THE United States could ban or restrict imports from Jamaica under a bill currently going through the US Congress.

The Port and Maritime Security Act 2001, which has already been approved by the Senate, allows the US secretary of transportation to refuse entry to any ship coming from a port which the US decides maintains “ineffective security measures”. The bill, which is expected to be passed by the Congress in the near future, was introduced in the aftermath of the events of September 11 to protect the United States from terrorist attacks. But it also provides for the restriction of shipments from any port which provides “a criminal threat to the United States” or could “introduce danger to the United States or international maritime shipping”.

The US ambassador to Jamaica, Sue Cobb, said that under the new measures, “trade with any jurisdiction that has a reputation of widespread crime, flawed customs and immigration practices is likely to dry up”. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, she said the bill “would have the corollary effect of helping the US on the drug front and helping to control illegal shipments of arms and many other types of smuggling and illegal activity”. Cobb added that, while the final shape of the bill would not be known until it had been passed by Congress, a complete ban on imports from any particular country would not be enforced unless other steps had failed.

Ambassador Cobb has previously said that it “would not be easy” for Jamaica to meet the security standards set out in the bill and she was still unable to confirm that the island’s ports did comply. However, she added, “if some of Jamaica’s ports fail the criteria, so do some of ours”. She continued that she had had a “very good meeting” with Jamaica’s transport and works minister, Robert Pickersgill during a recent tour of the Kingston Container Terminal and that steps being taken to improve security at the Port were “very positive”.

Pickersgill, told the Sunday Observer that “it would be a disaster for this country” if Jamaica’s ports failed to meet the standards set out in the bill as the United States was its largest trading partner and received at least 50% per cent of Jamaica’s exports. He accepted that Jamaica’s ports had fallen under the influence of criminals — but said that “this was the case all over the world”. The narcotics police believe at least 100 tonnes of cocaine are transshipped through Jamaica every year — much of it destined for the United States and Europe.

However Pickerskill said an “urgent package of measures was being discussed by the government in an attempt to tighten up security at the ports before the bill becomes law in the United States”. Although he would not give full details of the proposed measures, he said “nothing was being ruled out” including the replacement of private security guards at the ports with regular police. The government has already announced that it will introduce closed circuit television cameras and high-tech screening devices into major ports to try to prevent their use by criminals shipping drugs and arms to and from Jamaica.

At the signing of the new management contract for Kingston Container Terminal earlier this month, Pickersgill said the contract had “a special focus on port security in co-operation with our trading partners and international security organisations to ensure prevention and detection of illicit drugs and contraband”. Peter Sondergaard, the vice-president of the Danish-based company APM Terminals, that took over operation of the port, said that “a major new security package” would soon be implemented by his company there.

Sondergaard said that APM Terminals, which manages almost 40 international container terminals, including four in South America and seven in the Far East, had the resources and know-how to clean up the port. He told the Sunday Observer that “no multi-national company could afford to be associated with criminal activities”. And, while refusing to specify any particular country, he said the company had already improved security at “several international ports” which had serious problems with drugs and other contraband smuggling.

Ambassador Cobb said the new Bill was part of a drive in the United States to move away from emphasis on security at its own ports — which she said received no federal funding for this — to security at ports of origin. She said this was “the only way the United States could advance its security without shutting down commerce with the world” . The ambassador added that she “could see how some people could perceive that we are using the Port Security bill as a means of erecting trade barriers and preventing imports from certain countries — particularly those in the developing world — but said this was not the case. “The United States has an interest in maintaining the free movement of goods and services through its borders,” she added. “We are a nation that is built on commerce.” She added that other countries were also likely to adopt similar provisions to the United States, after a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation in December.

However, the new bill also presented a significant opportunity for Jamaica to increase its exports to the United States, according to the ambassador. “Jamaica, as a major transshipment hub on major ocean highways, is ideally positioned to be a vital ally to the United States,” she said. “If Jamaica takes the serious steps to strengthen the efficiency and security by which people and goods enter and leave its seaports and airports, it could well become a safe haven for US trade — a safe haven less than 600 miles from one of the richest markets ever to exist.”