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Cargo SecurityMembers of the World Shipping Council support a cargo security strategy that requires the filing of shipment data 24 hours before vessel loading, a risk assessment of that cargo and a process that addresses any high-risk cargo concerns prior to vessel loading. The Council routinely partners with government representatives to develop plans that can achieve this objective without impeding the movement of legitimate commerce. The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the country’s Department of Homeland Security, is the lead agency responsible for cargo security in the U. S. and works to improve the security of the goods movement into and out of the country without restricting the flow of legitimate trade.
CBP, together with support from the World Shipping Council and other industry stakeholders, has taken a number of steps in recent years to achieve this.
The highlighted programs are:
The success of the U.S. programs has been recognized internationally and in 2005 the World Customs Organization (WCO) adopted a new SAFE Framework of Standards to secure and facilitate international trade. Read the WCO Framework >> In early 2006, the WCO named the World Shipping Council to a new Private Sector Consultative Group that will advise the WCO on the progress of the new standards.
At about the same time, the European Commission (EC) began work to develop programs similar to those in the U.S. and sought comments on proposed regulations.
Further to the filing of individual comments, the Council joined with 15 other industry associations in July 2006 to express significant concerns about the current plans to implement recent changes to the European Community Customs Code. The World Shipping Council fully supports the European Community’s intention to implement a pre-vessel loading cargo risk assessment system. However, as pointed out in the joint industry letter, many issues still need to be clarified and addressed in order to ensure the successful and workable implementation of such a system. Based on its experience from and active involvement in the development and implementation of the U.S. 24-Hour Rule, the Council is engaged in positive and constructive discussions with the European Commission about these concerns and remains hopeful that they will be considered and appropriately addressed in the final implementing regulations. Read the joint statement >> C-TPAT, the U.S. Customs –Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, engages the private sector by providing a certification to companies that voluntarily agree to adopt and integrate the program’s security guidelines into their supply chains. The program is open to all parties participating in the movement of international goods, including carriers – ocean, air, rail and truck; importers, foreign manufacturers, brokers, consolidators, ocean transportation intermediaries, port authorities and terminal operators. The Council and its member companies were pleased to participate in the development of the program and all Council members are enrolled in C-TPAT today.
CSI, the Container Security Initiative, is a program through which CBP negotiates bi-lateral cargo security agreements with the governments of U.S. trading partners to establish procedures for screening and inspecting maritime cargo containers before they are loaded aboard vessels bound for the United States. New participants are regularly added and as of October 2007, the program is operational in 58 ports through which more than 80% of the total U.S. containerized imports flow.
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