DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FACE DIFFICULTIES MEETING CARGO SECURITY

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FACE DIFFICULTIES MEETING CARGO SECURITY    While the industrialized countries race to improve their international supply chain security, developing countries fear they will suffer additional economic setbacks.
   The World Customs Organization wants to slow the increasing economic divide between industrialized and developing countries by creating programs that help developing countries meet new cargo security requirements of the industrialized markets.
   “We need to have a blueprint for what’s a secure port,” said Michel Danet, secretary general for the WCO. “We’re at the beginning of that.”
   Danet, in particular, is concerned about the inability of developing country customs administrations to meet the qualifications to participate in programs, such as the U.S. Customs’ Container Security Initiative, without help from national governments, donor organizations and the private sector.
   The Container Security Initiative, which was launched by U.S. Customs early last year, requires bilateral agreements with other governments to target high-risk containers in overseas seaports before they’re loaded on U.S.-bound vessels. A CSI partner nation must have well-established customs cargo controls and the ability to scan containerized cargo with non-intrusive inspection equipment. So far, more than a dozen European and Asian countries have agreed to participate, accounting for nearly 20 of the world’s top container ports.
   Realizing the concerns that developing countries have about CSI and similar programs, the WCO started a study to ensure that these emerging economies aren’t left out of the security equation, a process known as “capacity building.” The study received impetus from the World Trade Organization’s Doha Declaration, which stated that security should not hinder the flow of legitimate trade.
   To create its capacity building strategy, the WCO asked for input from representatives of the WTO, World Bank, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and other donors, as well as the private sector. (The OECD estimates that post-Sept. 11, 2001 security initiatives have added about $75 billion to the cost of trade.)
   The WCO believes that capacity building opportunities for developing country customs administrations could come in the form of working together as regional and sub-regional blocs to share resources to fight terrorism and other related crimes. There are even plans to initiate cargo security pilots in Africa’s key container ports.
   The WCO’s capacity building initiative received a boost on Feb. 10, when the World Bank agreed to prepare an “orientation document” with the organization on security and trade facilitation in developing countries.
   “There is in fact a need to do some deeper research at the global level,” said Gerald Ollivier, transport specialist for the World Bank. He said it was “premature,” however to comment on the economic impact of CSI on developing countries.