*EPF408 01/16/2003
Tighter Rules on Container Shipments to U.S. Effective February 2
(Customs Service outlines changes in January 14 briefing) (700)

By Thomas Eichler
Washington File Staff Writer

The U.S. Customs Service is implementing February 2 a new maritime regulation designed to identify and eliminate potential terrorist threats from cargo ships before they sail for the United States, says Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner.

The Advance Manifest Regulation, or so-called "24-hour rule," will require that shippers and ocean carriers provide U.S. Customs with manifest information for oceangoing containerized cargo 24 hours in advance of "lading," that is 24 hours before it is loaded on board a vessel for shipment to the United States.

Bonner discussed this and other Customs Service efforts to enhance national security during a briefing at the State Department's Washington Foreign Press Center January 14.

The 24-hour rule was first proposed in August 2002, Bonner said. "I believe we have provided sufficient time for the change of business practices needed to comply with the 24-hour rule." Vague descriptions of cargo on ships or blank descriptions will not be accepted, he said, and where there is no information provided 24 hours before loading, permits to unload will be denied.

The 24-hour rule applies to shipments of cargo containers from all ports outside the Untied States to ports of the United States, Bonner explained. It is not limited to the 20 major European and Asian ports targeted for participation in the separate Container Security Initiative (CSI) currently being implemented or about to be implemented.

CSI is another U.S. Customs Service program to prevent containerized shipping, which is the primary system of global trade, from being exploited by terrorists. One of the core elements of CSI is placement of U.S. Customs Service inspectors at major foreign seaports to pre-screen cargo containers before they are shipped to the United States. "With CSI, the U.S. Customs Service has entered into partnerships with other governments to identify high-risk cargo containers and pre-screen those containers for terrorist weapons at the port of departure instead of the port of arrival," Bonner said.

Ten countries accounting for 17 of the top 20 ports that ship cargo container to the United States have agreed to and are implementing the Container Security Initiative, Bonner said. After the initiative is implemented at many of the top 20, he said, it will be expanded beyond these ports. Countries currently participating in CSI with the United States are, in Europe, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, and in Asia, they include Singapore, Japan, China, as well as the special administrative region of Hong Kong.

Responding to questions, Bonner said he has seen no evidence to back the charge by the European Commission that the CSI has led to competitive imbalances between those major ports that are being included in the initiative and those that are not.

"We are prepared ... to expand the CSI program to all of the ports of Europe that ... ship significant quantities of cargo containers to the United States and that have the technology to do the kind of security screening that's required by CSI," he said. "So to the extent that there are other ports within Europe that are ready and willing and have the equipment and are prepared to step up to the plate here, we would welcome that. ... I have said repeatedly we have never intended to limit CSI to the top 20 ports in terms of shipments of cargo containers to the United States. In fact, we would like to expand it to include as many ports of the world, whether they're in Europe or Asia or elsewhere, as possible, and as rapidly as possible."

Bonner added that there a number of ports in Latin America will be considered for phase two of the CSI program, as it is expanded beyond the initial 20 major ports.

The Customs Service, now part of the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has made combating terrorism its chief priority, Bonner said. The Bush administration created the Department of Homeland Security to bolster efforts to protect the United States from direct attack by terrorist groups.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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