'S'pore won't be trojan horse for illegal goods'

'S'pore won't be trojan horse for illegal goods'

Associated Press, Singapore

A top minister said Friday that Singapore's port system - one of the largest transshipment hubs in the world - mustn't become a conduit for the movement of endangered species, weapons of mass destruction or illegal goods.

About 80 percent of the 15 million containers that enter the city-state's port annually are just passing through, and only a fraction of them face security inspection. An increase in global terrorist activity has raised fears that containers could easily conceal weapons or even terrorists themselves.

"We need to ... ensure that Singapore does not become a convenient point for unscrupulous traders to transship illegal goods, such as endangered species, or worse, weapons of mass destruction," said Lee Hsien Loong, the island's finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Environmental groups have claimed that Singapore's lax laws enabled the transshipment of millions of dollars of illegal Indonesian timber last year - a charge the government denies.

Singapore recently merged its customs and immigration departments into the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and placed it under the Ministry of Home Affairs to help tackle terrorist threats with stricter border controls.

Lee, speaking at the launch of the new Singapore Customs department under the ICA, also said the city-state must assure its trading partners that the island will not be used as a "Trojan Horse" for non-Singaporean goods bound for third countries.

Some countries that have signed free-trade agreements (FTA) with Singapore have expressed concern that goods originating elsewhere could gain tariff-free entry by passing through the city-state and gaining Singaporean nationality, Lee said.

"We must assure our FTA partners that not all goods transshipped through Singapore gain tariff-free access into their countries, and that only goods of Singapore origin benefit from the FTA," he said.

Singapore has free-trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Free Trade Association.

"Singapore is not out to short change our partners," Lee said. "There are proper documentation and enforcement systems to ensure that exports from Singapore meet relevant 'Rules-of-Origin' before they are granted Singapore nationality, and become eligible for the benefits of our FTAs. Singapore is therefore no Trojan Horse."

Earlier this month, Singapore and the United States signed a landmark free-trade agreement that - once passed - will wipe out tariffs and other trade barriers on about US$33 billion in annual trade between the two nations.