Cargo Ships Stopping In Cambodia May be Denied Entry Absent Tighter Security Measures

Excerpt from Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report | Monday, September 15, 2014

Effective Sept. 29, the Coast Guard will impose certain conditions of entry on all vessels that visited any port in Cambodia in their last five port calls. Any vessel that does not meet these conditions may be denied entry into the U.S. The Coast Guard had previously exempted the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port from these conditions, which were imposed in October 2008 following a determination that Cambodian ports did not maintain effective anti-terrorism measures. These exemptions are now being lifted because the Coast Guard has determined that these two ports are not maintaining such measures either.

000060876

Under the conditions of entry, affected vessels must:

– implement measures per the ship’s security plan equivalent to security level 2 while in port in Cambodia;

– ensure that each access point to the ship is guarded and that the guards have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while it is in port in Cambodia;

– attempt to execute a declaration of security while in port in Cambodia;

– log all security actions in the ship’s security records; and

– report actions taken to the cognizant Coast Guard captain of the port prior to arrival into U.S. waters.

In addition, based on the findings of the Coast Guard boarding or examination, vessels may be required to ensure that each access point to the ship is guarded by armed private security guards who have total visibility of the exterior (both landside and waterside) of the vessel while in U.S. ports.

The current list of countries not maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures and therefore subject to conditions of entry is as follows: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela and Yemen.