Posted on 06/14/2002 9:48:15 AM PDT by Robert357
WASHINGTON -- Foreign flag vessels, many of shadowy origins, now account for 90 percent of shipping into and out of the United States and could pose a security risk to the country, lawmakers were told Thursday.
Of greatest concern is the "flag of convenience" system where ship owners often have no connection to the country under which their ship is registered, witnesses told a House Armed Services Committee panel.
This system, said William Schubert, maritime administrator with the Transportation Department, "can inadvertently open the door for criminal and terrorist activity that would be impossible under the U.S. flag registry."
"From my review of certain registries," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the panel, "it is apparent that we have virtually no idea who owns, or who controls a number of these ships."
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., singled out Liberia, citing U.N. reports that revenues from its flag registry were channeled to a Russian arms dealer with ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida. Without guarantees that those revenues are transparent and serve the needs of the Liberian people, the registry should be shut down, he said.
Ship operators in the United States and other developed countries have long registered their vessels in countries that offer lower fees, less restrictive laws, lower taxes and cheaper crews.
Liberia has hosted a U.S.-based shipping registry since 1949 and now ranks second to Panama in total shipping tonnage in U.S. ports. One-third of imported oil arrives on Liberian-flagged tankers.
The system brings in about $18 million a year for Liberia's war-torn government and its former warlord leader Charles Taylor.
Beyond Liberia, Rear Adm. Paul Pluta, assistant commandant for the Coast Guard, cited reports that Osama bin Laden covertly owns a shipping fleet and used a cargo ship in 1998 used to deliver supplies used in the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The Karina A, a ship seized by the Israeli navy last January with a cargo of 50 tons of weapons headed for the Palestinian Authority, was owned by an Iraqi and flew the flag of Tonga under a registry run by a Greek company.
Schubert said pre-screening of crew is one way of reducing threats. But he also suggested that market and financial incentives be offered to make the U.S. flag more attractive to U.S. investors. "There is no better assurance to our nation's security interests than a strong U.S.-flag merchant marine," he said.
The reality is that unemployment is low in this country and that many of the unemployed aren't exactly fine working material (i.e. lazy) or have criminal records or have substance problems. These are the people you want doing inspections? How hard would it be to bribe them? Because you won't be recruiting among dot.com programmers.
There's one country they forgot to mention here: The stuff on board the Karin A. was provided by Iran. That's interesting if the owner is Iraqi. So was the Iraqi a Shiite or just a free lancer?
Liberia has easier rules of registration, which saves money. Next time you take a cruise, check out the ship's registration. Most likely it will be Liberia.
There's money being sent out in the billions for welfare payments. Why can't some of these recipients "earn" their monthly check in a manner like this cargo inspection? Where there's a will, there's a way. I just don't think there's a will.
I'm a licensed customs broker (a person who is authorized by Customs to transact import business on behalf of importers). I can tell you that Customs rarely inpects any imported freight. In fact, I act as the customs officer in some import transactions. When freight is imported, you have to file an entry with Customs before it can be released into the commerce of the United States. To file entry, you simply enter all of the information pertaining to the shipment into the computer and transmit it to Customs' computer system, which is called ABI. When you transmit to ABI, you get a response back from ABI indicating whether or not entry documents are required or the entry is certified for electronic release. If entry documents are required, you simply print a Customs Form 3461 and attach all of the supporting documents (bills of lading, commercial invoices, etc.) and send it to Customs. When it goes to Customs, most of the time they rubber stamp the entry documents and return the form to you. The freight has cleared Customs. They rarely inspect the cargo. In some cases where I act as the Customs officer, I transmit the entry data to ABI and ABI performs an edit check on the data. It checks things such as who the shipper and consignee are, what commodities are being imported, etc. If ABI determines that all of the data is within certain parameters, the freight is electronically released. I print the CF3461 and sign it in lieu of the Customs officer and send it to the warehouse or rail yard where the freight is located and the freight has cleared Customs and can be released by the importing carrier. All of this without Customs ever seeing so much as one piece of paper regarding the shipment. I do this every day and every time I do it, I think about what could be in the shipment that I just cleared through Customs.
Very interesting. Thank you for the insights. Reading your explaination, caused me to reflect on the commercial truck with haz waste endorsements that were illegally acquired by middle-eastern men in the US and the survellence of haz waste cargo. Have there been any rumors about licensed customs brokers who don't seem to have quite the right credentials entering the business in the past few years, especially if they are of middle eastern background?
In the Detroit area, which has a huge Arab population, I'm not aware of any licensed customs brokers of Middle Eastern descent. I deal with a lot of my competition in one way or another on almost a daily basis and I don't believe that I've ever dealt with anyone of Middle Eastern descent working in the industry, at least in the Detroit area. I'm sure that there are brokers of Middle Eastern descent in other parts of the country, though.
P.S. Anything that is imported into the United States, with very few exceptions, is routed through a customs broker. It's one of those odd occupations that you don't really hear too much about, but is intimately involved in the commerce of the United States. For many years, I've felt that having an insider at a customs broker would be an effective way to smuggle just about anything you wanted into the country right under the noses of the authorities. There is always the chance that the scheme would be detected, just like any smuggling operation could be, but there's just something about performing covert operations in plain sight of the authorities that makes it harder to detect. It's kind of like when a judge subpoenas a company's records looking for one piece of paper and the company delivers ALL of their records to the judge in a semi-truck. The evidence you're looking for is right in front of you but you don't know where to begin to find it.
I think you're right...
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