Luckily, legacy Customs already had programmatic tools in its arsenal that, with some adjustments, could be applied to the new world of anti-terrorism. These programs, the Land Carrier Initiative and the Business Against Smuggling Coalition (BASC) all served as blueprint for the programs we now know as FAST and C-TPAT. In addition, legacy Customs and Canada Customs and Revenue had been working in tandem on the Shared Border Accord. This established partnership produced a program, NEXUS that plays a critical role in both countries protecting their borders and promoting trade.

Over the past 12 months, all three programs have made steady progress, bringing closer to realization Commissioner Bonner's vision of Smart Borders. With the dedicated work of CBP officials, new money from the Congress, and the cooperation of foreign governments and the private sector, each of these programs has evolved over the past year to better protect the nation's borders and better protect the movement of goods so vital to national prosperity.

Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
To help secure the borders and to facilitate trade, former Customs, now CBP, needed to enlist support from the trade and business community. This support was provided by the community's enthusiastic participation in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism or C-TPAT. One year ago, the number of companies that had enrolled in C-TPAT stood at 2,251. As of mid-February 2004, the number of enrollees has more than doubled to 5,587. Membership in C-TPAT involves a multistage process. Enrollment is just the beginning. Once enrolled, companies submit security profiles that are scoured by CBP officials. Profile approval or certification means that a company is entitled to full C-TPAT benefits. As of mid-February, certified C-TPAT members totaled 2,804.

Another leg in the C-TPAT process is validation. Once a company's security profile has been approved or certified, C-TPAT experts perform on-site reviews to confirm whether security plans have been fully implemented and to determine whether plans are effective. Prior to January of last year, no validations had taken place. But during the past year, CBP conducted over 150 validations.

A noteworthy development last year that relates directly to CBP's capacity to perform validations was the announcement that CBP would be accepting applications for a new position - Supply Chain Specialist. The first class of 20 Supply Chain Specialists graduated in December of last year.

C-TPAT also opened participation to Mexican manufacturers and trucking firms this past year. Already, nearly 80 manufacturers have asked to participate in C-TPAT and 45 manufacturers have been certified.

Finally, C-TPAT hosted two anti-terrorism conferences last year. The conferences are open to C-TPAT members only and are designed to provide the latest information on the terrorist threat that is pertinent to the trade community and to exchange ideas on improving supply chain security.

FAST
Closely linked with C-TPAT is the Free and Secure Trade program, or FAST. First announced by President Bush in September 2002, FAST offers expedited processing for cross-border truck traffic for importers, carriers and drivers who satisfy the program's security requirements. Importers and trucking firms can participate in FAST only if they are C-TPAT members. Truck drivers are eligible for participation only if they apply for a FAST Commercial Driver ID card and undergo and pass a background check conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This past year, CBP officials took three major steps towards expanding FAST, opening a designated FAST lane in El Paso and in January and February, opening FAST designated lanes on the Blue Water Bridge at Port Huron, Mich., and in Laredo, Tex. Speaking at the El Paso event, DHS Secretary Tom Ridge praised FAST, calling the program "one of the major centerpieces" of CBP's "Smart Borders" approach that will not only add security but speed up the movement of cargo.

NEXUS
What FAST is to trucks, NEXUS is to travelers, a program meant to sort out "trusted" travelers and give them expedited treatment. To date, nearly 60,000 people have enrolled in NEXUS with about half that number signing on over the past 12 months. During that period, NEXUS became operational at three important northern border ports of entry - at Buffalo and Champlain, New York, and at Highgate Springs in Vermont. NEXUS enrollment centers are also located at each of these sites.

As with the FAST program, NEXUS's ability to offer designated lanes faces infrastructure limitations at some border crossings. Later this year, however, NEXUS will strike a new milestone when the first-ever, NEXUS-only crossing when the Whirlpool Bridge is opened in New York.

Securing our borders
The job of protecting the borders has sometimes been described as searching for a needle in a haystack, an apparently impossible undertaking. Yet as programs like C-TPAT, FAST, and NEXUS demonstrate, the task is not so hopeless as once imagined. With the willing cooperation of the trade community and the traveling public, and with the relentless dedication of CBP employees and the equally relentless ingenuity of CBP leadership, the haystack is shrinking.