HONG KONG OFFICIALS TO VISIT CONTAINER SECURITY INITIATIVE PILOT PORTS

HONG KONG OFFICIALS TO VISIT CONTAINER SECURITY INITIATIVE PILOT PORTS    A delegation from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regional Government this week is visiting a few container ports that are implementing U.S. Customs' Container Security Initiative.
   The delegation is visiting the port of Newark and the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Montreal through Wednesday.
   A U.S. delegation met with officials from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) in early June to discuss implementing a CIS pilot run in Hong Kong.
   An official with the Commerce and Industry Bureau of the HKSARG said that, in considering whether to participate in CSI, Hong Kong must 'balance the security benefits against a host of factors, such as impact on trade, practicability, as well as impact on port efficiency and competitiveness. We need to carefully consider these issues, and would like to see how the pilot run actually operates on the ground before taking any further steps,' the official said.
   The Hong Kong delegation is led by Lawrence S.P. Wong, assistant commissioner of Customs and Excise, and includes representatives from CIB, Economic Services Bureau and Trade and Industry Department.
   Hong Kong and U.S. officials 'will not hold substantive policy discussions during the visit,' the CIB spokesman said.