International Transport Companies - Essay Example

 International Transport Companies and Illegal/Unwanted Goods Movement Executive Summary The modern transport world faces several problems from transporters who move goods illegally through the world. The problems connect with both the nature of the illegal goods and the methods used for the transport. Things such as illegal immigration, human trafficking, the narcotics trade, gun running and trying to avoid taxes are only some of the reasons for which goods are traded illegally. Although there are problems created by illegal activities, reputable transport companies have ways and means in which these problems can be minimized. The most important amongst those are cooperation with legal authorities and self evaluation of the material they are transporting. Introduction Transport is one of the primary requirements of the modern age since the ability to move from one point on the planet to another gives human beings the chance to engage in many activities that make our way of life possible. In fact, international trade, humanitarian assistance, global commerce and even the process of globalisation itself could be completely stalled if the present means of international transport were not there. The IRU (2002) reports that: “Issues in transport directly concern the whole functioning of international trade system. In fact any transport network failures may be assimilated to "blood clots" obstructing free movement of people, goods and services, and hindering sustainable development of world economy. (IRU, 2002, Pg. 1)” With the existence of international transport, international laws also prohibit the transport of certain goods from one nation to another and wherever there are laws to prohibit something there is money to be made in breaking the law. This means that there is a thriving underground network of transporters who knowingly or unknowingly are busy transporting humans, drugs, weapons, chemicals and even animals that have certain restrictions placed on them (Wikipedia, 2006). The transport of such goods creates several problems for international transport companies therefore the company themselves as well as the governments they deal with have to work towards minimising the associated problems. The Business Case against Illegal Goods Fundamentally, if an international transport company of repute plays by the book, then the company knows fully that engaging in the transport of illegal/unwanted goods will have negative effects on the operations of the company. For example, productivity would be hurt because the ratio of goods and services which are provided by the company might need more inputs from the labour and the management to prevent the presence of stowaways or smuggled goods. Similarly, it might require more capital and investment in security to ensure that the goods being shipped are legal to the country they are going from and to the country they are going to. Illegal goods also reduce the efficiency of transporters since the desired outputs of curbing the trafficking of illegal goods often requires massive capital and labour investments which can debatably go beyond a reasonable level of effort to achieve the desired outcomes. Therefore, transport companies need to come up with better ways in which they can curb the movement of illegal goods and ensure that the waterways and airways of the world remain positive for business and commercial needs. While there are many examples which can be given for how the transport of illegal goods affects international transport companies, there are five instances which stand out amongst the rest since the criminal aspects of these are quite drastic. Those are: Human Smuggling The narcotics trade Gun running Smuggling to avoid taxes Illegal immigration Admittedly, there are social and cultural aspects which must be considered along with the effects these things have on transport companies therefore it would be a good idea to analyse them individually. Human Smuggling The movement of people between countries had been governed by law ever since the Magna Carta was first written down. The modern world is no different since uncontrolled immigration and movement of people would only lead to chaos. There are two forms of human smuggling of which the first one is largely voluntary i.e. people wishing to leave one country and go to another for security, monetary or social purposes which is called people smuggling (Wikipedia, 2006). The other more serious kind is human trafficking which takes people (sometimes by force) from one country to another to serve as bonded labour and even sex workers (COE, 2006). The differentiation between the two becomes important for transport companies since being associated with either would lead to a very negative public image. However, the idea of human trafficking is worse since it is a complete negation of basic human rights and is akin to slavery. The best method which transport companies can use to prevent both people smuggling and human trafficking has to do with documentation and cooperation with border security forces. People smuggling is a quite an issue in America where there is a vast border with Mexico that allows people to be smuggled across (Wikipedia, 2006). Human trafficking for labour and other purposes is more of an issue in central and Eastern Europe (COE, 2006). In both cases, transport companies can tackle the issue by requiring a thorough examination of all travel documents and associated information. Keeping accurate records of who used their services to travel to what region and to ensure that government authorities are made aware of any suspicious activities or personnel who are using the services of the company. Similarly, the company should teach the individuals working on the vessel about the negative influences of human trafficking and people smuggling to inculcate a sense of right and wrong within them. The Narcotics Trade The central reasons for the existence of the narcotics trade are economic since the prohibition of certain narcotics in various countries has created a black market for these goods. Of course the price of these drugs varies from country to country depending on the amount to restrictions placed and the consequences of getting caught with narcotics on hand (Wikipedia, 2006). It must be noted that the narcotics trade also has a lot of political implications since there are entire countries as well as very powerful individuals who have major portions of their economies dependent on the drug trade. Transport companies are not exempt from their responsibility in the matter especially if any employee of the company itself is involved in the transport of contraband. In recent times, the governments of the world have been actively trying to reduce drug trafficking and have met with a lot of success especially when they try and break the smugglers rings from the very production houses of the drugs. However, some have also considered legalising and allowing people to take drugs if they wish thereby eliminating the black market and earning sales and taxation revenue. The effect on transport companies due to the narcotics trade is primarily a reduction in efficiency. More resources are required to handle landing and departure procedures where inspections and suspect materials need to be evaluated for contamination with drugs. There are no real means by which transporters can avoid these inspections and checks but if cooperation is maintained by customs and port authorities the process can go much quicker than it would normally take. Gun Running This is another example of how illegal goods can be traded across borders and the case of transporting arms and ammunition from one place to another is another cause of the inefficiencies experienced by international transport companies. Amnesty International (2006) reports that the last decade has seen an increase in gun running because smaller conflicts where small arms play a pivotal role have increased. As the demand for weapons is there, the supply is also established through illegal means. As is the case with narcotics, this creates problems for legal transporters since they have to face delays and red tape when they are transporting their legal goods. As a precautionary tool, Amnesty recommends that all transports evaluate their own cargo loads to see if there are any illegal arms being transported by them. Of course there will always be brokers and illegal agents working to supply the various parties of a conflict (Amnesty, 2006). Ethically, it can be said that the people responsible for getting arms to a war zone as are responsible for the killing that takes places as the people who actually conduct the warfare. It is also notable that all of these conflicts have taken place in underdeveloped or developing countries therefore the shipping lines as well as the cargo being sent to these countries has to be monitored very carefully. Even machine parts and seemingly innocent chemicals can be used for military purposes therefore transport companies have to be very aware of the issues surrounding gun running (Amnesty, 2006). Again, this adds to the cost of operations for legal transporters because such technical knowledge could only come from consultants or experts in the field of ammunitions who may not be that easy to hire or recruit on a permanent basis. Smuggling to Avoid Taxes While the avoidance of taxes through smuggling has been in existence for hundreds of years, the world today is experiencing smuggling for a lot of items which were previously considered innocent. For example, the case of Cigarettes is one such situation where truckloads of the contraband are taken from one country to another in an effort to avoid local and regional taxes. The motive for such smuggling is purely economic since by avoiding taxes the smuggled goods can be sold for a much lower price than the white market. The profits in these cases are quite substantial although illegal. When it comes to the smuggling of cigarettes, the industry itself shares a lot of the responsibility Joossens and Raw (1998) suggest that the industry may not be actively engaged in smuggling but it could be turning a blind eye to the situation. They say that: “Given the sheer scale of smuggling, shown by the gap between exports and imports, it would be odd indeed if the industry had no idea what was going on. It would be like the British admiral Lord Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, putting his telescope to his blind eye and declaring ‘I really do not see the signal’ (Joossens & Raw, 1998, Pg. 69).” Joossens and Raw (1998) explain how transport companies should monitor the transport of taxable things such as cigarettes, alcohol and even petroleum. To track and prevent their movement across borders, they should be tagged with RFID and other electronic surveillance tools which let individuals know the contents of the containers and their duty status. In fact electronic surveillance means and electronic control of moveable items as well as individuals could certainly help transport companies in reducing expenses and the inefficiencies connected with illegal movements. Illegal immigration In fact, one of the areas where technology is expected to play a greater role in the future is the prevention of illegal immigration since countries like America plan to create electronic surveillance fences and use RFID passports for the prevention of unauthorised entry (Wikipedia, 2006). If these protocols are established as a requirement for entry to the United States, all international transporters who have to do business with American clients must follow the legal requirements to ensure that they do not fall short of them. Illegal immigration must be differentiated from legalised immigration where individuals are moving from one country to another with the legal permission from all relevant authorities as well as international bodies. Conclusion It seems that as long as there is money to be made from the transport of illegal goods, there will be transporters and smugglers who work under covers to make a quick profit. At the same time, transport companies and the shipping industry as a whole will continue to experience the negative effects of illegal activities and the issues faced by the industry will have to be taken in stride. Just as law abiding citizens have to follow some rules and established controls for their security, transport companies will have to follow the rules laid down by governments and international bodies to continue making the world a better and safer place. Works Cited IRU (International Road Transport Union), 2002. Terrorism and Security in Transport. IRU.org [Online] Available at: http://www.iru.org/Events/MoscowTrip/Recom.E.html Joossensa, L. and Raw, M. 1998, Cigarette smuggling in Europe: who really benefits? Tobacco Control, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 66-71. Amnesty International, 2006. Dead on Time, Research Centre for the Logistics of Arms Transfers. Wikipedia, 2006. Smuggling. Wikipedia.org [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smuggling COE (Council of Europe). 2006, Slaves at the heart of Europe, COE.int [Online] Available at: http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/Files/Themes/trafficking/ Read More