WCO sees SAFE cargo standards progress

WCO sees SAFE cargo standards progress    Countries are making steady progress towards implementing the World Customs Organization's international guidelines for supply chain security, said Gareth Lewis, a technical officer at the Brussels-based body, at a customs forum in Seattle early last month.
   A survey commissioned by the WCO and conducted by U.K.-based Crown Agents found that 45 percent of 29 sample nations reviewed had nearly completed steps to implement the SAFE Framework's information technology component for security and trade facilitation standards. Among the 29 countries are the top 10 exporters to the United States, which has led the charge since 9/11 to push security processes overseas prior to cargo departure rather than at time of import.
   SAFE, which went into effect in 2005, is an effort by customs administrations to harmonize the collection and use of advance, electronic cargo information, implement consistent risk management techniques for identifying ocean containers with suspect histories, and use high-tech equipment to inspect high-risk boxes prior to export.
   Two countries so far have fully deployed an advanced cargo information system, Lewis said.
   Thirty-one percent of the countries surveyed are well underway towards completing their electronic cargo and targeting systems and five countries, or 17 percent, are still in the early stage of development.
   'Based on the results of the most important trading countries to the United States, advance data on cargo is being received,' Lewis said. ' Eric Kulisch