International Shipment of Goods in the Supply Chain - Research Paper Example

International Shipment of Goods in the Supply Chain Abstract The events of 9/11 had a major impact on US legislation. Prior to these events the international shipment of goods and the movement of people across the country were not closely controlled. The events of 9/11 proved the risk of ineffective legislation in relation to the cargo shipping and the movement of people. After the events of 9/11 legislators in USA understood that they had to review and update the country’s existing legislation focusing on the control of terrorism; emphasis has been given on following fields: human lives, food supply, agriculture and trade activities. The success of these initiatives could positively affect the competitiveness of USA as a one of the key nodes of trade globally. Of course, in any case, the success of these measures would be critical for the protection of lives of people across USA. In this way also it would be made clear that enforcement of laws in USA is quite satisfactory, a fact that would increase the trust of citizens on the country’s legal system. I. The events of 9/11 terrorist attacks brought about new government regulations on the international shipment of goods in the supply chain, movement of people and the strategic layered risk management approach based on potential impact of noncompliance. II. Protecting American Agriculture and food supply One of the key issues when having to deal with terrorism is to identify the reasons for the development of this phenomenon within a particular country. In the case of USA it has been proved that the increase of phenomena of terrorism across the country is related to the failure of US legislators to establish a mechanism that would guarantee the enforcement of US import laws. The introduction of the Operation Safe Commerce program, in 2002, (Peterson and Treat 2008, p.12) has helped to increase the power of US import laws. Through the years other, similar legal texts have been established aiming to guarantee US security, meaning human lives but also the cargo; for instance, the Greenlane Maritime Cargo Security Act (2005) and the 2006 Secure Freight Initiative (Peterson and Treat 2008, p.12). In any case, it has been made clear that the enforcement of US laws, referring especially to those focusing on the control of terrorism can be a challenging task. The development of partnerships for confronting the problem has been considered as the most appropriate solution. The establishment of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) revealed the need for controlling terrorism in the context of international trade. Indeed, the above partnership helped to improve the performance of US law, at the level that these laws can be enforced. In accordance with a series of statistics published by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, from 2002 up to 2008 the examination rates of international cargo have been significantly increased; approximately 1 out of every 4 trucks that entered US has been carefully examined, a performance which is significant taking into consideration the fact that from 2002 onwards the number of trucks that passed the US borders has been estimated to 11 million (C-TPAT, A guide to program benefits, 2008). In order to promote the enforcement of US laws, legislators in US have supported a series of schemes and initiatives, such as the US Coast Guard, the 287g program, entitled as the Law Enforcement Partnership (Homeland Security 2011) and the Federal Protective Service, which is also known as the K-9 program (Homeland Security 2011). The above schemes are used for the control of terrorism in regard to import of cargo and the travel of people. However, they can be also used for protecting agriculture and food supply across USA. Additional schemes are also likely to be used simultaneously; for instance, the Agriculture PTI program, which aims to ensure the protection of people across USA in regard to agricultural and food products of various types (US Customs and Border Protection 2011). The review of the legislation that has published on this issue reveals that the events of 9/11 had not led to radical legislative changes regarding the control of international cargo. In fact, among existed legal rules, just few can be identified as having been introduced after the events of 9/11; reference is made specifically to the Customs Directive 3130-006A, initially introduced in 1999 and revised in May 2001, as replaced by the CBPD 3130-006B Directive, introduced in August 2004, the Customs Directive 3230-039A and the Directive 3230-039, of 2001. III. Protecting lives A. Partnership against terror Prior to the events of 9/11 the inspection of international cargo has been quite problematic. The fact that security agencies had to ask for the approval of the Congress in order to take action, i.e. for checking goods imported in the country, had led to the increase of relevant risk, a problem that has been close related to the events of 9/11. The failure of the above practice, as proved through the events of 9/11 led the US government to establish legislative measures that can guarantee (at least at a high level) the limitation of risk regarding the international cargo. The cooperation between the state and the private sector for the success of these measures has been of critical importance – since these measures have been proved quite demanding – mostly in terms of their planning and monitoring requirements. The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) has been the most known initiative of this type. The above initiative is based on the effective and continuous cooperation among the owners of international cargo – referring to the owners of the cargo at all levels, including ‘importers, carriers, consolidators and manufacturers’ (U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade, 2001, online report). In the context of this initiative, entrepreneurs and managers in firms worldwide are given the chance to participate in the fight against terrorism (U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade, 2001, online report). The key aim of C-TPAT is to eliminate (or, at least, to reduce) risk regarding global supply chain. The members of the initiative have developed a Strategic Plan; the Plan includes explanations on its role, reference to the external factors, which are expected to cause delays in the inspection of international cargo, reference to the terms under which the Plan can be effective in the context of international market and the needs of the Plan – the terms that need to be met so that the Plan to be effective (U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade, 2001, online report). In accordance with the explanations included in the C-TPAT Strategic Plan, C-TPAT aims to protect people in USA from terrorism – at the same time, the aim for discouraging foreigners to enter the territory of the country even when they don’t have the necessary documentation, still exists (U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade, 2001, Strategic Plan). B. Protecting open spaces In the context of the events of 9/11 US legislators developed a series of legal texts for ensuring the protection of lives in open spaces. An indicative example of such rule is the Maritime Transportation Security Act 2002, which promotes measures for guaranteeing the security of ‘ports, passenger vessels and cargo vessels’ (Peterson and Treat 2008, p.11). A series of schemes has been developed for ensuring the protection of people in open spaces, such as the MegaCenters, four federal units in USA which share an IT system controlling alarms and circuit televisions within federal facilities (Homeland Security, Information Sharing 2011). Another similar scheme is the Homeland Security Information Network, which ensures the timely exchange of information among federal units in case that threats for people or the economy are identified. Reference is made specifically to threats related to activities that are characterized as terrorism, both locally and nation-wide. IV. Priority Trade Issues The review of the US legislation on terrorism leads to the assumption that particular emphasis is given on the protection of trade. In fact, there are seven areas, which have been characterized as high risk, as they have the power to harm significantly the health of people in US or the national economy. These areas are the following ones: a) Agriculture programs; these programs aim to ensure that the agricultural or food products imported in USA will not threaten the health of people across the country, b) the Antidumping and Countervailing Duties; these duties have to be paid in regard to all products imported in US territory; if one or more of these products are sold at quite low price then the relevant authorities ensure that the AD/CD duties for these products are paid, meaning that the common price of the product is used as the basis for estimating the duties owned, c) the Import Safety Priority Trade Issue refers to the safety of products imported in USA; products that are considered as non safety are prohibited from entering the country, d) Intellectual Property Rights; the US legislation in regard to this issue ensures that no products that violate the intellectual property laws are sold in USA; in practice, the control of these products is quite problematic due to the expansion of the problem, e) Penalties PTI program; this program aims to ensure that penalties imposed in regard to the violation of US trade legislation can be effective, meaning that they can deter the violation of these rules, f) the Revenue PTI program; it aims to ensure that the revenues of the state from the trade activities developed across the country is satisfactory, so that the projects of the state to be adequately supported, g) the Textiles PTI; this program has been established in order to ensure the achievement of the following target: to ensure that textiles imported in USA meet the requirements of the relevant legislation; the above program also aims to ensure that the relevant duties are fully paid (U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade 2011). V. Summary In accordance with the issues discussed above the major problem for the control of terrorism in USA is the lack of a mechanism that can ensure the effective enforcement of laws across the country. Reference is made specifically to the laws focusing on the control of terrorism in all its phases, including the prevention of the problem in the first instance or the limitation of its effects. Only in this way, the US security and competitiveness could be protected. Another issue that appeared when examining the relationship between legislation and terrorism in USA is the following: current zone of security across the country should be extended. Such initiative could help to protect the lives of people more effectively. Moreover, focusing on the seven risk areas that highlighted above could lead to the increase of protection provided to US economy and people. However, it would be necessary for the relevant initiatives to be closely monitored since there could be delayed by emergent issues that would not be resolved properly. VI. Conclusion The development of measures for the control of terrorism in USA can be characterized as quite effective. However, these measures appeared as a result of the events of 9/11. Indeed, the review of the relevant regulation has proved that the US government introduced a series of regulations against terrorism only after the 9/11 terrorist attacks which have highly affected international trade, travel and risk management not just in US but also worldwide. References Homeland Security (2011) Information Sharing. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/sharing-information.shtm Peterson, J. and Alan, Treat (2008) The Post 9/11 Global Framework for Cargo Security. United States International Trade Commission. Retrieved from http://usitc.gov/publications/332/journals/cargo_security.pdf U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Trade (2011) C-TPAT, Overview and Strategic Plan Retrieved from http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/cargo_security/ctpat/ Read More