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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JDN who wrote (586829)	7/1/2004 4:20:18 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

U.S. Denies Ship Entry as Anti-Terror Law Takes Hold Thu Jul 1, 2004 03:25 PM ET (Page 1 of 2) By Caroline Drees and Stefano Ambrogi WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - The United States denied entry to a Bolivian-flagged freighter on Thursday as tough new global laws to protect shipping from terrorist attacks took effect with little disruption to global trade. Washington, fearing an attack or infiltration by al Qaeda from the sea, has vowed to police the new United Nations codes strictly by turning away ships that are not security-certified or delaying ones that have called at "contaminated ports." The U.S. Coast Guard said it ordered Bolivian-flagged cargo ship Dahomey Express to leave U.S. waters because it lacked the new security certificates. The United States was a major driving force behind the law, and is being seen as a litmus test for the new codes' effectiveness. Coast Guard spokeswoman Jolie Shifflet said the vast majority of the roughly 250 ships arriving in the United States on Thursday received the green light for entry. On the eve of the July 1 deadline to implement the new anti-terrorism measures, only about half of the world's ports and 53 percent of global shipping had complied with the International Ship and Port Facility Security code, or ISPS, according to the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization, its chief architect. Shipping sources warned that despite the relatively smooth first day, it was too early to say the transition to the new regime had been a success, adding it would take days and weeks to get a full picture of compliance. Rupert Herbert-Burns, a senior consultant with the Maritime Intelligence Group which advises ports on security threats, said the ISPS was a good step, but no panacea to wipe out security threats. "There are still thousands of port facilities around the world, particularly in the less developed world, which won't be in compliance for some time. That is obviously of concern," he said. "It's not going to be watertight until you've got much, much more endemic coverage." Nigeria, for example, had said on Thursday that just three of its 53 port terminals were ready. But it showed little immediate concern over flunking the deadline and said the compliance problems would not affect its precious oil exports. SMOOTH SAILING IN ASIA, EUROPE The ISPS code, signed by 147 governments, requires ports, stevedoring companies and owners of ships larger than 500 tons to draw up plans for responding to a terror threat, implement tighter security around facilities and train staff. Continued ... reuters.com