GAO REVIEWS CANCELLATION OF SFI TRIAL IN SINGAPORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000025 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KSLG ETRD ECON SN SUBJECT: GAO REVIEWS CANCELLATION OF SFI TRIAL IN SINGAPORE SINGAPORE 00000025 001.2 OF 002 ////ZFR///ZFR///ZFR/// DISREGARD SINGAPORE 25. IT WAS RESENT AS SINGAPORE 28. ///////////////////// SINGAPORE 00000025 002 OF 002 moving among berths to a scanning station, potentially adding several kilometers to any container movement within the port. The longer distance would increase fuel and driver costs. Current dwell times at the port are about 24 hours for ships and two to four hours for individual containers, but that could change under SFI. The scanning station would become a chokepoint that could significantly affect port efficiency and the competiveness of Singapore's port, PSA added. (Note: In 2007 approximately 28 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) moved through the port of Singapore, and 80 percent of the cargo was transshipped. Approximately 680,000 of the TEUs passed through Singapore en route to the United States. End Note.) PSA also wrestled with how to handle liabilities and claims filed by shippers or shipping lines if cargo was delayed by the scanning process and missed its transfer to an outbound ship, or damages that might occur if a container triggered an alarm and had to be opened at the port. GOS: No Substantial Benefit to 100-Percent Scanning -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Cargo scanning is a useful tool that has a role in a risk-based approach to supply chain security, but implementation of 100-percent scanning is not worth the incremental benefits it provides, DepSec Lim told GAO. CBP promised benefits to SFI such as fewer inspections of cargo once it reaches the United States. However, as of now, MOT estimated that only a very small percentage of cargo from Singapore is re-inspected on arrival at a U.S. port, and that is little incentive. Singapore also has yet to see benefits promised from other container-security programs such as the Container Security Initiative (CSI). Ambassador Mary Seet-Cheng, MFA Senior Specialist Advisor, claimed that CBP has yet to fulfill promised "green lanes" at U.S. ports for cargo screened through CSI. ¶8. (SBU) Singapore remains supportive of supply-chain security but views 100-percent scanning as a departure from the USG's previously stated risk-based approach to security, Seet-Cheng said. 100-percent scanning does not equal 100-percent security, she added. The USG began with risk-based programs such as CSI and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT),and the world adopted those programs. Now the USG appears to be layering on even more programs, including the Megaports radiation detection program and SFI, and consistency has been lost. Seet-Cheng asserted that the United States must show it can address security issues in a "rational" and "logical" way because "its reputation is on the line." SFI Versus Other Trade Security Programs -------------- ¶9. (SBU) GAO and the GOS discussed SFI and 100-percent scanning in relation to other U.S. or international trade-security programs, such as CSI or the EU Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program. The GOS favors a total supply chain approach to cargo security and initiatives such as the Asia Pacific Economic Community (APEC) Trade Recovery Program. MOT and Customs did not think companies would reject participating in CSI or the AEO program if they also had to comply with 100-percent scanning, but Customs indicated companies are concerned about meeting many obligations under disparate cargo security programs. There could be less incentive to participate in C-TPAT and CSI if all containers are scanned at the port. MOT indicated that the GOS might be more supportive of USG cargo security programs if they were more based on mutual recognition and reciprocity, so implementation led to lower risk scoring and facilitation of shipments bound for the United States. However, the GOS does not intend to ask for reciprocity for SFI because it does not support 100-percent scanning and does not want to see it implemented, DepSec Lim told GAO. ¶10. (U) GAO cleared this message. HERBOLD