CBP does screen every inbound shipment and conduct scans – radiation detection and nonintrusive imaging – of every container targeted as high risk. So far, CBPhas conducted more than 60 million imaging scans and 679 radiological scans. Of the 2.8 radiological alarms tripped so far, each and every one has been successfully adjudicated as legitimate trade.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., account for nearly half of the United States’ seafaring cargo, moving more than 1 million containers each month. Personnel from Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach work closely with port personnel responding to pollution spills, security issues, and crew safety. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Eggers
To streamline operations and avoid such procedures – which can be burdensome and costly for both the government and transport companies – CBP operates the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Program. The program is popular – more than 10,000 companies have enrolled so far as partners – and fast tracks traders who are willing to invest in voluntary precautions, such as personnel background checks and records inspection.
The National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security
In January 2012, Napolitano revealed the Obama administration’s National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security (www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/national_strategy_for_global_supply_chain_security.pdf) at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Unlike many federal strategy documents, this one was succinct, laying out just two goals. The first – to promote the efficient and secure movement of goods – is aimed at protecting the flow of legitimate commerce while protecting the supply chain from exploitation and reducing its vulnerability to disruption. The second goal of the strategy is to foster a resilient supply chain system, prepared for threats and able to withstand and recover from disruption.
While neither goal is new to any of the agencies in the government’s homeland security enterprise, the strategy’s broad outline is an effort to refocus and update DHS’s risk-based approach, building on lessons learned over the first decade of DHS’ supply chain security efforts while adding newer legislative mandates to the discussion.
By relating their own activities and performance to the goals and sub-goals of the National Strategy, the Coast Guard, CBP, and other agencies can measure their own strengths, said Somma. For example, one of the sub-goals of promoting the efficient and secure movement of goods is to “resolve threats early.”
“To resolve threats early, CBP might say, ‘We have the Container Security Initiative, and we have people overseas,’” said Somma. “We, the Coast Guard, would say, ‘We have our International Port Security program. We have an Advanced Notice of Arrival Program for large ships carrying potentially dangerous cargo.’” The Automated Targeting System used by CBP to screen high-risk shipments, Somma pointed out, is a means of achieving another sub-goal: to improve verification and detection.
The release of the National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security is the first step in a process; after the appropriate agencies have detailed their goal-related activities to DHS, the department will formulate a broad national action plan, outlining any changes identified as necessary. The next step, implementation plans for individual agencies, will unfold through the fall of 2012 and the spring of 2013.
In early February, three representatives from DHS – David Heyman, assistant secretary for policy; Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the Coast Guard’s assistant commandant for marine safety, security, and stewardship; and Kevin K. McAleenan, acting assistant commissioner for CBP’s Office of Field Operations – submitted joint testimony to the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security. The three outlined DHS’s efforts so far in balancing the goals of maritime security and trade facilitation, with an emphasis on 2011’s achievements. But the three officials also pointed out the necessity of articulating a national strategy, given the global and multimodal nature of today’s supply chain and the need for a “culture of mutual interest and shared responsibility throughout the world … Our strategy presents an opportunity to continue to promote America’s future economic growth and international competitiveness by remaining open and thriving for business.”
This article first appeared in the Coast Guard Outlook 2012 Summer Edition.