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SECURITY MEASURES MUST ADDRESS NEEDS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
| Date: |
Spring 2004 |
| Author: |
Dora Kay, President, TIACA |
| Source: |
TIACA Times |
As this newsletter goes to press, TIACA representatives are preparing to deliver a call to action at the Twelfth Session of ICAO’s Facilitation Division in Cairo, Egypt. In its working paper, TIACA strongly urges ICAO to take a leadership role in establishing a modern air cargo security regime that takes into account the economic impact on developing countries while meeting the challenges posed by contemporary threats to civil aviation. It is an important and challenging role in light of the fact that there has been very little time, in normal regulatory terms, for a global security strategy or legislative structure to develop from and around the powerful initiative taken by the US, EU and other major economic and political entities. Nevertheless, a call to action is necessary in order to prevent unilateral decisions made by a few from impinging on the very mechanisms developing countries rely upon to bolster economic growth.
In order to understand the effect these air cargo security initiatives have on economic development, one must first understand the nature of air cargo-based development. The four most dynamic elements in air cargo-based development are:
enabling underdeveloped countries to participate in global market operations;
opening new markets for high-value fruit, vegetable and flower exports;
ensuring timely, reliable supply of plant construction items and spare parts; and
collecting and delivering urgent documents and very high value exports by way of express delivery.
Global Market Operations
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, over one third of world trade consists of raw materials, components, semi processed and processed goods moving within an integrated international supply, manufacturing and distribution chain controlled by a relatively small number of multinational companies. These companies establish operations, and hence production capacities, in countries where education levels, labor availability and wage levels come together in the right commercial combination. Often, the viability of these operations hinges on an ability to sustain reliable and fast “just-in-time” deliveries throughout the chain. This often entails a complex sequence of import/export transactions. Although the impact of transport services on these operations varies from country to country and from sector to sector, the need for well-managed multi-modal air/road cargo services and skilled forwarding and Customs agency resources is essential.
Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers
Once rarities found only in small quantities, fresh out-of-season fruits, vegetables and exotic flowers can now be found on the shelves of every supermarket in Western Europe and the US at a relatively low cost. Well–managed air transport, backed by expert forwarding, ground handling and Customs agency services, has enabled enterprising growers from a broader cross-section of developing countries to sidestep delays and costly refrigerated surface transport to exploit their climatic and other natural advantages.
Two such success stories can be found in Peru, which has become the world’s leading exporter of asparagus, and Israel, which routinely supplies freshly cut flowers to Europe.
Plant Construction and Maintenance
Russia, and newly independent states in East Europe and the Caucasus are focusing development strategies on major energy resources, especially oil and natural gas. (A similar scenario is taking place in other parts of the developing world as well). Clearly it is important to bring installations on-line quickly but in an orderly manner. Once in place these installations generate frequent, unpredictable and urgent needs for spare or replacement parts. In such instances, specialized air cargo delivery services are indispensable.
Express Delivery
Despite the massive shift from paper to electronic communication, many commercial and official sectors in the most developed countries still depend on the timely availability of paper documents. This type of cargo is naturally well suited to the enhanced commercial and operational security provisions and practices that have been a unique feature of integrated delivery services for many years. Businesses of all sizes, in all developing countries need the reliability, security and rapidity provided by these premium express services if they are to integrate and compete in the global economy.
The Impact of Anti-Terrorist Security Measures
The air cargo-based development elements outlined above are under threat of being stymied by current security requirements. Anti-terrorist security measures
are affecting trade development on two fronts:
via the direct and now well-defined set of border management controls imposed by the US, EU and a number of other major trading countries on almost all import and some export transactions; and
via related global security principles, practices and standards negotiated in and eventually adopted by inter-governmental organizations.
Some of the more obvious burdens of these requirements are:
demands for more control data;
a major shift in where control data is collected from arrival of goods at import to a stipulated stage in the transaction prior to export;
a call for new aids to origin-destination tracking and tracing;
enforced use of scanning and other technical aids as alternatives to physical inspection;
imposition of varying delays on certain categories of consignment or on consignments in the hands of certain categories of trader/agents;
strong official pressures behind voluntary cooperative arrangements such as the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) systems for traders and the Container Security Initiative (CSI) arrangement with ports; and
special restrictions on food imports introduced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Less obvious is that some of these requirements are being applied in a manner that is counter to established facilitation practice and are all the more difficult to question or oppose because they are largely unwritten and unacknowledged. Such skewed application includes:
a retreat from effective risk management records based on trader compliance records and intelligence, to a relatively undiscriminating consignment-by-consignment assessment;
collection of enormous quantities of cargo information without certainty that even the most developed economies have the systems capacity to effectively handle the data;
a push to achieve better origin-destination control by requiring transport handling intermediaries to supply detailed information about consignments that normally is not given to them;
tentative moves to focus procedures within “secure” origin-destination supply chains that are dependent on intensive Custom-to-Customs mutual cooperation. This could effectively exclude merchandise from developing countries that might not be viewed as a viable partner because of lower Customs efficiency standards or a lack of IT expertise and/or equipment.
Taken in combination, these security elements and requirements could have a direct adverse effect on the trading competitiveness of numerous developing countries.
What can be done about this situation? First, international initiatives need to recognize, examine and redress the burden anti-terrorist regulations place on developing countries. From an institutional standpoint, it would be highly beneficial if the World Bank could adjust its widening range of facilitation and trade promotion projects to take account of the large and growing role of air cargo in development activities outlined above.
In addition, the World Trade Organization should be encouraged to expand its thoughts and negotiations beyond Customs reform and consider the effects of the new border management regimes on world trade in general, and on developing countries in particular.
Likewise, the WCO’s Security Task Force could be encouraged to express a broad view on the aspects of the security measures that affect its developing country members.
TIACA believes this falls squarely within the ICAO remit and urges the organization to take a leadership role in establishing a modern security regime for air cargo which takes into account the economic impact on the industry. Only then will the needs of developing countries be addressed within the context of discovering how best to meet the security threats that strike at the heart of our industry.
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