SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY AT SEA
Supply chain communications has become one of the most important issues for multinational companies or businesses operating in more than one location. Managing both a company’s own assets and its relationships with suppliers has become fraught with issues, as the Rana Plaza disaster and horsemeat scandal have proven.
However, the shipping industry is one that typically maintains an effective supply chain management practice, perhaps because it has been doing so for hundreds of years. Last week, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN’s body on shipping and maritime issues, met in London to discuss supply chain security.
“A sustainable maritime transportation system is reliant on a smooth and efficient supply chain and it is essential that we work together to mitigate any potential threats,” IMO secretary-general Koji Sekimizu says. “A key element of this is building partnerships to support technical assistance and cooperation, particularly in the developing countries and in any high-risk areas, to address vulnerabilities in global supply chain security and create opportunities to enhance trade facilitation.”
Alongside the World Customs Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the IMO discussed the threats to the supply chain posed by international terrorism and border control and security. The WCO’s secretary-general called for effective partnerships at the international level to meet the challenges of international trade in the shipping industry.
The summit allowed the organisations to harmonise their frameworks for collaboration between aviation, border security and maritime supply chain security. ICAO secretary-general Raymond Benjamin adds that the threats posed by terrorism and security have the capacity to derail the supply chain and its effective management should be a priority for all involved organisations.
To read more about supply chain management, see the following links:
http://www.communicatemagazine.co.uk/currentissuemenu/4747-chain-reaction
