INDUSTRY GROUPS POINT OUT HOUSE MARITIME SECURITY BILL’s ?FATAL FLAW?

INDUSTRY GROUPS POINT OUT HOUSE MARITIME SECURITY BILLÆS ôFATAL FLAWö    Ten U.S. shipping industry groups want Congress and the Bush administration to ensure that the Customs Service remains at the center of gathering and managing cargo security information for the government.
   Proposed House maritime security legislation, H.R. 3983, would require the Transportation Department to administer customs-related security data collection. The industry groups called this approach “a fatal flaw.”
   “With due respect, we maintain that DOT has neither the resources nor the experience in managing such sophisticated systems,” the industry groups said in similarly worded letters Tuesday to House Majority Leader Richard Armey, R-Texas, and Tom Ridge, director of the White House’s Office of Homeland Security. “It completely ignores the important role that Customs plays in homeland security.”
   The industry groups also pointed out that Customs has already been awarded $1.5 billion over the next four years to build a new computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment.
   The industry groups, which signed the letters, are the Agriculture Ocean Transportation Coalition, American Apparel & Footwear Association, International Association of NVOCCs, International Mass Retail Association, Joint Industry Group, National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, National Retail Federation, Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carriers-Government Affairs Conference, U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel, and West Coast Waterfront Coalition.
   H.R. 3983 is expected to come to the House floor through suspension calendar.