COMMERCE URGES TRANSSHIPMENT COUNTRIES TO INCREASE SECURITY

COMMERCE URGES TRANSSHIPMENT COUNTRIES TO INCREASE SECURITY    A senior U.S. Commerce Department officials urged representatives of the world’s freight transshipment hubs to increase security.
   “In today’s world, the public will have no tolerance for the country, hub port, or company that facilitates or allows, even unwittingly, the shipment of an item that enables the next attack on civilians or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” said Karan Bhatia, deputy undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, at a Southeast Asian conference on trade security in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday.
   In attendance at the conference, sponsored by the Thai government, were representatives from the U.S. Commerce and State departments and U.S. Customs. The conference also included government and industry representatives from every major transshipment hub in Asia Pacific.
   Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (formerly the Bureau of Export Administration) began to focus its overseas export monitoring and enforcement efforts on major transshipment hubs earlier this year. The bureau is responsible for monitoring exports of so-called dual-use items — those items that can be used for both commercial and military purposes.
   The bureau recently launched the Transshipment Country Export Control Initiative. The initiative includes two components:
   * Work with foreign government export regulators in key transshipment hubs to strengthen their export control regimes and better enforce U.S. regulations.
   * Work with transportation providers to enlist their support to prevent illicit shipments.
   “We look forward to making real progress and achieving real goals in tackling this problem jointly, cooperatively, and on an international basis,” Bhatia said.