APEC ANNOUNCES REGIONAL CARGO SECURITY EFFORT

APEC ANNOUNCES REGIONAL CARGO SECURITY EFFORT    Members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation have endorsed a plan to enhance cargo security in the region.
   Earlier this year, the U.S. government proposed that APEC address cargo and vessel security. The so-called “Secure Trade in the APEC Region” or STAR initiative, which was announced over the weekend, will protect cargo by:
   * Identifying and examining high-risk containers, assuring in-transit integrity, and providing advance electronic information on containers to customs administrations, port authorities and shipping officials as early as possible in the supply chain.
   * Implementing by 2005 common electronic customs reporting standards.
   * Promoting private-sector adoption of higher standards for supply chain security.
   For vessels, the STAR initiative will:
   * Promote ship and port security plans by July 2004 and installation of automatic identification systems on certain ships by December 2004.
   * Cooperation to fight piracy in the region.
   “I understand that this initiative may challenge the resources of some of the economies in the APEC region,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta at an APEC press conference in Los Cabos, Mexico last week. “However, a failure to act will cost even more — not only in potential lives lost, but in business lost from people who cut back on their travel, as well as in goods that cannot be shipped.”
   “I ask the members of APEC to join our lead and solidify what many in the international community have undertaken,” he added. “And we need to move swiftly to expedite this initiative because, as we all know, terrorists will not wait for us to be ready before they attack again.”