Singapore deputy prime minister: supply chain security program imminent

Singapore deputy prime minister: supply chain security program imminent

   Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Shanmugan Jayakumar said Singapore plans to roll out a voluntary national supply chain security program for companies doing business in the south Asian nation.

   Jayakumar announced the program, which seems to resemble the U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, in a speech Thursday to representatives of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Singapore.

   In his speech, Jayukumar said the international trade community needs to take a holistic approach to supply chain security.

   “The global supply chain is only as secure as its weakest link,” he said. “Hence any program to raise its security must address all parts of the chain and not just selected parts of it. Since 9-11, a number of international initiatives, such as the ISPS (International Ship and Port Security) Code and several cargo security initiatives, have emerged to strengthen parts of the supply chain. These are good individual programs and Singapore is an active participant in all of them. However, they do not address the global supply chain security problem holistically.”

   Singapore plan will be unveiled over the next few months, but like C-TPAT, it would be voluntary.

   “Our national supply chain security program spells out a set of security guidelines and goals which the players in each different nodes of the supply chain, such as suppliers, manufacturers, warehouse operators, transport companies, and terminal operators, should seek to achieve to enhance the security of their operations,” he said.

   The guidelines “include measures to enhance the security of physical assets, security of processes, personnel security and data security. These guidelines are meant to help the various players in each node of the supply chain to identify and focus on any security gaps in their overall operations so that they can undertake the necessary security measures to plug the gaps. This would raise the level of security for their operations and provide their customers with the assurance that their operations are safe and reliable.”