuters