Therefore, CBP is implementing a key provision of the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act)—intended as a step toward dramatically increasing the security of U.S. ports of entry.

Under the International Container Security project, the agency is evaluating the feasibility of using an integrated suite of scanning technology including radiation portal monitors, non-intrusive imaging equipment, and optical character recognition systems in foreign ports to inspect cargo bound for the United States. This project is part of the Secure Freight Initiative.

A comprehensive approach
To meet the needs for enhanced cargo scanning and expanded integration of trade data with government information systems, the Secure Freight Initiative was officially launched on December 7, 2006. A program office was established February 21, 2007. Executive Director Allen Gina says, “The Secure Freight Initiative is a comprehensive model for global supply chain security that enhances security while keeping legitimate trade flowing. It leverages information, host country government and trade partnerships, plus the latest technology to validate the security of goods in maritime shipping containers and reduce the risk of terrorism.”

The Secure Freight Initiative is a joint partnership between the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, and the Department of State.

Key operations
By the end of fiscal year 2007, CBP is mandated to test the feasibility of using integrated scanning technology to inspect every container bound for the U.S. from three foreign ports. Port Qasim, Pakistan; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; and Southampton, United Kingdom have been chosen for this purpose. As of April 2007, testing was underway in the first two ports, and is scheduled to begin by mid-summer for the third.

Plans are underway to evaluate an additional three ports on a limited basis (scanning of U.S.-bound containers will be limited to certain terminals within the port, or only a portion of U.S.-bound containers will be scanned). The added ports were chosen to determine the impact on operations of large-scale integrated scanning technology at ports handling a large volume of shipments, and a large number of transshipments. These include Port Salalah, Oman; the Gamman Terminal at Port Busan, Korea; and the Brani Terminal at the port of Singapore.

Signing of the Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) during the April 30, 2007 ceremony inaugurating data transmissions from Secure Freight Initiative equipment at Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan. Seated in the front, from left to right: Shahid Rahim Sheikh, Director General Pakistan Customs and Michael Mullen, Assistant Commissioner, International Affairs and Trade Relations. Background, standing, from left, Amer Rashid, Secretary International Customs, Pakistan; Rashid Baig, Secure Freight Initiative; Peter Bodde, U.S. Charge d' Affaires, U.S. Department of State; Jacob Aguilar, Secure Freight Initiative.

In fiscal year 2006, the six ports being evaluated processed nearly 1.2 million shipments bound for the United States, constituting slightly more than 10 percent of shipments arriving in the United States.

Diversity is key to this evaluation phase. The Secure Freight Initiative is deploying scanning systems in Central America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and working with the world’s top four terminal operators.

Vision
In the next phases of the Secure Freight Initiative, International Container Security port expansion will likely continue, depending on the results of this initial evaluation.

More data-gathering capabilities will also be added as well, through a variety of other programs. For example, the Security Filing component of the Secure Freight Initiative involves implementation of new filing requirements mandated by the SAFE Port Act. When fully deployed, the importer will be responsible for supplying 10 data elements 24 hours prior to vessel lading and the ocean carrier will provide their vessel stow plan and container status messages as well. Ultimately, the proposed Security Filing initiative will provide additional information about maritime cargo destined for the United States to improve high-risk targeting.

The ultimate vision of the Secure Freight Initiative, one might say, is to create a worldwide information network that establishes a tight ring of security terrorists will find impossible to slip through. In the more immediate term, Office of Field Operations Assistant Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern recently told Congress, the evaluation program will tell us whether it makes sense to try and scan every cargo container before it reaches the shores of the United States. “The lessons learned and experience gained from Phase 1 of the Secure Freight Initiative,” said Ahern, “represent critical steps in the process of determining whether the concept of 100 percent scanning is technologically and economically feasible and the degree to which it increases the security of the international supply chain.”

How it works
As part of the International Container Security scanning project, containers bound for the United States are scanned for radioactive substances and X-rayed to display their content. All data and images are transmitted in real time to the host government Customs Officials, local Container Security Initiative (CSI) teams and CBP’s National Targeting Center in the United States for analysis and integration with manifest data to determine risk levels.

If the radiation detection equipment sets off an alarm, U.S. and host country personnel are notified at the same time. While official protocols for resolution of such a situation are currently being established, generally, if a radiation alarm is activated and is not resolved by review of the X-ray image, the container would then be subjected to a physical inspection. If the container is still considered high-risk, CBP personnel may request the terminal operator not to load the container onto the ship, or otherwise resolve the situation locally.

Relationship with CSI and Megaports The Secure Freight Initiative builds on the current partnership between the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Department of Energy’s Megaports Initiative. Under Megaports, which has been operational since 2003, radiation detection equipment is provided to other countries so that they can screen cargo at major international seaports. In return, information about any findings is shared with the United States. Megaports works closely with CSI. Yet more importantly, in many ways, the Secure Freight Initiative is an outgrowth of CSI. CSI officers use manifest examinations and other information to determine whether X-ray and radiation detection equipment should be used to examine U.S.-bound cargo. The Secure Freight Initiative expands the use of scanning and imaging equipment to examine more U.S.-bound containers, not just those determined to be high-risk. Further, the initial six Secure Freight Initiative test ports are CSI ports. In fact, CSI is operational at 50 seaports throughout the world representing the point of origin of more than 80 percent of the cargo shipped to the United States, with eight more ports are expected to join later this year. At Secure Freight Initiative test ports, the local CSI team will continue to utilize the Automated Targeting System as its primary targeting tool, prioritizing targeting efforts by working with foreign counterparts to resolve alarms associated with containers destined for the United States and containers that are deemed high-risk. However, the CSI team will now also receive and analyze data provided by the International Container Security systems to support these targeting efforts. The Secure Freight Initiative is not intended to replace CSI. Rather, through International Container Security scanning, it represents the evolution of CSI by using advanced technology to identify containers that pose a risk to the global maritime supply chain. It is intended to build on the CSI mission to focus directly on the threat of nuclear and radiological weapons of mass destruction. The Secure Freight Initiative also enhances the integration of data. By using integrated scanning technology, including radiation detection and radiography, Secure Freight Initiative ports should achieve a higher level of security by scanning more cargo without impeding the flow of commerce.

Challenges of radiation scanning
Detecting the presence of highly enriched uranium is not an easy task. Many substances, like potassium or granite, naturally emit radiation and can cause false positive readings. Not only that, but the logistics of the scanning operation are complicated—they require detailed planning and contemplation of all sorts of contingencies. However, working with the Department of Energy and industry partners, advances in technology are making it more feasible for the Department of Homeland Security to detect dangerous radiation.

Another issue that has been identified is data overload. To that end, a second National Targeting Center has been built to focus specifically on the analysis of cargo containers.

Finally, there is the issue of what to do when an anomaly is identified. Secure Freight Initiative/CSI officers on site, host government officials, and analysts at the National Targeting Center in the United States all receive the same data, virtually simultaneously. While host governments retain territorial jurisdiction in their own countries, agreements are being worked out with each government on how to resolve alarms.

Partnership—the way forward
The Secure Freight Initiative, like CSI and other CBP programs, reflects a deep understanding that only partnership can advance the expansion of the United States zone of security. This is something that CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham has emphasized from the beginning of his tenure. Upon his confirmation by the United States Senate in May 2006, Basham said, “securing the borders….will happen…together with our many partners at all levels of government and in the private sector.” And at last year’s seventh annual trade symposium sponsored by CBP, Basham said, “all of (CBP’s) revolutionary concepts and programs exist today because of…partnership.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has also stated that the Secure Freight Initiative is “a great example of international cooperation, which is indispensable in securing the supply chain.”

Paradoxically, although we fear the intrusion of terrorist weapons from a nation not our own, it is only in building strong alliances with foreign countries that we can prevent such an attack from occurring.