São Paulo, 9/25/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - According to Brazil's Maritime Agency (Agência Nacional de Transportes Aquaviários) (Antaq), only 60% of the country's ports will reach security levels required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on time.

Following 9/11, the IMO set standards that are supposed to be implanted by July 1, 2004 to combat and prevent bioterrorism.

The problem is that ports that do not meet the new standards will not be certified to undertake export operations, mainly to Europe and the United States.

Brazil has 35 ports and some 90 cargo terminals which are used for international trade purposes and will have to be brought up to the new standards.

"The Americans are insisting on this. They have created a monster. There will be no extension of the July deadline. We are racing against time. We cannot stand around with our arms crossed. Brazil needs to export in order to develop," explains Marta Jacomo, a manager at Antaq.

Jacomo adds that it is no secret that Brazilian ports are strapped for cash. Meanwhile the Ministry of Planning has announced budget cuts that will hit the Ministry of Transportation hard. "We are going to need support from the private sector on this one," says Jacomo, adding that Brazil's largest ports, in Rio and São Paulo, are more complicated because they are state-run.

According to Jacomo, the only country that has begun to meet the new requirements is Chile. "The rest of us are pretty lost," she says. What has happened is that a commission has been set up (Comissão Nacional de Segurança Pública dos Portos) (Comportos), which is to draw up a security plan that will be submitted the government. Meanwhile, Antaq has a work group of representatives of the São Paulo Manufacturers Federation, the Federal Police, and port users. (AB)