Asian shippers warned not to compromise on security
Asian shippers warned not to compromise on security
Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia urged Asian shipping lines Monday not to compromise
on security measures amid growing terrorist threats and said it
would cooperate with the United States on container security.
"Shipping lines are now being compelled to take a relook at
the way cargoes are loaded or what cargoes are carried, where,
why and how," said Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik, opening a
two-day Asia Maritime and Logistics Conference here.
"There is also the need to review documents that accompany the
cargo. The search for greater maritime safety and security
demands a firm hand and quick decisions and there can be no
compromise on this," Ling said.
He told reporters later that Malaysia was negotiating for U.S.
customs agents to check U.S.-bound consignments for terrorist
material at its ports under the U.S. Container Security
Initiative (CSI).
"We are still having talks but there is tremendous cooperation
from the Malaysian authorities because we see it as something we
ought to do to allow our friends to know that ours is a safe
port. There is nothing to hide," he said.
Ling said U.S. officials would only conduct "very selective
risk assessment" and the move would not slow down trade.
"We have the latest scanning equipment to scan boxes in almost
no time, and therefore, it will not be an impediment to trade.
That is the prerequisite, it should not slow down trade."
The southern Port of Tanjung Pelepas, one of Malaysia's main
ports, had also approached U.S. authorities to participate in the
initiative.
The U.S. customs acting Southeast Asian attache Peter Darvas,
based in SIngapore, said high-level meetings would be held over
the next two months to finalise details.
In Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan have joined the CSI --
an anti-terrorism plan involving pre-screening and identifying
high-risk containers carrying US-bound cargo -- along with the
Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, he told AFP.
Darvas later told the conference that some U.S. congressmen
have called for a check on all six million cargo containers
entering U.S. seaports each year but this would be "wasteful,
make no sense" and disrupt trade.
He urged the region to cooperate in providing timely and
accurate information on the cargoes.
"Combating terrorism is the number one priority of U.S. custom
service and will be our number one priority in the foreseeable
future because the terrorist threat is real and ongoing," he
added.
Shippers earlier told the conference that operating costs had
risen due to higher war-risk insurance premiums following the
Oct. 6 explosion aboard a French supertanker off the Yemeni coast
and a looming U.S.-Iraq war.
Malaysian International Shipping Corp. chief executive Mohamad
Ali Yasin said all shipping firms have been hit by a doubling of
cargo insurance premiums to 0.04 percent while bunker prices have
also soared.
"It's a very volatile period that we are in," said F. Jacobs,
president and chief executive of shipping giant APL-NOL, adding
that there was a need now for firms to "reevaluate safety
standards."
Ling told reporters a U.S.-Iraq war would be devastating for
the industry, with insurance costs surging and additional costs
for shippers having to detour around the Middle East.
"We don't want to be alarmist about this and we still hope
that good sense will prevail," he said.
On the Yemen incident and the terror bomb blast in Indonesia's
Bali island late Saturday, Ling said the Malaysian government had
already put in place tight security measures.