ESBA - The Independant Voice for Small Business

ESBA CASE STUDIES REVEAL STRONG OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSAL ON ENHANCING SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY

Brussels, September 21st 2006

Clive Davenport, Owner of Computer Controlled Engineering Manufacturer in Wales.

On the Commission’s Proposal
Described it as ‘bureaucracy gone mad’

On combating the threat of Terrorism
Said he was willing to ‘chip in (his) bit’ BUT
Argued that ‘to carry it to that extent is way over the top’
Considered it a case of ‘governments reneging on their responsibilities and passing it onto the consumer’

On the real security dividend
Stated that it would be ‘impossible to guarantee safety’ along the row of units in which his business is located
Warned that ‘there are thousands (of similar units) across the country with a different system’

On a voluntary scheme
Compared it to ‘the supermarket code of conduct for vegetables’ and ‘a stealth tax’
Argued it would create ‘a more imbalanced playing field’

On the potential costs of a mandatory scheme
Argued that the audit, investment and annual costs ‘would damage the business’

On Competitiveness
Stated that ‘large companies which small businesses feed on will move around the world as they are doing now’, citing India and China as possible destinations
Advised there will be ‘even less business around’ and this would ‘accelerate the process’ so that the ‘gap gets even bigger’ and European SMEs will be ‘losing even more’

On Civil Liberties
Concerned that ‘the next measure would be to have to search my employees’
Worried that people have the ‘potential to be accused of racial prejudice’ if screening excludes certain groups

On a workable solution
Suggested screening of freight should focus on ‘central hubs’ at ‘sea and air terminals’,
Argued it was an ‘impossible situation’ to track the entire network and this would distribute costs better
Considered that on present experience ‘passenger transport’ was a likelier terrorist target

Amer Sattar, Director of FSE International, a niche market export SME in Belgium

Mr. Sattar explained that existing quality control and certification measures ‘added an estimated 1% to the cost of goods being sold abroad’ and were a ‘tremendous source of red tape’ for EU exporters. Additional regulations would only make the situation worse. He was concerned that, under the new proposal, FSE would be faced with a double-edged sword: ‘unreasonable delays’, from non-EU freight companies, which did not comply with the ‘secure operator’ requirements or ‘unreasonable costs’ from EU freight companies, which did. The proposal would ‘affect the competitiveness of EU exporters’ and ‘make a difficult situation untenable’ in the face of global competition. In this context, Mr Sattar asked whether the European Commission ‘would be prepared to carry out an assessment of the existing measures, which fall on EU exporters, vis-à-vis the rest of the world.’ He also expressed his concern that the proposal ‘seems to contain pro-large business and pro-certification body measures, rather than pro-secure operator’ and his interest in more information on the way in which the scheme would work. Mr. Sattar also argued that, to his recollection, there was ‘no precedent for business logistics being targeted by a terrorist threat.’

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Note to the editor:

ESBA is a non-party political European group, which gathers member organisations from 22 European countries. It currently represents over 1.5 million small business entrepreneurs and is one of the largest organisations based on voluntary (vs. statutory) membership in Europe. ESBA cares for small business entrepreneurs and the self-employed and represents them through targeted EU advocacy activities. It also works towards the development of strong independent advocacy and benefits groups in European countries. For more information, please contact: secretariat@esba-europe.org

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Page last updated: 02/02/2007 16:54:04