Terrorists in recent times have focussed their attention on soft targets. Site-specific vulnerabilities (such as airport) and person-specific vulnerabilities (such as political leaders) have drawn the attention of most terrorists. It is important to understand a few vulnerabilities in the commodity supply chain as well and take preemptive actions to mitigate them.
A particular concern is that of transport of food and energy products, whose vulnerability to terrorist attacks has the potential to disrupt a nation’s food supply and energy requirement. The impact of terrorism on commodity trade may vary across time and place. The threat of terrorism generally implies additional costs for transactions. An increase in transaction cost might affect the flow of commodity trade.
Certain foodstuffs and agricultural products such as grains provide greater possibilities for terrorist interference than others. Grains are generally stored in government warehouses which are protected by few security personnel. Warehouses and terminals ostensibly provide more visibility to terrorists. These locations are particularly vulnerable and security to these installations needs to be enhanced. Perhaps, it would be prudent to provide security cover through a more professional force such as CISF in India.
Also the enormousness of India’s agricultural system poses a significant challenge to protect against agro-terrorism or bioterrorism (the deliberate release of biological pathogens or other harmful agents). Observers and intelligence analysts consider the occurrence of agro-terrorism to be a “low probability - high consequence” event, largely because terrorists act against their primary targets (such as transport hubs) directly creating anxiety, fear and disruption. However, there is a growing concern that terrorists may utilise agroterrorism as other types of terrorist attacks are becoming more difficult due to increased controls.
In the energy sector, many of the tank farms of petroleum and petro-chemical products are adjacent to moderate to densely populated areas that could be impacted by a terrorist attack. Road tankers that queue near the delivery and dispatch terminals are vulnerable to attacks by even a lone terrorist. The detonation of a weapon in a sabotaged truck or firing from an elevated wooded terrain adjacent to the depot could cause fatal destructions. Though large oil depots are supposed to be well protected, the current surveillance systems are more intended to prevent vandalism and theft of goods rather than a high intensity terrorist attack. Personnel issues such as the selection of drivers represent a major security concern to all modes of transportation. To understand how food and petroleum product transporters deal with the hiring of drivers along with scrutiny is particularly important. A nationwide computerised network of the commodity transport drivers and programs to educate and train drivers could provide a quick and positive return on investment.
Cargo contamination and hijacking are two of the top concerns of carriers for several years, albeit for different root causes: accidental contamination and hijacking for theft purposes. In the wake of recent terrorist events, there has clearly been a heightened spectre of a terrorist attack on food storages and energy production sites.
A precautionary measure could be to work with the local anti-terrorist squads and local police to improve and create security policies, programs and facilities for commodity supply chains. On a more fundamental level, if poorer citizens can be assured that they have access to the resources needed to live, they are less likely to adopt combative ideologies that lead to terrorism.
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