*EPF510 09/10/2004
U.S. Seeks Global Support to Enhance Transportation Security
(Port, ship, container agreements viewed as major achievements) (820)

By Andrzej Zwaniecki
Washington File Staff Writer

(This article is the second in a five-part series on transportation security.)

Washington -- U.S. authorities have been increasingly relying on cooperation and coordination with international allies and partners to prevent terrorists from exploiting the global transportation system.

Such U.S. international engagement has produced bilateral and multinational agreements and commitments that have not only made U.S. borders more secure but have also made the world transportation system less vulnerable to terrorist manipulation and done so without creating impediments to the flow of people and trade, U.S. officials say.

Reflecting on the experience of the past three years, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security James Loy said that in the era of global terrorism the response to terrorist threats had to be global. He said that in a world of growing interdependence and interconnectivity the most efficient way of dealing with this threat is a common standardized global approach.

"We now face an enemy with no flag, no borders ... and unlike [in] the past, we must confront them in new and different ways -- with improved, truly global, cooperation," he said at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in June.

One of the major achievements of international cooperation is the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, U.S. officials say, negotiated in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and now being implemented worldwide. Adopted by 148 countries, it calls on ports as well as ship owners and operators to prepare security plans and calls on governments to review and approve those plans. As of August 6, almost 90 percent of the world's port facilities had their plans approved and "well beyond" 90 percent of ships complied with the code, according to an IMO news release issued on the same day.

To ensure full compliance with the code, the United States and Japan will launch a new initiative at a December IMO session, Tony Regalbuto, chief of policy and planning for the Coast Guard's port security directorate, said in an August 26 interview. The two countries will propose the use of a port terminal security self-verification checklist for countries to review their progress on ISPS implementation, he said.

The Coast Guard also plans to visit 135 foreign ports in three years to observe ISPS implementation. Officials form two of the four countries visited so far -- Singapore and South Korea -- said at a recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting that the exchange of information with U.S. officials during those visits has helped them improve security in their ports, Regalbuto said. But as the exchange of information should be mutually beneficial, the Coast Guard also is looking for any good practices at foreign ports that could be recommended to the U.S. maritime industry or used by the U.S. government, he said.

"We have already identified some best practices in the ports we visited, " Regalbuto said.

The ISPS does not address directly a risk posed by cargo containers, which carry 90-95 percent of the volume of international trade. U.S. officials are concerned that terrorists may try to smuggle their operatives, a "dirty" bomb (a conventional explosive packaged with radioactive material, which scatters when the bomb goes off) or weapons of mass destruction in a container to mount an attack on coastal facilities or inside a large U.S. city. With no international accord on container security, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has signed bilateral agreements with 18 countries that allow it to prescreen containers at foreign ports. Under this Container Security Initiative, CBP inspectors placed at 25 foreign ports identify high-risk cargo for inspection by their local counterparts. CBP expects the number of ports participating in the program to increase to 34-35 by the end of 2004.

But ultimately the U.S. government would like to secure the entire global supply chain from the moment containers are loaded on foreign soil until they are unloaded at a U.S. destination. In June, the United States moved closer to that goal when it convinced the World Customs Organization (WCO) to support an effort that will lead to global standards for security and trade facilitation similar to those already applied by the U.S. government and its private-sector partners in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). C-TPAT participants receive faster processing of their shipments at U.S. borders and other forms of preferential treatment in return for developing and maintaining secure supply chains.

All 161 WCO member-countries agreed to work toward facilitating closer cooperation among customs agencies around the world, using a common risk-management approach and screening cargo based on minimum-security standards, CBP Commissioner Robert Bonner said.

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

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