Hong Kong shippers see no tradeoff in transport security

Hong Kong shippers see no tradeoff in transport security    The Hong Kong Shippers’ Council said Chinese shippers are bearing increasing costs and more restrictive procedures due to transport security rules, but see no benefit from expedited clearance in the United States.
   “Nobody dares say ‘no’ after 9/11 … but I think it’s time for the authorities and the industry to spell out the benefits,” said Sunny Ho, executive director of the Hong Kong council, referring to the new security regulations. “Honestly, there are a lot of additional costs.”
   Hong Kong “suffered substantially” after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection imposed the 24-hour advanced manifest rule on U.S.-bound maritime shipments, Ho said. Whereas most transpacific carriers had a Sunday “cutoff day” for shipments from Hong Kong to North America, this has been brought forward by about two days, he said.
   “This has been taken out of the production cycle in order to meet this requirement,” Ho said. “Then you see the costs in terms of inventory, in terms of capital costs.” In addition, ocean carriers have introduced additional fees to cover costs for processing manifests 24 hours before the ship sails. Shipping lines are also charging $3 for each correction to shipment details notified by shippers.
   “The benefit is said to be express clearance at destination ports,” Ho said. “However, we have not seen benefits.”
   He conceded it’s often difficult to assess the speed of customs clearance at destination because of port congestion. He cited last year’s congestion at U.S. West Coast and some European ports during the peak season.
   The latest worry for the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council is the prospect that shippers will be asked to pay new surcharges for port security introduced by ports. Terminal operators in Hong Kong are planning to charge HK$50 ($6.41) ocean carriers per deep-sea container or HK$20 ($2.56) per intra-Asia container, effective May 1, to pay for the cost of complying with the International Ship and Port Security Code. Mainland ports in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, have reportedly started charging RMB50 ($6.04) per box to cover port security.
   The Hong Kong Shippers’ Council believes that maintaining port security is part of the business of ports and should not be used as a justification for a surcharge. “There is no reason for a new charge,” Ho insisted.
   “If any surcharge is introduced, we say that terminal operators have to justify the costs,” Ho said. “Most of the investments, I would say, would be only one-off,” he added, citing purchases such as gamma-ray scanning machines.
   “We’re already facing a long list of charges,” Ho said.
   Asked about the recent bill of the U.S. Senate promoting the use of “smart” containers fitted with electronic seals, the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council also expressed reservations. “Imagine how many containers are moving around the world … how much expense you would have to pay,” Ho said. “It’s not easy to have a global standard.”
   “People will be skeptical about the technology, and about which country or companies will benefit the most” from such initiatives, he added. Ho noted that the gamma-ray technology is owned by the U.S.