News Release
Frits Bolkestein
No.
20/03
March 18, 2003
EU COMMISSION WELCOMES COUNCIL AUTHORIZATION TO NEGOTIATE
WITH US ON TRANSPORT SECURITY COOPERATION
The European Commission has welcomed the EU Council of Ministers’ agreement today
on a mandate for the Commission to negotiate with the United States on mutually
acceptable
customs controls of goods, particularly of goods transported in containers,
to address the threat of
terrorist attacks. The customs control arrangements which the Commission will
negotiate with the US will complement US initiatives launched after the attacks
of September 11, 2001 to establish international cooperation and integrate security
checks in normal customs controls before goods leave a country.
The Commission fully shares the concerns of the United States about improving
security and considers that the most effective means to meet these concerns is
by cooperation at EU level with the US. This EU-level approach would also prevent
differential treatment of member states and trade diversion within the EU. Another
objective of the negotiations is to ensure that legitimate
transatlantic trade is not hindered by the increased security arrangements
and that controls standards are equalized for US and EC operators. Preliminary
talks with the United States have already taken place and formal negotiations
will begin as soon as possible.
EU Commissioner
Frits Bolkestein, who is responsible for
Customs matters, said today:
"I
welcome the decision by EU Ministers to endorse the Commission's proposal to negotiate
customs control arrangements with the United States
that will balance security needs with trade facilitation. The security concerns
of both the US and the EU will best be addressed
by reciprocal co-operation rather than by unilateral actions which can impact
on trade and cause competitive distortions without necessarily providing increased
security assurances."
The Commission proposal for a negotiating mandate was presented on 23rd
January.
The
Mandate
The Council has authorized the Commission to negotiate an extension of the scope
of the
1997 EC/US customs co-operation agreement so as to ensure a more coordinated
approach to security controls on the movement of goods. Areas where coordination
could be established would include:
- the
definition of key information for the identification of high-risk consignments
and agreement on how to collect and exchange it between competent authorities
so as to ensure the effective application of risk management techniques;
- the
establishment of common definitions for controls and agreement on how these definitions
could be used to identify high-risk movement of goods
- the
coordination of positions to be taken on these issues in multilateral discussions;
- the
development of a common approach for the carrying out of practical actions in
this domain in conformity with international commitments.
The objective is to strengthen security while facilitating legitimate trade in
conformity with international commitments and the principle of reciprocity. Another
objective is to equalize levels and standards of control for EU and US operators.
The expansion of the 1997 agreement to be negotiated with the US, when agreed,
would supersede bilateral declarations of principle and bilateral agreements concluded
between individual EU member states and the US insofar as those arrangements address
matters which are the exclusive competence of the EU.
Container
Security Initiative
The Container Security Initiative (CSI) was launched by US Customs after the attacks
of September 11, 2001. The major concern of the US is the possibility of containers
being used for terrorist attacks, be it through weapons of mass destruction directed
to ports of the United States or to the maritime transport chain itself. As a
first step, the US has invited about twenty mega-ports worldwide to join this
initiative.
The European Commission fully shares and sympathizes with the US objective of
improving maritime transport security and protecting trade against any threat
of terrorist attack. However, it is concerned about the potential consequences
of the US approach of selecting, at least initially, only a few large European
ports to join the CSI. So far the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection has
signed declarations of principle with eight member states (the Netherlands, Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden) that allow the stationing
of US customs officials in a number of ports with major container traffic to the
United States. The Commission is of the view that this bilateral approach is likely
to cause diversion of trade and create competitive distortions between EU ports.
Furthermore, it feels that security concerns would be addressed in a more effective
manner by a pan-European measure as it would ensure coherent and convergent actions
of EU administrations which are jointly in charge of managing the external trade
of the EC throughout its single customs territory.
For further information see the Europa website at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/customs/
information_notes/containers_en.htm
Press Contacts: |
Willy Hélin
202-862-9530
|
Wilfried Schneider
202-862-9523
|
|
Maeve O'Beirne
202-862-9549
|
|
