see also: in June 2002:   West Texas/New Mexico Customs Officers Seize 5,279 Pounds of Marijuana This Week   Arizona Customs Officers Seize 3,246 Pounds of Marijuana This Week   World Customs Organization Adopts Elements of U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative to Protect, Enhance Global Trade   Le Havre Seaport Joins U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative Against Terrorism   U.S. Customs Cracks Money Laundering Ring That Moved Half A Billion Dollars in Eight Months   U.S. Customs Names New Chief of Staff ...more

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WASHINGTON, D.C.-Robert Bonner, Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, and Belgium's Minister of Finance Didier Reynders, today announced that the government of Belgium has agreed to participation of its Antwerp seaport in the U.S. Customs Service Container Security Initiative (CSI).

The CSI is a U.S. Customs initiative designed to prevent terrorists from smuggling weapons of mass destruction in cargo containers to inflict harm on America and other nations of the world. Antwerp joins Rotterdam as the second port in Europe to announce participation in CSI.

"I applaud the Belgian government for joining the U.S. Customs Service Container Security Initiative," said Commissioner Bonner. "Our agreements with Antwerp and Rotterdam will provide a significant measure of security for Europe, the United States, and the global trading system as a whole."

Launched by U.S. Customs in January 2002, the CSI is designed to enhance the security of global maritime shipping, a vital link in world commerce. Some 200 million sea cargo containers move annually among the world's top seaports, and nearly 50 percent of the value of all U.S. imports arrives via sea cargo containers every year.

One element of CSI involves placing U.S. Customs inspectors at foreign seaports to target and pre-screen U.S.-bound cargo containers before they are shipped to America. U.S. Customs officials, working with their foreign counterparts, would be in a position to detect Weapons of Mass Destruction or other contraband at these foreign ports. Since roughly 68 percent of the 5.7 million sea containers entering the U.S. annually arrive from 20 foreign seaports, Customs is initially focusing on these "mega" ports as chokepoints in the global trading system.

Under the agreement reached today, Antwerp becomes the second port in Europe to participate in CSI. U.S. Customs will place a small team of Customs inspectors in Antwerp equipped with U.S. targeting databases. They will work jointly with Belgian Customs officers to target sea containers that are bound for America. Belgian Customs officers, assisted by U.S. Customs officers, will be responsible for screening any containers identified as a potential risk.

The port of Antwerp is the third largest container port in Europe. It handles more than 100 million tons of goods per year. Among the world's seaports, Antwerp ranks number 11 in terms of volume of cargo shipped to the U.S. Last year, approximately 115,000 sea cargo containers entered the U.S. from the port of Antwerp.

The accord reached with the Belgian government represents the second agreement that U.S. Customs has completed with a European government under CSI. In March, U.S. Customs and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency agreed to exchange inspectors at select seaports to prescreen containers bound for each nation. Teams of U.S. Customs inspectors were placed at the Canadian seaports of Montreal, Halifax, and Vancouver to prescreen cargo that is offloaded at these ports and bound for the United States. Canadian Customs placed its own inspectors at the U.S. seaports of Seattle/Tacoma and Newark to prescreen cargo that is offloaded at these ports and bound for Canada.

The U.S. Customs Service is currently in discussions with several other nations, including countries in Europe and Asia, about forming similar partnerships under CSI.