Hong Kong to participate in Secure Freight Initiative

THE United States and Hong Kong have agreed to co-operate on the Secure Freight Initiative, a joint operation of the US Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Departments of Energy (National Nuclear Security Administration) that aims to keep radioactive weapons out of US-bound cargo.

Hong Kong was selected to take part in the initiative owing to the large volume of shipments and containers exported to the US. In fiscal year 2006, Hong Kong processed more than 1.3 million shipments bound for the US, constituting approximately 13 per cent of all shipments arriving in the US.

Hong Kong will be participating in the Secure Freight Initiative in a limited capacity initially, a US Customs and Border protection statement said. The trial goes beyond the mandate of the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act (SAFE Port Act) of 2006.

Hong Kong is actually part of the second group of international ports evaluating integrated cargo radiation detection and non-intrusive imaging capabilities in Phase 1 of the Secure Freight Initiative, also known as the International Container Security project.

Operational testing of Secure Freight Initiative equipment began at Port Qasim in Pakistan on March 31 and on April 2 at Puerto Cortes in Honduras. Testing at the port of Southampton in the UK is expected to begin later this year.

The second group of ports, which will provide radiation detection and imaging capabilities on a limited capacity include Singapore's Brani terminal, the Gamman terminal at Busan, and Oman's Port of Salalah. These facilities, along with Hong Kong, were chosen to help determine the impact of radiation scanning at large volume ports, as well as at ports where a large number of transshipments are processed. Phase 1 results will provide guidance on future port expansion.

At Hong Kong, as in other ports, data from Secure Freight Initiative scanning and imaging equipment will be provided in near-real time to CBP officials on-site and at the National Targeting Centre in the United States for analysis and automatic integration with US systems.

In December 2002, the port of Hong Kong was designated a Container Security Initiative (CSI) port. CSI officers use manifest examinations and other information to determine whether X-ray and radiation detection equipment should be used to examine US-bound cargo. The Secure Freight Initiative expands the use of scanning and imaging equipment to examine more US-bound containers; not just those determined to be high risk.

This development comes shortly after US President George Bush signed a 9/11 provision into law that will require the compulsory scanning of 100 per cent of containers at foreign ports that are bound for the US by July, 2012.

The bill is opposed by European nations for fear it will slow down trade, resulting in higher shipping costs and longer waiting times to clear containers destined for the US, without necessarily improving security at US ports as originally intended.

"Experts on both sides of the Atlantic have already considered this measure to be of no real benefit when it comes to improving security while it would disrupt trade and cost legitimate EU and US businesses a lot of time and money," said EU Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs.

"By introducing the legislation, the United States transfers unilaterally and without co-ordination with its trading partners the resource burden for protecting the United States onto them," he said in a statement quoted by Business Week.