White Paper calls for collaborative and sector-driven action for increased transparency, integrity & governance in seaports

White Paper on port integrity reveals insights into the importance of port integrity commitments for better maritime supply chains, the development of the Global Port Integrity Platform (GPIP), the challenges encountered during the research process and some findings on port integrity commitment levels. The discussion details and justifies the call for collaborative and sector-driven action for increased transparency and integrity in ports and a better overall operating environment.

The Maritime Anti-corruption Network (MACN) launched the Global Port Integrity Platform (GPIP) in 2022, which measures Port Integrity worldwide. The platform is the first of its kind and builds on MACN’s Anonymous Incident Data and on Port Integrity Commitments giving further context and depth to integrity challenges in seaports.

The Port Integrity Commitments were developed by a core team of researchers including PortEconomics members Thanos Pallis, Gordon Wilmsmeier, Paraskevi Kladaki, and Luisa Spaggiari, who started with 100 ports and have further expanded the database to reach over 200 ports. Their insights have facilitated the promotion of Port Integrity and Collective Action by identifying gaps in transparency and governance in seaports globally.

The research team has now published a Whitepaper detailing the development of GPIP, the challenges encountered during the research process and some findings on Port Integrity Commitment levels. The results aim to push for collaborative and sector-driven action for increased transparency, integrity and, thereby, governance in seaports.

You might freely download the White Paper here: Pallis T., Kladaki E. and Wilmsmeier G. (2022). Towards a Global Port Integrity Platform: A contribution to better maritime supply chains. Copenhagen: The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), ISBN: ISBN 978-87-974224-0-3.

The White Paper

Transparency and integrity in the governance of economic activities have emerged as common expectations in response to an increased focus of businesses, regulators and legislators on ethics and the proper functioning of institutions and the economy. The two concepts are gradually and rightly seen as moral and political imperatives related to goals such as accountability, inclusivity, legitimacy, justification, good governance, and socially responsible outcomes.

Both are also linked with the improved performance of an industry, sector, or firm. Additionally, they reflect client and consumer preferences; the wider public ascribes increasing importance to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making transactions or investment decisions. Private entities and public organisations’ growing recognition that good behaviour is good for business is another contributor to business integrity prioritisation.

Shipping and port services are no exception to greater transparency and integrity expectations. Shipping companies, shippers, freight forwarders, agents, and all other stakeholders involved in maritime trade are increasingly interested in securing the conditions that would enable economic transactions governed by integrity.

The White Paper details the progress of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) Global Port Integrity Platform (GPIP) and how it contributes to lower corruption-related risks in maritime transport and, thus, better maritime supply chains.

The document – authored by Thanos Pallis, Evie Kladaki and Gordon Wilmsmeier and published by the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) – elaborates on the endorsed approach in measuring the current port integrity commitments as a concerted effort to create a dialogue between stakeholders, governments, and other institutions on progressing a related agenda and corrective actions that would enhance the integrity of the entire system.

The importance of two interrelated concepts, namely transparency and integrity in transactions associated with the realisation of maritime trade, set the scene dedicated section.

Thus, the document details how the MACN GPIP was developed, how it monitors the integrity commitments of ports, and how the findings on port commitments and the reporting of corruption incidents are visualised and dis- seminated to the members of MACN. This section also discusses the experiences, the challenges realised, and the potential identified during the data collection for building the GPIP port commitment database.

The White Paper concludes with a discussion of the next steps for the MACN GPIP initiative and how its expansion would further contribute to a global approach and a better understanding of port integrity, thus, better maritime transport and trade.