C U S T O M S / S E C U R I T Y

President signs bill for 100 percent cargo scanning

President Bush signed the much debated "100 percent cargo scanning" requirement into law, implementing the additional recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. All containers entering the United States are to be scanned by "non-intrusive imaging and radiation detection equipment at a foreign port before it is loaded on a vessel." The legislation does not require all containers to be scanned for 5 years, until July 1, 2012. Even then, the Secretary of Homeland Security can waive the requirement for two additional years, and continue in two year increments if the scanning technology needed to fulfill the requirements is unavailable. Scanning can also be delayed for reasons "significantly impacting trade capacity and flow of cargo. Similarly the requirement also requires screening of all cargo carried on passenger aircraft within three years, but not physical inspection, as initially proposed. A ports of entry program will also be established to improve security and streamline the arrival process for travelers at the 20 busiest international airports. Trade representatives have spoken out against the bill since it was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives more than six months ago. Now, some exporters fear retaliation from other countries enacting similar regulations for containers leaving the United States. While pre-screening is meant to target only high security risk items, it is likely to contribute to an increase in government inspections. Additionally, shipments must be protected during transit, especially with increased government inspections. With this legislation now in place it is strongly recommended that companies begin the implementation of the C-TPAT program (Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism). The C_TPAT program will provide many advantages in coming years related to preferential security treatment.

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CBP Expands Access to Its Modernized Trade Processing System
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Washington - For the first time ever, nearly every trade entity conducting business with Customs and Border Protection can establish an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal account due to newly expanded ACE account types. ACE is the commercial trade processing system being developed by CBP to enhance border security and expedite trade.

This expansion is made possible by the deployment of Master Data and Enhanced Accounts, known as A1, the first set of ACE entry summary, accounts, and revenue (ESAR) capabilities. A1 will lay the foundation for future entry summary, accounts, and revenue features and redefine and increasingly automate the way CBP does business. A1 capabilities include:

        Expanded account types to include broker, carrier, cartman, driver/crew, facility operator, filer, foreign trade zone operator, importer, lighterman, service provider and surety

        Centralized management of continuous bonds in ACE

        Ability to store and view blanket licenses, permits, and certificates from an initial group of eight participating government agencies

        Enhanced account management features, such as, cross-account access and merge account process

“Virtually every entity doing business with CBP can now access ACE,” said Lou Samenfink, executive director for the CBP Cargo Systems Program Office. “Expanding ACE Secure Data Portal access to more types of commercial entities will help increase automation and efficiency through an account-based approach to conducting business with CBP.”

For more information on ESAR A1 release, visit the CBP Web site. ( Entry Summary and Post Release Information )

To participate in ACE and set up an account, please e-mail CBP.CSPO@dhs.gov, visit the CBP modernization Web site, or call the ACE Help Desk at 1-800-921-8729 (select option 4, then option 2, then 1). (ACE: Modernization Information Systems) 

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C-TPAT Strengthens Ability to Manage Supply Chain: Survey
Monday, September 10, 2007

Washington - Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members remain firmly committed to the program, according to the results of a survey conducted by the University of Virginia. Under C-TPAT, members sign an agreement to work with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps and implement specific security measures and best practices.

The survey was conducted at the request of CBP to gather the impressions of C-TPAT partners regarding the value, benefits and costs associated with membership in the program.

Significant findings revealed the following:

        The vast majority (81.3%) of members indicated that their ability to assess and manage supply chain risk had been strengthened as a result of joining C-TPAT.

        More than half (56.8%) of the members indicated that C-TPAT benefits either outweighed the costs or were about the same.

        The minimum security criteria were generally viewed as very or somewhat easy to implement across the various sectors.

“It is clear that members consider C-TPAT valuable on several levels, including reducing disruptions to their supply chains and having a direct link with CBP,” said C-TPAT Director Bradd Skinner. “We will carefully consider these findings in an effort to make the program even better.”

The survey was provided to all 6,000 C-TPAT certified members and designed so that responses could be provided anonymously. More than 1,700 companies participated; of those, more than half were U.S. importers.

The survey is available on CBP’s Web site, as well as, the University of Virginia’s Web site in its entirety. ( C-TPAT Cost Benefit Survey (pdf - 752 KB.) ) ( University of Virginia )

Protecting Americans Every Step of the Way:
A Strategic Framework for Continual Improvement in Import Safety
09/14/2007

The Initial report of the Interagency Working Group on Import Safety was submitted to the President September 10.

http://www.importsafety.gov/report/report.pdf   

Israel Begins CSI Cargo Security Operations at Port of Ashdod
Monday, September 17, 2007

Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced today that the port of Ashdod in Israel became the 54th operational Container Security Initiative port to target and pre-screen maritime cargo containers destined for U.S. ports.

CBP’s Container Security Initiative, launched weeks after the terrorist attacks of 2001, is a cooperative effort with host country governments to identify and screen high-risk shipments before they leave participating ports. More than 80 percent of all cargo containers destined for U.S. shores originate in or are transshipped through 54 CSI ports in North, South and Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

“Securing global trade is a major priority for CBP, so I am pleased to be partnering with Israel to expand the Container Security Initiative,” said CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham. “We are committed to using high-tech equipment and smarter, more secure containers to safeguard the supply chain, and realize that cooperation from our friends around the globe is our most potent weapon.”

CBP and Israel’s Customs Directorate cosigned the Declaration of Principles to bring CBP’s Container Security Initiative to the ports of Ashdod and Haifa on March 26.

The initiative seeks to:

            Identify high-risk containers. CBP uses automated targeting tools to identify containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism, based on advance information and strategic intelligence.

            Prescreen and evaluate containers before they are shipped. Containers are screened as early in the supply chain as possible, generally at the port of departure.

            Use technology to prescreen high-risk containers to ensure that screening can be done rapidly without slowing down the movement of trade. This technology includes large-scale X-ray and gamma ray machines and radiation detection devices.

CSI addresses the threat to border security and global trade posed by the potential for terrorist use of a maritime container to deliver a weapon. CSI proposes a security regime to ensure all containers that pose a potential risk for terrorism are identified and inspected at foreign ports before they are placed on vessels destined for the United States.

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S H I P P I N G  &  W O R L D   T R A D E 

Vote to Block Mexican Trucks on U.S. Roads
12 Sept 2007, CSCB

The US Senate voted to ban Mexican trucks from United States roadways, rekindling a trade dispute with Mexico that is more than a decade old. By a 74-to-24 vote, the Senate approved a proposal prohibiting the Transportation Department from spending money on a North American Free Trade Agreement pilot program giving Mexican trucks access to highways in the United States.

Dock Workers' Strike After Fatal Accident Freezes Loading at Oakland Port
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
AP   OAKLAND, Calif

Workers at the nation's fourth-largest port stayed off the job Tuesday, bringing the loading and unloading of ships to a halt, after a longshoreman was crushed to death by a shipping container, officials said.

The 15-ton container was being locked onto the top of another container on the deck of a cargo ship at the Port of Oakland when it slipped and fell on the worker Monday afternoon, said John Showalter, spokesman for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

The Alameda County coroner's office identified the victim as Reginald Ross, 39, of San Francisco.

The nearly 1,500 members of ILWU Longshore Local 10 did not go to work Tuesday as investigators probed the accident. Workers will return to the job pending the outcome of a safety review under way per the union's contract, Showalter said.

Even if workers return Wednesday, port officials said it would be at least five days before the port could overcome the cargo backlog and return to normal operations.

"Certainly there will be some kind of ripple effect," port spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur said.

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U.S. Seeks W.T.O. Ruling on Product Piracy in China
14 August 2007, CSCB

The United States asked the World Trade Organization to rule in a complaint against China over piracy of copyrighted movies, music, software and books, escalating a dispute that has strained commercial relations. After consultations failed to resolve differences over what the United States argues are weak Chinese laws to safeguard patents and copyrights, the Trade Representative’s office took the formal step of asking the trade organization to decree that China’s laws fall short of international agreements.

Mitropoulos calls for "new ethical mindset"

SPEAKING in Salvador, Brazil, at the third "Parallel Event" to celebrate World Maritime Day formally and officially outside of IMO's London base, the IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos has made a call for a new ethical mindset if the world is to tackle effectively the current environmental challenges with which it is now faced.

Mr Mitropoulos said: "Historically, the march to full economic development has been partly at the expense of the earth's resources, to the extent that the fine natural equilibrium on which we all depend is now under threat. It will fall to countries like Brazil, and the other emerging economic powerhouses, to take a lead and find ways of ensuring that future growth and expansion takes full account of what we now know about the fragile state of the planet."

He said that mankind's unprecedented understanding of the effects of human activity puts us in a privileged position today, but also demands that we develop innovative solutions. He called for a "new ethical mindset" and said that the planet's future depends on whether the long-overdue lessons that we are now learning have come in time to make a real difference.

The event, held on Friday, 14 September, took the form of a technical forum in which leading figures from the maritime community in Brazil took the opportunity, in the presence of representatives from several IMO member countries, to outline, from their perspective, the steps that had been taken in support of the theme for this year's World Maritime Day, "IMO's response to current environmental challenges." Speakers from Argentina and the United States of America were also present at what was an international event of significance.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Mr Mitropoulos drew attention to the considerable progress that had been made by shipping over many years to reduce its negative impact on the environment in a host of different arenas. In particular, he mentioned IMO's work to regulate and reduce oil pollution; the use of harmful anti-fouling paint on ships' hulls; preparedness, response and co-operation in tackling pollution from oil and from hazardous and noxious substances; and the right of States to intervene on the high seas to prevent, mitigate or eliminate danger to their coastlines from pollution following a maritime casualty. IMO has also put in place a series of measures designed to ensure that the victims of pollution incidents can be financially compensated.

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