20 May 2004

Trade says Customs should regulate security

The following article is excerpted from the 19 May 2004 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”.

Customs & Border Protection should incorporate security into its trade compliance regulations, said William G. Peck, president of Global Trade Management Solutions.

"I don't see why it can't be implemented," he said in response to a question about the balance between trade facilitation and security. "I don't see any push-back" from the trade community….

Raymond McGuire, director of international services for Saks Fifth Avenue, said shippers are aware of the need to incorporate security into their internal regulatory compliance procedures.

Rennie Alston, senior vice president of American River International, a consulting and customs brokerage firm, agreed. …

Peck said the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism has helped participating companies become more efficient by forcing them to take a closer look at their operations. But from a security standpoint, it has had limited effectiveness because the program is voluntary and does not set specific standards. Another shortcoming with the program is that Customs has not targeted small importers. Alston, however, said there could be just as many problems with big importers because terrorists could probe for weaknesses in their supply chains, leaving the country vulnerable to attack.

Peck also warned that companies could become complacent once they are accepted into C-TPAT. "We have to guard against security fatigue," he said.

Jurgen Sorgenfrei, chairman of the Port of Hamburg Marketing Association, said that the port (schedules) has built a 3,000-square-meter x-ray facility capable of handling trucks 19 meters long. However, the facility can only screen 16,000 containers a year.

Hamburg, now the world's ninth largest container port, handled 6.1 million TEUs last year, and will be fully compliant with the UN's International Ship and Port Facility Security Code by the July 1 implementation deadline.

McGuire cautioned that government agencies and the private sector must be constantly vigilant to potential new avenues of attack. "Terrorists are like hackers," he said. "They're always looking for new methods of entry."