Shipping
South Pacific Ports Also Squeezed
No Choice But To Follow New Laws
While Pacific Islands governments might be inclined to grumble about paying more to improve security around local ports in order to keep Washington happy, most exporters who make their livelihood out of trade know they have no option. Worrying about security, says Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Law Enforcement Adviser Shaun Evans, is just another wrinkle in the increasingly complicated business of global trade.
"They are very aware and do keep up with what the requirements are," he says, noting that not only do exporters have to worry about security issues, but also quarantine and health. "There is nothing worse than not meeting requirements and having containers turned around and sent back to you."
Until now the Pacific's main port problem has been pilfering of cargos on wharves and stowaways. Despite heightened security post-9/11, a man was recently able to stowaway in New Zealand and get to Fiji. In a separate incident, a Fijian national got to San Francisco the same way.
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But tightening up of port security, even over and above the U.S. requirements, has become a priority.
While most South Pacific Islands ports are not trading directly with the US, the nature of modern container shipping means that the security issues begin with the exporter itself.
Once garment exporters in Fiji packed containers at their factories and trucked the whole container to the wharf where it was exported. Now, security measures have to be in place at the point of packing, and they have to meet U.S. requirements.
"There are a whole lot of containers packed off the wharf now days.
"It will put extra strains on port companies, customs and quarantine and there will obviously have to be checks right from the loading stages, it's going to go back another step." Evans adds.
While the exporters are mostly aware of the changed environment, governments need to change their perspective on cargo movement.
Evans says most governments consider cargo imports from a revenue or quarantine perspective, but that there has been very little attention to what is going out of the country.
