USCIB Urges Closer Cooperation on Air Cargo Security

In June, USCIB urged the heads of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration to work more closely to improve air cargo security, including taking other countries’ rules and regulations into account when implementing new air cargo security rules.

In a letter to Customs chief Alan Bersin and TSA Administrator John Pistole, USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson commended the two agencies for working with the private sector to implement protocols and rules of engagement for the air cargo security program, and expressed hope that heightened interagency cooperation would continue to ensure a streamlined program.

On the international aspect of new security rules, Mr. Robinson wrote: “Although CBP recently suggested increasing the number of countries in the pilot program from 28 to 42 countries, … we urge that any increase be done with significant private sector consultation to ensure the proper consideration of issues such as timing and availability of information, volume of shipments for each country, as well as data privacy rules and regulatory hurdles in each country. USCIB urges CBP and TSA to assess the regulatory environment in other countries before increasing the scope of this pilot program.”

 

USCIB letter on air cargo security

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Global Business Seeks Coordinated Action to Curb Maritime Piracy

Map_CompassAgainst the backdrop of ever-more aggressive forays by Somali pirates against shipping in the Indian Ocean, USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson recently wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top administration officials involved in national security to draw attention to a global Call for Action on Piracy, issued by our affiliate the International Chamber of Commerce at the May 25-27 International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany.

ICC calls on governments to take immediate action to improve the rules of engagement given to the navies present in the Indian Ocean, to refocus the efforts of the United Nations and other international bodies to ensure that required institutions in south-central Somalia are established to maintain economic and social standards, and to hold pirates accountable for their conduct.

In the past year, there has been an escalation in both violence and the number of attacks on ships and crew in the area off the coast of Somalia. According to ICC’s International Maritime Bureau, there were 219 attacks off Somalia in 2010, in which 49 vessels were hijacked and 1,016 crew members taken hostage.

Despite measures taken by the UN Security Council and the presence of naval units in the area, pirates continue to strike with increasing violence. In addition to placing individuals and crews in danger, piracy is disrupting international trade and shipping. In 2010, the One Earth Foundation estimated the economic cost of piracy on the supply chain to be in the range of $7-12 billion.

In the call to action, ICC “urges governments to recognize that piracy, in addition to its effect on the safety of seafarers, has an important financial impact on global trade and shipping, and furthermore poses increased threat on the stability and security of energy supply lines not only for major industrial nations.”

The ICC Call for Action on Piracy has been endorsed by over 20 CEOs from key shipping and trading companies around the world.

 

ICC Call to Action on Piracy

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USCIB letter to Senator Lugar on Ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

May 10, 2004

The Honorable Richard Lugar

Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations

450 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

I am writing on behalf of the members of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) to urge timely Senate action to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The USCIB promotes an open system of global commerce in which business can flourish and contribute to economic growth, human welfare and the protection of the environment.  Its membership includes some 300 leading U.S. companies, professional services firms and associations whose combined annual revenues exceed $3 trillion.  As American affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide and works to facilitate international trade. 

The United States played a leading role in negotiating the Convention in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, and led a successful effort to revise the deep-sea mining provisions of the Convention in a manner that meets U.S. interests.  Subsequently, the United States signed the Convention in 1994, but has yet to ratify.

The United States has vital economic, political and security interests that will be advanced through ratification.  By ratifying the United States will:

  • be able to restore our leadership in securing the common interest in navigational freedom and the rule of law in the oceans;
  • be more effective in our efforts to protect our naval mobility and commercial navigational freedom;
  • be able to develop more rapidly its oil and gas resources  of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles;
  • foster the rule of law in international affairs.

While some have argued that the Convention will impinge upon the sovereignty of the United States, I believe this is not the case.  Indeed, because the Convention advances U.S. national objectives in the areas it covers in a manner that will enhance our economic, political and security interests, it will in fact strengthen our country, and make it better able to defend our sovereignty as needed. On behalf of our members, I urge members of the United States Senate to ratify the Convention.

Sincerely, 
Thomas M. T.  Niles

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