CBP and the United Kingdom signed a CSI declaration of principles in December 2002. Five months later, in May 2003, the CSI port of Felixstowe, Great Britain, “came on-line,” after CBP deployed a team of officers to the port to target cargo containers destined for the United States that posed a risk for terrorism.

CBP Commissioner Bonner said of CSI’s expansion in the UK, “CSI’s primary purpose is to protect the global trading system and the trade lanes between CSI ports and the United States. By expanding the program to the ports of Liverpool, Southampton, Thamesport, and Tilbury, the government of the United Kingdom is helping to create a safer, more secure world trading system.”

United Kingdom Paymaster General and Customs Minister Dawn Primarolo added that by implementing CSI in another four ports, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise demonstrates its commitment to the fight against terrorism. “We will continue to share intelligence and cooperate with our partners overseas to prevent suspect material from falling into the hands of terrorists,” she added.

The addition of these four ports brings the total number of CSI ports to 30; these 30 ports include the world’s major international shipping hubs.

Before 9/11, there was no program to inspect high-risk containers destined for the United States before they left foreign ports. Commissioner Bonner proposed and launched the Container Security Initiative in January 2002 to fill this void. It is the only multinational program in existence that protects global trade lanes by preventing international terrorists from exploiting and disrupting containerized shipping.

CSI has been accepted globally as a revolutionary initiative to secure maritime cargo shipments against the terrorist threat. On April 22, 2004, the European Union and the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement committing both parties to cooperate further on CSI and other matters of cargo security. Moreover, the World Customs Organization and the G8 have supported CSI expansion by adopting resolutions that encourage the use of international security measures like those introduced by CSI.

The CSI network will be expanding to strategic locations that ship substantial amounts of cargo to the United States and that have the infrastructure and technology in place to participate in the program.

CSI ports currently include: North America Canada-Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver Europe: Belgium-Antwerp France-Le Havre Germany-Bremerhaven and Hamburg Greece-Piraeus Italy-Genoa, La Spezia, and Naples Netherlands-Rotterdam Spain-Algeciras Sweden-Göteborg United Kingdom-Felixstowe, Liverpool, Southampton, Thamesport, and Tilbury Asia Hong Kong Japan-Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe Korea-Busan Malaysia-Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas, Singapore Thailand-Laem Chabang Africa South Africa-Durban