U.S. Port Security Hurting Freight Forwarding Firms

Dubai: America's obsession with security, especially a 100 percent screening of containers, is "a bit of a joke", a top official of the global freight association said yesterday.

"If we all have at heart to make the logistic supply chain as safe as possible, we surely cannot cope with some of the latest rules and regulations that some government wants to introduce," Jean-Claude Delen, executive vice-president of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (Fiata - the French abbreviation of Federation Internationale des Associations de Transitaires et Assimils), told delegates at the Fiata World Congress 2007, which kicked off in Dubai yesterday.

"It is clear that the 100 per cent container screening looks like a joke, and will not achieve the purpose," Delen said.

"Some will argue," he said, "that screening does not mean scanning, but we understand a restrictive interpretation would bring no benefit and cause enormous aggravation.

If on one side the average American citizen might feel safer, because of the security-related announcements, I am sure that well-informed voters, member of the chamber of representatives and government leaders, know pretty well that this is probably only political window dressing, with the main purpose to attract popular votes. But this will certainly not fix the issue."

Complicating

Some of the US container port security initiatives are complicating the global supply chain, increasing costs, officials say.

"The unilateral actions by the US on security have complicated the transport logistics business worldwide," Richard von Bockel, director-general for the European Union's Transport and Energy, said.