SHIPPERS URGED TO CREATE SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY MANAGEMENT POSITION

SHIPPERS URGED TO CREATE SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY MANAGEMENT POSITION    To better protect their operations from terrorism and other criminal activities, shippers are being urged by international customs and trade groups to establish supply chain security officers in their firms.
   This new managerial position is needed to protect the “integrity” of the shippers’ products from the source of raw materials to the delivery of the finished product, said Fermin Cuza, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce’s committee on customs and trade regulations, at a World Customs Organization meeting in Brussels Thursday.
   “We can’t take a backseat to customs” in creating security programs, Cuza said. “We are the experts where the best security can be achieved.”
   Cuza recommended that the shipping industry, in cooperation with customs agencies, develop an ISO security standard to promote “best practices” in cargo security. The concept could be promoted similarly to the Business Anti-Smuggling Coalition’s security initiatives.
   Customs agencies believe the ISO security standard proposal deserves attention. “It would give us a higher level of confidence” in a shipper’s activities, said Douglas Browning, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs’ Office of Rulings and Regulations. “It would help customs agencies in the risk analysis process.”