USCG to Examine Brazilian Ports

As part of new security measures implanted by the International Maritime Organization (which has 160-nation members) since 9/11, a US Coast Guard delegation will be in Brazil to check on ports and their compliance with the International Code of Shipping and Port Security (known as the ISPS Code).

The delegation is verifying if the ISPS is being implanted in countries with trade relations with the US. In Brazil it will visit Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro and Santos.

Joao Carlos de Campos, the Brazilian head of Conportos (Comissão Nacional de Segurança nos Portos, Terminais e Vias Navegáveis), the equivalent of the Coast Guard, reports that originally the ISPS was supposed to be implanted by July 2004, but as it was a complex process that deadline was not viable . The delegation now visiting Brazil will share experience and knowledge with Brazilian authorities that will ease implantation. Campos points out that the new security measures will increase the cost of exported cargo.