The US borders and ports are ever busy with tens of millions of cargo containers getting in and out of the country. There are also numerous travellers entering the country through these boulders and ports. There have been a lot of challenges in these entry points. The main has been the entry of illegal cargos and unauthorized immigrants. Such occurrences are likely to pause a threat to the security of the entire country. A lot of the illegal immigrants get arrested at the port and border points, and majority turned away. These illegal entries have increased the number of illegal drugs that get smuggled into the United States. It has thus become a severe issue that needs a lot of attention from both the government and the public. Other illegal immigrants are victims of human trafficking. These statistics are reflected clearly in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS’s). The department has a hard time dealing with complex security missions on the border and ports to ensure there is no illegal entry of people and goods into the United States. The department is also responsible for the smooth and safe flow of the official travel. They have to do the best that they can to make sure that they dismantle and disrupt all the transitional organizations that engage in trafficking and smuggling across the American border. The North American Cross-Border has been experiencing a lot of such problems for quite a long time. Trade has significantly increased between the United States, Canada and Mexico since the enactment of North American Free Trade e Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The agreement got signed by Canada, Mexico and the United States. NAFTA created a trilateral trade bloc in the North America. It came into full implementation on January 1st, 1994. The agreement superseded the free trade agreement between Canada and the US.
Trade between Mexico, Canada and the United States has increased by almost 200 percent. Its estimates are $930 billion. Statistics also show that cross-border flow of goods between Canada and us has grown to around $400 billion (Taylor, 2012).The introduction of free trade has come with a lot of positive impact on cross-border shipping. Goods are now able to flow more freely between the three countries. The speed of transit has also gone up. The increase in cross-border activities has come with its challenges. Below are some of the North American Cross-Border Shipping Challenges:
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Security Challenges
NAFTA made a significant step in ensuring smooth processes and reducing drayage at the port. However, its key security challenge that is dominant at the North American cross-border is the keeping loads secure. Many shippers have found this as and a great challenge that they are yet to come up with a solution. Frequent escalations in violence have made direct routes into Texas from México the riskiest lanes to ship goods along. Another primary concern from shippers are cases of metal theft. Metal theft is a market driven. The price of metals such, e.g., copper has been on the rise. These metals get stolen in small quantities. These minerals get taken in small quantities, but the FBI estimates that the amount stolen is approximately $25 billion. However, security experts claim that this number might be double of the FBI estimates.
One of the largest theft cases that have occurred on the North American cross-border involved a pharmaceutical load. It became the largest ever in-transit theft. The load was worth $67 million. A husband and wife left their truck running during this actual robbery. In a similar case, a total of three vehicles stolen belonging to a pharmaceutical company got taken over duration of 6 weeks. The saddest thing about this instance was that the thieves that stole these three trucks were getting inside information about the freight from an executive company. It shows the amount of damage that can result from compromised security information. Criminals have become more sophisticated with time causing a lot of safety concerns from on ports. From these cases, it is evident that security alarm originates from anywhere. Criminals are nowadays employing legitimate logistics to traffic goods that they steal from the shippers. It means that carriers also need to up their game when it comes to dealing with security issues. It is the only way that they will be able to counter this security problem head-on (Mohammed, 2014).
Regulatory challenges have also been of great concern to most shippers. For instance, Mexico has a total of 44 different free trade agreements. These agreements make paper woke very cumbersome and time-consuming. It is the primary concern for shippers since it leads to delay in goods resulting in a loss. Another challenge comes with the NEEC and C-TPAT certification. Most shippers that are not well versed with the regulatory requirements find these two very confusing. Delays at the border make carriers incur hefty penalties from the authority. These penalties end up eating into their profits.
How to solve security problems
The Brandon’s FIRST and GPC concepts can apply in some ways to boost existing security measures. Modern piracy has been on the rise. Most of these pirates are also terrorists. It is, therefore, important to give ports security a top priority. A lot of piracy cases that are getting reported these days get funding from terrorist groups. These terror groups later use these resources to fund and advance their terror activities. A terrorist is also likely to use ports as terror incident venues (Taylor, 2012).
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) produces weekly, quarterly, and annual reports on all the cases of depredations against ships around the world. The only way these cases can reduce is through the application of advanced security measures in borders and ports. One of the ways of dealing with port insecurity is the use of cyber security. Cyber security will ensure that no authorized individual is likely to interfere with the shipping and port systems. The computer system in ports also needs to be guarded against hostile software such as Trojan horses, viruses, bombs, worms, etc. most criminal use this hostile software to compromise the system so that they can make stealing much easier. Cyber security lies among the top threat to the electronic side of transportation.
Security can also get a boost by making improvements in transport surveillance. New technology that deals with real time inter-modal surveillance is one of the best methods. It will help reduce cases of terrorist attacks and piracy. DHS’s security mission focuses on reduction in the entry of illegal migrants and reduction of criminal networks. These are the networks that smuggle illicit drugs and other contraband across the United States border. The illegal immigrants also increase chance of terrorists finding their way into the country. Even though some people feel that unauthorized migrants are not a threat to the countries security, the fact is that they are illegal. Even though the majority don’t have any plans to arm the citizens of the United States, people should know that it is against the law. Some rules govern migration activities. It is therefore only right for them to undergo the entire process to become full citizens of the United States.
Shippers can also play a crucial role in ensuring that their goods are always in safe hands. The best move is to approach security from a risk-based angle. They can achieve this by always being aware of who is moving their goods and how it is moving. The only way to track their products as they get transported from one place to another is by investing in technology. It will assist in getting real-time information about the location and the route that their ships are taking.
Another great way of securing their products is through working with reputable service providers. It will ensure that they deal with trusted and experienced service providers. Such services providers have a reputation to protect thus will do their best to ensure goods reach their intended destination safely. It is also easier for such a company to offer compensation when damages or losses take place. They can start by using C-TPAT. They should ensure they get reliable expert advice on various logistics that are involved in marine transportation. An expert adviser will assist these shippers to mitigate losses (Mohammed, 2014). The expert will also enable a carrier to know the next appropriate step when injuries occur. Better security will help shipping companies overcome any economic challenged that they may also be facing. With minimal safety hazard, they will manage costs effectively. With minimum uncertainties, they can optimize and analyses all their transport expenses. It will result in a smooth trade between Canada, United States and Mexico.
Transporters can also try to navigate regulatory bodies in Canada by taking part in Customs Self-Assessments. CSA helps in facilitating moving freight efficiently via border crossings. It achieved this by ensuring delivery and goods are pre-approved and stickered (Taylor, 2012). The role of CSA is to provide the information contained in the lading bill is correct. Application of current programs such as e-manifest can also control port insecurity. It will also help speed up the movement of goods from one border to the other.
Collaboration among shippers has proven to work in boosting the security of products. It also ensures a resource gets utilized fully. With the right partners, collaboration is always the best way to go. For instance, shippers that have dense freight reach legal weight limits but have a significant amount of capacity that is unexploited in the boxcar, trailer and container. On the other hand, those that deal with low-density goods fill the entire cubic capacity but have unutilized weight capacity. Shippers can thus collaborate with each other and see how they can fill both space and weight capacity. It will help them easily monitor their goods while they are in transit collaboratively. They will also cut down on operation cost.
Transport security in cross borders should never be a second thought. Ports are like blood vessels to any country. They enable a flow of resources and out of countries. They, therefore, need to be adequately guarded to ensure the security of the entire nations. As we have seen, the physical safety only is not sufficient. Technological protection such as cyber security should also be part of the mission. Proper protection will ensure wrong information doesn’t fall on the wrong people e.g. terrorist.
References
Mohammed, A. (2014). "NAFTA's Economic Impact". Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Taylor, G. (2012). " NAFTA key to economic, social growth in Mexico". The Washington Times.
